Strawberry Pie

Dear Reader,

Since the months of March and April flew by without so much as a single post, I have prepared a flurry of new posts and projects for your enjoyment! Though cooking the spring away normally would be a favorite activity of mine the trifecta of time, money, and calories prohibited such an undertaking. Plus, my new love of Thai food is certainly not in the notebook.

However, with spring attempting to spring in the Chicagoland area, I am again focusing on what is interesting and available in my local store.

Fresh Strawberry Pie -- from the Daily News Cooking School by Mary Starr

Plump gay strawberries bring a note of spring to the table to relieve the monotony of winter menus. Although the fruit is an out-of-season luxury, you will be amply rewarded for the slight extra expense when you cut this luscious pie and disclose the juicy whole berries that are concealed in the filling. 

To make the filling, wash one quart of fresh strawberries, hull them and drain well. Blend one three-ounce package of cream cheese with one Tablespoon of cream. Spread the mixture over the bottom of a baked pie shell that has been cooled. 

Selecting the choicest berries, pick over the washed fruit and place half in the pie shell on top of the cream cheese. Mash the remaining berries through a sieve.

Combine three Tablespoons of cornstarch with one cup of sugar and stir into the mixture of juice and pulp. Cook, stirring constantly, until the filling is smooth and well thickened. Then cook over boiling water for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Cool the mixture and pour over the uncooked berries in the pie shell Place pie in refrigerator until thoroughly chilled. Top with slightly sweetened whipped cream before serving. 


Strawberry Season 

Ok, so strawberries are NOT local or in season, just like Mary Starr indicates, unless you are located in Plant City, Florida where my $.99 berries were grown. Yes, I  know they are one of the "dirty dozen" grown with tons of pesticides (sorry, Dr. Andrew Weil) but I forged ahead. I dutifully washed my fruit in my standard vinegar-and-water solution, hulled them, and set them on a towel to dry.

Crust Selection

I do not like making pie crust. Probably never will. Neither did Grandma -- she always used the refrigerated kind. However, I had neither on hand. What I did have was a Ready-Made Keebler Shortbread Cookie Crust in the pantry. I took the liberty of using that so as to be frugal, like a mid-century modern woman might do. It turned out to be a fantastic choice.

Smashing It Up

I set about to smash up the cream cheese with the milk (no cream on hand either) and it looked like lumpy cottage cheese. Then I remembered -- that's exactly what happens when you mix cream cheese by hand. But I wasn't pulling out a mixer for three ounces of dairy so I ignored the lumps and spread the mixture on the bottom of the prepared crust.

Berry Troublesome

Next, I chose the "choicest" berries and placed them top down on the dairy mixture. Very nice! The rest of the berries were to be smashed and place through a sieve. I pulled out a soup ladle for leverage and attempted to force a single berry through a fine-mesh wire sieve. Well, let me tell you, supermarket berries are WAY too firm. Berries from your backyard patch may travel through fine mesh but these did not yield even one seed. Plan B.

Plan B: I cut the berries into chunks and tossed the lot into a saucepan on the stove and added the cornstarch and sugar and fired it up. Fairly soon the mixture was more appropriately jam-like in texture but there was the problem of smoothness. Plan C: Immersion blenders rock. I plugged in and let it rip right through the hot liquid (disclaimer: I've done this sort of thing before, but a warning that it is a very HOT scalding activity should you lose control of your immersion blender). Ahh....much better.

Double boiler? Really? My jam mixture looked pretty good, gelatinous, and ruby-red. Couldn't i just stop there? Then it hit me -- I was actually in the middle of making the "gel" that today comes in the plastic bag sold in the produce department next to the berries and sponge cakes. Sigh. After an hour into this pie, it had better be worth it.

My double boiler is a dutch oven with boiling water and a stainless-steel salad bowl. Thanks Mary Starr. 15 minutes later the mixture looked exactly the same. I set it aside to cool.

