I'm reading a book right now called, "The Short Life and Long Times of Mrs. Beeton, The First Domestic Goddess." It's a biography about this woman named Beeton who is kind of like the Betty Crocker of the UK. She wrote a book called Beeton's Book of Household Management that's been around since 1865 or so, and its like THE book in the UK of how to take care of your home. The author of this book explains, "Beeton's Book of Household Management was in everyone's kitchen, of course, either as a newish wedding present or a handed-down heirloom to be consulted sporadically when you wanted to know how to get grease stains out of ribbon or the best way to make rice pudding." No one ever thought that Mrs. Beeton was a real person. They all thought that she was made up by some company to sell more books under the pretense that a middle aged housewife was giving you advice, much like how Betty Crocker was a completely made up woman. BUT in 1932 they discovered that she WAS a real person when her grandson donated a picture of her to some sort of portrait gallery in the UK. three biographies of Mrs. Beeton have already been written, the last one published in 1977.

The author of this new book, Kathryn Hughes, decided to write a new biography because she believes that the time is right for a new biography to be published. I think this part is interesting. She says, "This desire to retreat to a safe space, a place outside the public and political order (or disorder), has never been so urgent than during the first few years of this new century. On both sides of the Atlantic the television schedules are saturated with programmes explaining how to tinker and freshen our experience of everyday living. Just as the mid-Victorians imagined the middle-clas home as a refuge from the perils of capitalism, with all its jostling competition and sudden threats, so 150 years later we have retreated form the terror of the world beyond our front door to a small pocket of space where we assume the consoling powers of gods."

so. this isn't a recipe, but it IS some food-for-thought. ha!

grandma's green salad

just in time to kick off the summer potluck season starting this memorial day, here's another essential jell-o/cool whip recipe courtesy of my great-grandma morrell, who, incidentally, did not refer to it as "grandma's green salad" but used the much less fun name of "relief society salad," paying tribute to her church women's group where she presumably discovered the recipe. whatever you call it, this is sure be a big hit at any social function this summer, secular or otherwise.

1 tub cool whip brand whipped topping (not cool whip lite)
1 small package pistachio jell-o instant pudding mix
1 can pineapple chunks
1 can fruit cocktail in light syrup
fresh sliced bananas

combine undrained pineapple chunks and fruit cocktail in a large mixing bowl, add sliced bananas and pistachio jell-o powder, stir until jell-o is completely dissolved, fold in cool whip and chill until ready to serve

*the image used in this post was taken from the wikipedia article on watergate salad, as my google image search for "grandma's green salad" did not result in an appropriate image. while grandma's green salad is similar to watergate salad in many ways, the watergate salad recipe posted on kraftfoods.com reveals several critical differences, namely the lack of bananas and the addition of marshmallows, both of which, i feel, detract from the perfect balance of flavor and texture found in my great grandmother's recipe

The jackpot of classic ads.

I was looking at a Life magazine from 1946 because there's an article about a steel worker's strike in Homestead. However, I of course got sidetracked by the crazy ads and other features. There's one about a church social and how Heinz ketchup "is man-bait". ("say the teenage girls who usually get the job of setting the table and acting as waitresses at the church suppers. They hope that all the good eats will put the boys in a fine humour, make them willing to help with the washing-up after supper"). My excitement about this lead me to adclassix.com, where you can browse by category. The link is to the grocery section, which is most pertinent for this blog.

Frito Pie

About three weeks ago I had my first Frito Pie. Down here in the borderlands, Frito Pie is sold at many roadside stands, at carnivals and fairs, and yes, it is even served as the entree in school lunches.

In summer 2006, Miss Diana and I often fantasized about how great it was going to be eating school lunch when I became a teacher. I was genuinely looking forward to this because I love all food, and I especially loved school lunch as a child. Sometimes I would pretend I didn't like it, because all the cool kids made faces at the pizza casserole and said the cheese tasted like plastic and that the hot dogs were floating in duck pee. But really, I loved and relished it.

Now I'm confronted with the grim reality of school lunch. It is almost without fail, really gross. And causes me digestion issues during 5th period that are potentially embarrassing. But I am with school lunch the same way Marlowe is with omelettes. So on the rare occasion that I forget to bring a lunch, I get excited about buying school lunch, and then as soon as I have it I can't eat it because it is so so bad.

This is getting unnecessarily long so I will skip to the punch. I ate Frito Pie for lunch, and this is what it was:

A bag of Fritos, slit on the side of the bag to form a sort of bowl/pouch.
Chili (with beef and pinto beans) poured into bag
Nacho cheese sauce poured into bag
Served with a plastic fork

It was................delicious. Not really delicious, but the novelty of eating it right out of the Frito bag made it delicious. I may be wrong but I don't think this taste sensation exists all over the United States and I think it could be a viable business opportunity if the whole grad school/Fullbright bullshit doesn't work out for y'all. Granted, the Frito pie did give me a near instant case of diarrhea, but it was temporary and easily forgotten.

