Notes from a Food Diva: A Trip Down Memory Lane

In this week's Notes from a Food Diva, cooking maven Carol Brock discusses a recent visit to the site of her first job. 

I paid my first visit in years to my old stomping grounds, the Good Housekeeping Institute, which is located in New York City’s first “green” office building. 

The glass-encased Hearst Tower, 46 stories high, was built inside the historic shell of the William Randolph Hearst building. And that, on 57th Street and Eighth Avenue, was the site of my first job.

The Art Deco elevators that took me for 23 years to the sixth, top, floor are gone. Now, there is a three-story atrium with a show-stopping waterfall that cools in summer and humidifies in winter.

The new Good Housekeeping Institute is on the 29th floor. And I was dazzled by the views of Manhattan. I, a born and bred New Yorker, had never seen them like this. In fact, this led to my difficulty concentrating on the updated consumer evaluation laboratory and scientific tests that are involved in awarding the “Good Housekeeping Promises” seal.

Our tour guide went into detail about scores of refrigerators and piles of bath towels being tested before mentioning, “Nothing from the original building, not even the prized elevators have been saved - except the Institute’s original living room and dining room.” Wow! I hadn’t known. 

We made our way to that living room. And I sat on the sofa in the same room where I sat, fresh from college, to be interviewed.

At the institute, I was to prepare daily luncheons for the editor and president of Hearst and, in return, they would “teach me the magazine business.” Six months later, the name Carol Brock was on a double spread. It never looked bigger.

We entered the dining room. The same dining room with the same table where the luncheons I planned, marketed, prepared and presented were served to the Duke of Windsor, President Herbert Hoover, the head of the state of Israel, the president of Mexico and his body guard, Margaret Truman and Helen Hayes.

More nostalgia! In the living room, I spotted a copy of the “Good Housekeeping Party Book” (1958) by Dorothy Marsh and Carol Brock near a collection of antique china rolling pins on the shelves behind the sofa. The book was based on my monthly “For the Hostess” column.

Then, we gathered in the test kitchen famed for the triple-tested recipe. Susan Westmoreland, food editor and daughter–in-law of Gen. William Westmoreland, and her staff served “house made” hors d’oeuvres as we sipped rose wine from Provence.

These are some of the delicious treats we sampled:

• Gougeres: Chives and lemon zest added to choux pastry dough. Sophisticated in appearance and taste.
• Cheeses: Stinking Bishop, Gorgonzola Dolce, Aged Manchego
  with dried fruits (apricots, Medjool dates) and fresh Bing Cherries
• Assorted Seasonal Crudités: Radishes, whole green beans, baby yellow and orange carrots
• Baguettes and Crackers for cheeses and dips
• Salmon Rillettes and a luscious green Pea/Parmesan dip
• Salted Almonds. Popcorn tossed with truffle butter (you can substitute regular butter and truffle salt)
• Bite-sized Praline Brownies: These were served when Susan’s family and the Westmorelands met.

And the view--the dazzling, seemingly seamless view. 

It was exhilarating to be back in my old stomping grounds. And it was unbelievable to return to that original living room with its cove ceiling that I circled one Christmas with pomander balls and the dining room, which has a table for 15 at which seated guests once helped themselves to dishes presented at their right.

At one point, during my 23 years at Good Housekeeping – first as assistant food editor, then as hostess editor – I lived one block in Douglaston from Mary Sue McCarthy, who was secretary to the director of the institute. I must phone her in Virginia and tell her of my visit.

And I should tell all to Karen Kolnsberg, who once worked as secretary to food editor Mildred Ying, and Jane Neal, who was a secretary to the former head of Hurst. Both of them attend [Douglaston’s] Zion Episcopal Church.

Stop back by Douglaston Patch every Friday morning for Notes from a Food Diva. Next week’s dispatch will include the recipes for the dips mentioned in this article.