Not Much Assembly Required

I poured the cooled mixture over the berries and placed it in the fridge to chill until dinner time. I did , however, swipe my finger through the jam mixture......fantastic flavor, texture and color. Mmmmm...

Serving Time

After slicing into wedges and topping with Cool Whip (sorry...i was exhausted) we dug in for a first bite. Simply amazing. The shortbread cookie crust was perfectly balanced with the deep berry flavor and the cream cheese mixture prevented what would have otherwise been a soggy crust. It even added the right amount of creaminess in each bite without being too rich. We couldn't stop eating. Originally the remainder of the pie was going to be unloaded on coworkers the next day but we opted to hoard it for ourselves and enjoy it several nights that week. Even after several days the crust remained light and the strawberry mixture fresh and firm in the fridge. A fantastic score -- even with supermarket berries.

Soup Can Score -- Five out of Five Soup Cans

G.I Sloppy Joe

Happy Presidents' Day!

A long weekend = more cooking from the notebook. There was no actual rhyme or reason for this weekend's selection other than I knew I wanted to make a yummy dessert, preferably pudding. Chocolate or butterscotch pudding. Mmmm...though after leafing through every page I found myself at the end of the notebook, firmly in the 1950s, with no pudding recipe to be had (except for plum, prune, or cherry) Then it hit me -- boxed pudding was solidly on the market, according to my research, since the mid 1930s. As declared by the advertising of the day,  Jell-O and Royal Puddings were the go-to for the busy housewife in need of a quick and satisfying dessert that was also wholesome and easily digested (?). During that time pudding mix generally came in three flavors -- vanilla, chocolate, and butterscotch. However, I would not partake of boxed pudding -- cooked or instant. Not this weekend.

Back to the search -- I came across several sheets of typewritten recipes from Grandma's sister, Evelyn. She included a yummy-sounding upside down cake recipe using any choice of canned fruit. Sounded Mid-Century Modern to me! The ingredents hit the grocery list.

Upside-Down Cake -- submitted by Aunt Evelyn

2 T butter
fresh or canned fruit
4 T sugar (white, brown or maple)

Melt butter and sugar in pan and cover with well-drained fruit -- pouring batter over it.
Bake 400 degrees for 30 minutes

Cake Batter
1/2 cup sugar
1 T butter or crisco
1 whole egg or two yolks
Beat  these together with a rotary beater
Then add 1/2 cup milk
1 cup flour sifted before measuring
2 level teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 teaspoon salt

I used a round layer-cake pan, brown sugar and canned pineapple. The cake came together easily and popped out of the pan cleanly. All I needed was a jar of bright red maraschino cherries!!

The cake was good, not too sweet, and was even better with vanilla bean ice cream and whipped cream. A solid addition to anyone's recipe box.

Not far from that entry a small, untitled recipe written in pencil caught my eye. According to the ingredient list it was some sort of Sloppy Joe sanwich, yet the recipe sat there with no name. Judging by the chronology I guessed it to be 1949 or 1950. Given the post-war era, G.I. Sloppy Joe sounded fitting -- especially since the list called for ingredients today's Sloppy Joes do not include -- horseradish, chili sauce, dried mustard, and garlic powder. Now I was interested. No bottled BBQ sauce? We were going to find out the genre of this meat sandwich....


G.I. Sloppy Joes -- author unknown

Brown one large onion and 1 pound ground beef
add 
2 T chopped green pepper
1 T horseradish
1 t garlic salt or powder
1/2 t dry mustard
1 bottle chili sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar

Simmer. Put on toasted buns.


Heinz reportedly put out the first barbecue sauce in the late 1940s but this recipe may very well predate that nationally distributed sauce. Besides, the flavor of this meat was NOT in the barbecue sauce or Manwich (1969) category. It was really reminiscent of a sweet and sour cocktail meatball -- very retro, VERY good. I served it on whole wheat Pepperidge Farm buns, toasted, as Grandma suggested, with roasted potato wedges, a marinated cucumber and tomato salad with a fruit compote on the side. Quick, easy, good. John and I agreed the meat would be good as quirky-cool mini-sliders on small hawaiian rolls.

