New Year's Eve Buffet {circa 1949} - Allergy Free

One of my favorite finds ever at my local Goodwill was in 2000 when I came across a vintage cookbook - The Good Housekeeping Cook Book dated 1949. It had a nicely worn red cover with white lettering that caught my eye. It had me from Hello. I paid .50 for it and couldn't wait to get home to look through all the wonderful slightly yellowed pages including full color pages featuring the most retro illustrations! I love it. It's still my favorite cook book even though I know I'll never cook Jellied Tomato Soup or Rabbit Stew.
As I was thinking about what I wanted to do with my blog this year, I knew that I wanted to add many more recipes and meal ideas, above and beyond the sweets category. So, keep your eyes peeled for those! Another thing I thought would be fun is to go through this wonderful cook book and bring back some of the oldies, but goodies - this time in allergy-free form. So, that's what I'm going to do. And just for fun, I'm posting today the New Year's Eve Buffet from pg. 897. Enjoy!

The recipe that stands out from this menu and would be used in my house most often is the Toasted Garlic Buttered French Bread from pg. 476. I have modified it below to make it allergy-friendly:

Toasted Garlic Buttered French Bread {dairy-free, egg-free}
1/2 cup Smart Balance Light {dairy-free}
1 or 2 peeled cloves garlic
1 Pillsbury Refrigerated French Bread Loaf
1/4 tsp salt
Paprika

Soften 'butter'. Add garlic; mash slightly with fork. Let stand 30 min or longer. While that is going on, bake Pillsbury French Bread Loaf according to package directions. Remove garlic. Approx 5 min before baking is done, take the loaf out of oven and slash bread diagonally into thick slices, almost to bottom. Spread garlic butter generously between slices and over top half of loaf. Sprinkle with salt and paprika. Place back in oven for remainder of baking time. Let guests break off pieces. Makes 6-8 servings.