A few weeks ago, my Madison East High School class of 1956 celebrated another class reunion, thanks to former classmates Iretta Falch Pullara and Mary Ann Serstad Martin, both retired teachers whose efforts reminded us of how special that period of time was for a class of 400 to […]
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A few weeks ago, my Madison East High School class of 1956 celebrated another class reunion, thanks to former classmates Iretta Falch Pullara and Mary Ann Serstad Martin, both retired teachers whose efforts reminded us of how special that period of time was for a class of 400 to continue celebrating the past.
Considering the loss of classmates we’ll remember forever, the hugs, kisses, hand-shaking and pats on the back became reminders to those who attended of how fortunate we were to grow up when we did.
Sadly, however, we would also learn that 163 classmates had already passed away.
We shared memories of classes, classmates, best friends, teachers, sporting events, the LOFT, achievements, professions, marriage, children, grandchildren, hobbies, pets and life in general, which always includes food and favorite recipes from the past.
I learned from Iretta that she never considered herself “much of a cook” but was happy to share an old chocolate chip cookie recipe described as being “crispy and not soft.” Her son, Steve, played high school softball and she would bring chocolate chip cookies to his games. His friends decided to nickname him “Cookie,” which has stuck decades later.
½ cup white sugar
½ cup Crisco
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
“Many chocolate chips”
Mix together sugars and Crisco. Add egg and vanilla. Mix together dry ingredients, then add as many chocolate chips as you’d like. Drop on an ungreased cookie sheet using either a teaspoon or a tablespoon and bake at 350 degrees for 11-13 minutes.
Mary Ann Serstad Martin shared two favorite recipes, one for making a “large batch of chili” when family returns home or when she has a group meeting. A second recipe for cookies was discovered in the Wisconsin State Journal a few years ago that she has made many times since then, describing it as being a winning recipe at the National Date Festival in Indio, California.
2-3 pounds of hamburger
2-3 tablespoons chili powder
1 large onion, cut fine
Salt as desired
2 cans dark red kidney beans
2 cans family-size Campbell tomato soup, rinsing each can with ½ can of water and add to chili. Fry together first four ingredients in iron frying pan. Add ketchup, kidney beans and tomato soup. You may add elbow spaghetti or macaroni, if you wish. Simmer all together and slowly heat to blend flavors.
Here is the winning recipe from the National Date Festival.
2 cups dates, chopped
2 cups pecans, chopped and shredded
2 cups coconut, sweetened and shredded
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
Mix all ingredients until thoroughly combined. Drop by spoonful or cookie scoop onto non-stick baking sheet or greased and floured baking sheet. Mary Ann uses parchment paper on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees 8-10 minutes, until lightly browned.
Seafood and Wild Rice Luncheon
Another reader requested more winning recipes from the past that have appeared in State Journal cooking contests. After searching through my basement, two State Journal newspaper cookbooks with winning recipes were found, one published Oct. 13, 1957, and another on Nov. 22, 1958, both featured here.
Top prize winner in the 1957 contest featured a casserole combining wild rice and seafood served with a creamy mushroom sauce. The winner, Mrs. Harry Flemming, 3722 Gregory St., described the recipe through a “trial and error” system, finding a combination of ingredients that “seemed alright to create a winner.” Here it is, as it appeared 64 years ago.
1 cup cooked white rice
1 cup crabmeat
½ cup shrimp
1½ cups celery, diced
1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped
1 green pepper, diced
1 small can pimiento, diced
1½ (each can 10 ¼ ounces) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
Mix all ingredients together. If mixture seems too dry, add a small amount of water.
Bake in a buttered baking dish in a moderate oven (350 F) for 1½ hours. Serve with mushroom sauce.
Yield: 10-12 servings
Mushroom Sauce
1½ (each can 10½ ounces) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 pound fresh mushrooms, or one large can of mushrooms
Butter
½ cup shrimp
Cream, to thin
Brown mushrooms in butter. Heat mushroom soup in top half of double boiler. If too thick, thin with cream. Add browned mushrooms and shrimp. When serving casserole, spoon sauce over each serving.Evaporation Milk Coffee Cake
This is the grand prize recipe that appeared 63 years ago in the State Journal’s newspaper cookbook edition on Nov. 2, 1958, that took first place honors for Mrs. Norman Levin.
Cream butter with sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well. Sift flour with baking powder and add to the creamed butter, sugar and egg mixture, alternating with the can of milk. Begin and end with flour, beating well after each addition of flour and milk. Add and mix well the nuts, vanilla, and lemon juice. Pour batter in buttered 13x9-inch cake pan or buttered angel food tube pan. Sprinkle topping evenly over the top of the batter. Bake in a moderate oven (350 F) for 1 hour.
Mix all ingredients together and sprinkle over top of cake batter as directed.
Another recipe stirring comfort from the past was the banana bread someone’s mother often made to be enjoyed when we return home from school. Described as being a “quick” bread that seemed to taste better the day after being baked, it was wrapped in plastic wrap and left out on the counter overnight allowing flavors to develop. The next morning it was sliced and served for breakfast with butter and homemade jam.
5 tablespoons butter
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups mashed, very ripe bananas
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray bottom only of 9x5x3-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Beat butter in large bowl with an electric mixer set at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat well. Add egg, egg whites and vanilla; beat until well blended. Add mashed banana and beat on high speed 30 seconds. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder in medium bowl. Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with cream, ending with flour mixture. Add walnuts to batter; mix well. Pour batter evenly into prepared loaf pan. Bake until browned and toothpick inserted near center comes out clean, about 1 hours, 15 minutes. Cool bread in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove bread from pan; cool completely on wire rack. Slice and serve with butter and jam.
Request: A reader with a tree full of ripe fresh plums needs plum recipes ASAP.Contact the Cooks’ Exchange in care of the Wisconsin State Journal, P.O. Box 8058, Madison, WI, 53708 or by email at greenbush4@aol.com.
Contact the Cooks’ Exchange in care of the Wisconsin State Journal, P.O. Box 8058, Madison, WI, 53708 or by email at greenbush4@aol.com.