This weekend? Home Run. Two five star recipes!

Upside-Down Cake -- Five out of five soup cans

                                    G.I. Sloppy Joes -- Five out of five soup cans

Birthday-Cake Express

Happy Groundhog Day!
Happy Super Bowl!
Happy Valentine's Day!
Happy Presidents Day!
Happy Black History Month!
Happy Birthday!

February holidays, though a potpourri of national, reflective, historical and commercial observances, command respect and significance. The Favorite Recipes column in Grandma's notebook declares this by stating, "No month of the year lends itself to parties as does February." February? Ok, in our household that's true when you have a boy with a birthday like we do. According to Favorite Recipes, Max is in for a real patriotic treat:

Here's a suggestion for a party for a boy whose birthday falls on a patriotic holiday. A fort of logs formed the centerpiece. In the windows of this fort could be seen tin soldiers defending it, and around the outside small shrubbery and imitation grass lent a naturalistic effect. At each place was an individual birthday cake, each three inches square, roughly iced with green to simulate grass, and crouched on the "grass" holding tiny bows and arrows were small Indian dolls, such as can be bought inexpensively in sets. Forts built of bread sticks and filled with creamed chicken, hot chocolate, and cookies cut with Indian and Soldier cookie cutters held vast appeal and after the forts demolished, the defenders and assaulted alike dispatched, Mother read a story of the days when Indians roamed and forts were necessary holding wide-eyed youngsters spellbound with her carefully prepared recital.

Woah. To me, creamed chicken and cake don't even belong in the same sentence. Indian dolls and cookie cutters would only be found on the Antiques Roadshow. Not sure if I could get six or seven wide-eyed boys to listen to any story I had to read on any subject. I also could not submit Max or his friends to this sort of arrangement for his birthday for reasons social, historical and gastronomical. The choice for his birthday cake this year was the Scooby-Doo Mystery Machine and the only "bad guys" in that series usually are mummies or monsters, not a entire culture.

But this Soldier and Indian cake column made me wonder: If the mothers of the late 1940s and early 1950s were looking to newspapers and magazines for unique birthday cake ideas perhaps this was a practice not that different from what we do -- the mothers of today. In the 21st century we moms face the pressures of Martha Stewart but we are armed with the resources of Pinterest!

I polled a few of the elders of the Nebergall tribe to see if they recalled from their childhoods any particular style of birthday cake. Aunt Sue remembers the "best cake ever" was an ice cream cake from Johnson's Creamery in Bloomington. Uncle Bill remembers two-layers cakes from a boxed mix (this does seem more consistent with Grandma who raved about the ease of a particular boxed cheesecake mix). My mom remembers her sister's party where Jell-O parfaits were served in lieu of cake. Hmmm...no elaborately staged or themed cakes? I suppose I've been watching too much Cake Boss.

Toward the back of the notebook I did find a more practical birthday cake suggestion, one that was more en pointe with my expectations of the era and yet felt surprisingly familiar as it uses supermarket staples to create a concept cake (Semi-Homemade, anyone?). Even though this cake is not Max's style,  it is indeed mid-century modern.

Birthday Cake Express -- From Woman's Day magazine, circa 1951

All you have to do it buy a couple of angel-food-cake bars, frost them, and decorate with candies.

Mrs. S. C. Stene of La Grange, Ill., who contributed the idea for this cake, says it makes a real hit with little boys. Here is the recipe:

2 12-ounce angel-food-cake bars
2 1-ounce semi-sweet-chocolate candy bars
Cake frosting
13 small chocolate-covered mints
4 large chocolate-covered mint patties
1 red gumdrop
Red candies

A cutting board or cookie sheet covered with colorful, washable, self-lining paper, folded under and held in place on the back with Scotch tape, makes a good base for this unusually long cake.