Because you eat it right out of the bag guys.

V for Velveeta®

My mother came for a visit and brought with her a free magazine she obtained by signing up somewhere on a Kraft foods website. It has lots of recipes with handy shortcuts for the busy stay-at-homer, like sauteeing chicken in italian dressing instead of taking the time to marinate it. Because I didn't have the time to scan or digitize any of these recipes, I thought I would simply direct you to the Kraft Food Service website, where you can search for recipes by ingredient. I searched by "Velveeta" and got the following recipes. The results have images that pop up when you mouseover the name!

Bacon Sauce with VELVEETA®
Bacon Cheddar Mashed Potatoes
Baked Potato Soup
Beef Salsa Soup
Beer Dip with VELVEETA®
Bistro Tuna Salad 'N Cheddar Bagel
Broccoli Cheese Strata
Cajun Corn Muffins
Carrots Au Gratin
Cheesy Bacon Grits
Cheesy Bacon Omelet
Cheesy Broccoli Soup

This post does not imply the author's support or endorsement of Kraft Foods, Inc., Velveeta®, or any related websites.

Pancakes, topped with a generous serving of -isms.

"Freedom from Want is important not only for the abundance it portrays, but for the social and familial relations it conveys. Whether or not consciously understood, the "traditional" manner of eating has meant in part that family meals are organized according to gender-specific roles: men as presiders and presenters, women as coordinators and servers. During the war, media depictions of bountiful meals with women as servers and cooks connoted stability to many Americans, in large part because the images reinforced the status quo of traditional gender roles. By masking the significant social changes occuring in society as a result of the war, Freedom from Want and similar illustrations not only were icons of abundance during a time of restricted consumption, but also functioned to naturalize gender and racial heirarchy. The image of the ordered meal unquestioningly promoted the long-held assumption that women, as wives, mothers, and domestics, would serve nutritious and abundant meals for their families, despite the fact that more and more women were involved in work outside their homes as "Rosie the Riveters" or in other, more traditionally feminine kinds of work, both voluntary and paid. Although African-Americans were for the first time moving out of their prescribed and oppresive places in society - particularly black women leaving domestic service in droves for better-paying jobs- they were commonly portrayed as the preparers and servers of the ordered meal, images that in part conveyed a desire to maintain race segregation and domination. Media representations of the Southern kitchen, featuring black "mammy" figures contentedly cooking and serving, assuaged some Americans' anxieties about the defection of a black domestic workforce lured by the prospect of employment in higher-status war jobs."

from Bentley, Amy. "Islands of Serenity: Gender, Race, and Ordered Meals during World War II" in Food in the USA: a reader.

From www.auntjemima.com:
The Aunt Jemima brand has been around for over 100 years and continues to stand for warmth, nourishment and trust -- qualities you'll find in loving moms from diverse backgrounds who care for and want the very best for their families.

1889 : Chris Rutt and Charles Underwood of the Pearl Milling Company developed Aunt Jemima, the first ready mix.
1890 : R.T. Davis purchased the struggling Aunt Jemima Manufacturing Company. He then brought the Aunt Jemima character to life when he hired Nancy Green as his spokeswoman.
1914 : The image of Aunt Jemima was so popular that the company was renamed the Aunt Jemima Mills Company.
1926 : The Quaker Oats Company purchased the Aunt Jemima Mills Company.
1933 : For the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933, the advertising planners decided to bring the Aunt Jemima character back to life. They hired Anna Robinson, described as a large, gregarious woman with the face of an angel. She traveled the country promoting Aunt Jemima until her death in 1951.
1937 : Quaker’s first registration of the Aunt Jemima trademark occurred in April, 1937.
1955 : From the mid 1950’s until the late 1960’s Aylene Lewis was hired to portray Aunt Jemima at the Aunt Jemima restaurant in the newly opened Disneyland.
1957 : Quaker introduced Aunt Jemima Buttermilk Pancake & Waffle Mix. Also at this time, Quaker began to advertise on television, showing kids and moms making not just pancakes but, “Aunt Jemimas”.
1966 : Quaker introduced syrup under the Aunt Jemima trademark and used the campaign, “Aunt Jemima, what took you so long?”.
1981 : Quaker began a campaign for frozen products, “Just Like Mommy Makes.” The campaign ran for four years.
1989 : In 1989, the image of Aunt Jemima was updated by removing her headband and giving her pearl earrings and a lace collar.