Seasoning with Carol French

Carol French was the spokesperson for the R. T. French Company and appears in many of the French's promotional cookbooks and magazine ads. A very Betty Crocker-like portrait of her is shown here.

The R. T. French Company was located in Rochester, New York at, appropriately enough, 64 Mustard Street.

The company once produced a full line of seasonings, spices and extracts. In Seasoning Makes the Difference (1951, 32 pages) Carol shows how "humdrum everyday foods can be transformed into dining delights" with these products.

The recipes in the cookbook are presented with menu suggestions along with an accompanying photograph of each meal.

The cover photo shows the Seafood menu: Baked Stuffed White Fish, Duchess Potato, Paprika Butter Sauce, Asparagus-Mustard Hollandaise Sauce, Tossed Green Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing, Chiffon Cake with Lemon Filling. Check out the fish tableware accessories--aren't they cute?

Economy Casseroles That Taste So Good! shows a Frosted Ham Loaf, Spanish Rice, a Tossed Salad and a California Prune Cake with Orange Creme Frosting.


The menu for a Back-yard Buffet includes Baked Beans, Make Your Own Sandwich Tray, Molded Potato Salad, Hot Dan Salad Dressing, Deluxe Cole Slaw, Molasses Cookies and Fruit Punch. That luncheon meat doesn't look very healthy but they do have a selection of four kinds of bread.


The menu for the Boiled Dinner - A New England Favorite is a "Wow" Cocktail, Toasted Wheat Wafers, Corned Beef with Vegetables, Savory Mustard Sauce, Garlic Bread and Apple Crisp with Hard Sauce. The beets are part of the vegetables and were cooked separately from the others. Gracious, look at the fat on that corned beef!



Club Luncheon Menu: Tomato Bouillon, Curried Chicken Salad encircled with Fruit, Cinnamon Rolls, Refrigerator Dessert


Pickles and Relishes With Homemade Flavor are shown on the rear cover. Mustard Pickles, Pickled Onions and Cucumber Pickles are shown in those nice old canning jars.


If you're a collector looking to complete your collection of vintage French's spice tins and bottles, you might find the following list useful. The French's spice and seasoning products used in this cookbook were: French's Basil, French's Parsley Flakes, French's White Pepper, French's Currie Powder, French's Rum Extract, French's Vanilla Extract, French's Pepper, French's Food Color, French's Almond Extract, French's Celery Seed, French's Savor Salt, French's Onion Salt, French's Whole Cloves, French's Cayenne, French's Onion Granules, French's White Pepper, French's Nutmeg, Frenmch's Marjoram, French's Pepper Flakes, French's Celery Flakes, French's Cream Tartar, French's Garlic Powder, French's Onion Flakes, French's Paprika, French's Saffron, French's Onion Salt, French's Dill Seed, French's Seafood Seasoning, French's Onion Powder, French's Thyme, French's Rosemary, French's Marjoram, French's Garlic Salt, French's Ginger, French's Whole Black Peppers, French's Bay Leaf, French's Sage, French's Orange Extract, French's Apple Pie Spice, French's Brandy Extract, French's Vanilla and French's Lemon Extract.

Also used in some of the recipes are French's Prepared Mustard, French's Worcestershire Sauce, Colman's Mustard, French's Instant Potato and Good Luck Pie Crust Mix.