Place one angel-food-cake bar on the base. Cut a 4 1/2 inch piece from the end of the second bar, and place on the end of the first bar to make cab. Cut 2 pieces from one candy bar, to make windows for cab. Cut the second candy bar in half lengthwise. Use to make cowcatcher, trimming inside edges diagonally to form angle when pieces are fitted together. Cover cake with your favorite frosting. A pile of 5 small mints, with a drop of frosting between them to make the stick together, is the smokestack. While frosting is soft enough to hold candies, set the wheels, cab windows, smokestack, and cowcatcher in place, as show in the photograph. Use red gumdrop for engine light, red candles on cake.



Oh -- so how did Max's birthday cake turn out? Fabulously, I must say. I had a connection at a fantastic bakery called Moore Tastries. Now THAT is thoroughly modern.... and I think Grandma would approve.

No Appetizers, Please

We've made it through the holidays to the austere and dark month of January. Just when the holidays seem to be over we, in fact, have the next wave of food-related events -- the Super Bowl, Valentine's Day, and Mardi Gras take us all the way to Lent. Lent means no more indulgences, right? Oh, wait...that gets us to Easter, Memorial Day cookouts, Fourth of July, and then Labor Day....uh, so really the modern-day food calendar really runs from Halloween to Halloween, right?

For each of the aforementioned occasions, how many times has today's host/hostess asked willing guests to bring an "appetizer?" Sure -- it's the most common answer to the question, "what can I bring?" My most recent meeting with the Bunco group revealed this need -- a snack-type dish to pass and share with hungry Bunco girls. I was more than happy to oblige and at the same time have a reason to multi-task and again crack open the notebook.

Oh, wait. In Grandma's notebook there is not a single mention of the word "appetizer" or "snack". Nor is there a single "munch", "nosh" or "nibble". Nothing.

Technically an appetizer is something served before a meal to stimulate one's appetite but then I remembered. Mid-Century people did not necessarily snack nor did they eat appetizers before an everyday meal. As a matter of fact, Grandma herself called the act of snacking "lunching" and lunching is NOT something we did as a family. Sure there was an obligatory plate of shrimp or a cheeseball at Christmas but there were no recipes for them. So just how did the modern-day appetizer gain its prominence at America's gatherings?

James Beard, the renowned culinarian, notated ideas for small preparations of food in the 1940s in his books under the guise of "cocktail party food". According to lynnescountrykitchen.net, Beard in his cookbook “Hors d’oeuvre and Canapes” (1940), suggests that American cocktail appetizers evolved from the free nibbles set out on bars. Another theory is that prohibition launched finger foods, driving hard liquor out of the saloons in to the homes. But by the 1940's a whole new world of possibilities opened up. There were stuffed mushroom caps, numerous ways to stuff hard-boiled eggs, plus stuffed cucumber rings, artichoke buds, stuffed tomatoes and even stuffed dill pickles. This created a need for handy, smart snacks to soak up the booze.

In the 1950's cream cheese and sour cream based dips and spreads (French Onion anyone?) came on to the scene and were de rigueur along with the classic relish tray of celery, olives, and pickles. Did Grandma herself throw cocktail parties? I do not know. If she did, something close to the above offerings was probably served in the spirit of the current trends.

So today when we are talking chili con queso in a crock pot, pigs in a blanket, chicken satay, and antipasto plates it's an interesting commentary on our modern lifestyle. In some ways we have shifted from structured meals to finger foods. This type of of nibble-based entertaining I would guess is far more common than a traditional multi-course dinner party. Blame it on our television and automobile culture but the lowly appetizer has indeed evolved in this country since the 1940s.

Fast forward to today --  I did manage to put together an appetizer for the monthly meeting of the Bunco group. The recipe was not written down but one that I remembered my friend Bonny serving -- a layered dip with cream cheese, pesto, and toasted almonds served with wheat crackers on the side. All the girls that night brought snack foods that were not a prelude to any kind of meal but were a meal within themselves. Yes, we girls were lunching. That being said, appetizers are not in Grandma's notebook, but they are thoroughly modern.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you and all your kin!

No, I don't use the word "kin" in casual conversation but the song "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" does...and it also mentions figgy pudding....one recipe I don't have!

Today's recipe is a tried-and-true and it's one of the few I remember actually making along side Grandma, but for Halloween. I recall Grandma making her famous Popcorn Ball recipe twice a year -- Halloween and Christmas. When she lived in her mid century modern house, it was on a secluded street with very few trick-or-treaters so she would make the homemade popcorn balls, much to my dismay.

"But they are not store-bought!" I would exclaim -- at the dawn of the if-its-store-bought-it-must-be-safe era in the mid 1980s. But Grandma would just nod and smile and say that everyone on the block knew her and it was all right -- said in the same way she would bid at the local auction barn -- an all-knowing look and a nod.

The popcorn balls were placed precisely in a mahogany wood bowl by the front door each year for any neighborhood kids who would happen by. At Christmas that same bowl usually held Overnight Salad and I am pleased to have that bowl in my possession now. Though I did not get around to making them this year here is the newer, more modern version of Popcorn Balls courtesy of my Aunt Sue.



Grandma's Popcorn Balls -- Modern Version

3 bags of "natural" microwave popcorn (buttered versions won't work)
1 stick butter
1 cup Karo syrup
1 cup sugar
1 T apple cider vinegar

Pop corn and remove all virgins, up-popped kernels, divide between two 13x9 pans

Bring the other ingredients to a boil, once it begins to boil do not stir.  Let it boil at medium high heat for exactly 10 minutes.

Pour syrup over the two pans of popcorn and stir rapidly to coat the popcorn.  Form balls quickly.   This process is best done with two people, one stirring, while the other begins forming the balls.  Only a couple of minutes before the syrup sets up and the ball won't hold together.  Work very quickly.  Makes 12-14 large popcorn balls.

ENJOY!! 


Merry Christmas all!

Christmas Cheer

'Tis the Season to Be Jolly....

Harried....

Hurried....

Stressed-Out....

Exhausted....

Hello again Loyal Readers....It's been many weeks since my last blog post....not very Mid-Century Modern of me. By December 15 Grandma would have gifts for 20 purchased, wrapped and ready along with batches of cookies, divinity, and popcorn balls. She would have also been to cookie exchanges, holiday parties, church events, and then by Christmas Day she worked her magic celebrating with the family. Whew!

Today's 2000s woman (I need to coin a cool name....I am open to suggestions) has a bit of a different approach. Eliminate & Delegate. That's what my busy friends do and it works for them. Every year I say that I will Eliminate (never happens) and Delegate (I am warming to the idea) but it just doesn't seem like Christmas without certain tangibles. After all, in the 1950s it was up to the Woman of the House to create the Christmas magic and that, dear readers, is essentially still true today.

Like your family, Christmas with the Nebergalls always had certain Christmas culinary mainstays and I'd love to share ours with you today. I actually don't have the time to make the recipes today (Eliminate) but I'd love to encourage you all to try them (Delegate)....whew! That was easier to do than I thought! And I don't have a functioning candy thermometer right now and it's unseasonable warm and humid today (I have no moniker to insert here, just TWO excuses!)



Divinity Candy
This recipe is Nebergall lore. It's as special to our family as the secret recipe for KFC's secret blend of eleven herbs and spices. The only difference is that we are willing to share the secret with anyone. Just don't make this on a humid day. It may not set. 

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup water
2 egg whites, beaten to a froth

Cook the sugar, syrup, and water till it hard-balls in cold water then pour over the beaten eggs

This is the recipe exactly as written. You may want to google it for more info and specifics. 
This page of the notebook is splattered, torn and well-used... the most-used page in the book! 

Divinity was one of Grandma's trademarks. In college I once remarked to a friend that my Grandmother's divinity was the best in the world he requested it specifically for a music-school reception. Even though it was October, Grandma happily obliged. Grandma also once told me that if the phone ever rang while she was making the recipe she would promptly say to the bewildered caller, "I am making divinity and I must hang up."

Cinnamon Apple Salad

Some version of these apples appeared each Christmas -- I remember the apples both whole and in slices, though Grandma made the filling with cream cheese instead of cottage cheese and omitted the celery. The cinnamon candies are Red Hots and each year there was a discussion as to what store was still carrying them that year. Both recipes appear. Since the recipe had three entries in the notebook, I included them all here. 

6 apples

1/2 c cinnamon candies

 2 c. water

Red vegetable coloring (if desired)

1/4 c nuts

1/2 c chopped celery

1/2 c cottage cheese

Mayonnaise

Lettuce or endive

Peel and core apples leaving large opening. Combine candies and water. Bring to boiling point. Drop in apples and simmer just until tender. Remove and chill. Combine nuts, celery, and cottage cheese and moisten with mayonnaise. Fill center openings of apple and place on lettuce leaves or endive. Serves 6.

Cinnamon Apple Rings

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup water

1/2 cup red candies

4 apples -- peeled and cut into rings

1 t red coloring

Cinnamon-Apple Salad -- Better Homes and Gardens, November 1951

6 apples

1/2 cup red cinnamon candies

1/4 cup sugar

2 cups water

2 Tablespoons broken nuts

10 dates, pitted and chopped

1/2 cup diced pineapple

1/4 cup salad dressing

Pare and core the apples. Cook candies and sugar in water until dissolved; add whole apples and cook slowly until just tender. Drain. Chill. Stuff centers with combined remaining ingredients. Serve on lettuce or garnish with watercress. Serves 6

Next week: More holiday favorites! Stay tuned!

It's November. Where has the time gone? Since my last blog post (September!) there have been the usual day-to-day happenings of football games, school events, illness, social events, family gatherings....whew!

Today's recipe was perfect for our busy weekend...8 ingredients, done. Since the weather was spotty enough for an indoor kind of day cooking seemed like a good outlet. Chili was in the crock-pot and the extra hour from Daylight Savings Time left me an hour to squeeze in Apple Cake.

Jotted on the blank side of a bridge tally the recipe cautions the cook "No Liquid!". Yep -- a cake with no added liquid. This reminded me of the more modern-day Dump Cake but those usually call for a box mix and a can of pie filling. Not this Apple Cake....I was curious.



Apple Cake

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup oleo
1 cup flour
1/2 t soda
1/2 t baking powder
1 t cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped nuts
2 cups thinly sliced apple

No Liquid!

Cream butter and sugar. Sift together flour, soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. Add to sugar mixture. Add nuts and apples last. Bake at 325-350 for 30 minutes or until done. Serves 6.



I grabbed the ingredients -- by the way, I used butter not oleo. Ick. I also added a pinch of salt for good measure. Everything else was straight forward. Two cups thinly sliced apples equaled roughly 2 and a half apples, I used Honeycrisp. I poured the crumbly batter into a greased, square stoneware pan, baked for 30 minutes until slightly browned. Out of the oven the cake looked more moist than when it went in but some of the crumbles remained, kind of like a cobbler. I put the pan at the back of the stove until after dinner.

Later in the evening, with some sweetened whipped cream, I served the "cake"...call it cobbler really. It had a nice, sweet flavor quite a crunch around the edges but soft and juicy closer to the center. Next time I will bake a little less and perhaps even add another apple for more moistness. For a quick week-night dessert, this is a go-to. You're bound to have everything on hand!


It's been a year since Grandma's passing and though she's not around, working on this blog makes me think sometimes she really is around...like we are doing this together. In some ways, I suppose we are.

Soup can score -- Four and a half cans out of five