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Reminiscing with dishes of the 1930s |
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Thursday, 02 July 2009 |
 By ELLEN MORTENSEN
Chief Assistant Editor
Recently, area citizens were treated to a very special series presenting history of the 1930s, by Kansas-Nebraska Chaut-auqua.
Traveling Chautauquas in the late 19th and early 20th centuries brought the world to rural communities in Nebraska. Chautauqua combined programs of political oratory and lectures about health, science and the humanities with entertainment, such as opera singers and stage performances of Shakespeare.
During the early 20th century, Chautauquas remained very popular, but began to decline with the rise of radio and film entertainment.
In 1984, the Nebraska Humanities Council rekindled its state’s Chautauqua traditions, bringing modern Chautauqua programs to communities across Nebraska. This year Broken Bow was one of those communities.
Titled, “Bright Dreams, Hard Times: America in the Thirties,” the Custer County Fairgrounds played host to the 5-day event, with large crowds packing in to the big top tent each night. Attendees were also able to enjoy food each evening and a wonderful display of 1930s memorabilia at the Custer County Grange food stand.
The stand served two popular staples from the decade; sloppy joes, and ham and beans. In honor of the Chautauqua event, we did some research and came up with our own list of popular recipes from the 30s.
Though not that different from many of the recipes we find today, they were different from most of the dishes found in the previous decade. Some of these recipes, such as the Peanut Butter Balls, set the standard for many of the foods we enjoy today.
Mystery Cake, Campbell’s Soup
Cooking with condensed soups (usually Campbell’s, but Heinz and Hormel also were popular) had really taken hold in the 1920s, but this 1930s recipe was one of the first departures from the sauce/aspic oeuvre.
2 - cups sifted cake flour
1 - tablespoon baking powder
1/2 - teaspoon baking soda
1/2 - teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 - teaspoon ground cinnamon or mace
1/2 - teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup seedless raisins, coarsely chopped
1/2 - cup vegetable shortening
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, well beaten
1 (15-ounce) can condensed tomato soup
Philly-Vanilly Frosting (below)
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and spices together in a medium-size bowl. Toss the raisins to coat with 1/4 cup of the flour mixture. Cream the shortening in a large bowl. Add the sugar gradually to the shortening, creaming until light. Beat in the eggs until thoroughly mixed. Add the flour mixture alternately with the soup to the egg mixture. Stir until smooth. Fold in the raisins. Pour into two greased and floured 8-inch layer pans. Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Frost with Philly-Vanilly Frosting.
Philly-Vanilly Frosting
1 -(8-ounce) package cream cheese
4 - cups confectioners’ sugar
1 - tablespoon butter, melted
1 - teaspoon vanilla extract
Beat the cheese until soft in a large bowl. Work in the sugar, then beat in the melted butter and vanilla. Continue beating until very light.
Meatloaf
1 - pound regular or lean ground beef
1/2 - pound mild Italian sausage, casings removed
1 - medium onion, chopped
1 - cup cracker crumbs or cracker meal
1 - 6-ounce can tomato paste
3 - eggs, beaten
3 - tablespoons chili powder
1 - teaspoon salt
1/2 - teaspoon pepper
2 bacon slices, halved
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Combine the ground beef, sausage, onion, cracker crumbs, tomato paste, eggs, chili powder, salt, and pepper in a large bowl; mix well.
Place the bacon strips on the bottom of an 8x 4-inch loaf pan. Place the ground beef mixture on top of the bacon. Pat down with fingertips to spread evenly.
Bake 1 hour and 5 minutes, or until a meat thermometer reaches 175˚. Remove from the oven and let stand 10 minutes. Invert on a cutting board and slice.
Serves 4 to 6.
Peanut Butter Balls
As evidenced by dozens of early 20th century American cookbooks, peanut cookies recipes were quite common. These, however, called for crushed/chopped peanuts as an ingredient. It is not until the early 1930s that we find peanut butter listed as an ingredient in cookies.
The 1933 edition of Pillsbury's Balanced Recipes contains a recipe for Peanut Butter Balls which instructs the cook to roll the dough into balls and press them down with the tines of a fork. This practice is still common in America today.
1 - cup Pillsbury's Best Flour
1/4 - teaspoon salt
1/2 - teaspoon soda
1/2 - cup peanut butter
1/4 - cup shortening
1/2 - cup brown sugar
1 - egg
2 - tablespoons lemon juice
Grated rind of 1 lemon
Sift flour, salt and soda together. Cream peanut butter and shortening; add sugar gradually.
Add unbeaten egg, lemon juice and grated rind; beat well.
Stir in dry ingredients. Chill dough thoroughly.
Form dough into small balls; place on greased baking sheet; press each cooky once with tines of a fork to flatten. Bake in moderate oven (375˚).
Banana Bread
The earliest recipe that could be found for banana bread is dated 1933:
2 - cups Pillsbury's Best flour
1/2 - teaspoon soda
1/2 - teaspoon salt
2 - teaspoons baking powder
1/2 - cup chopped nutmeats
1/2- cup Pillsbury's Wheat Bran
1/4 - cup shortening
1/2 - cup sugar
2 - tablespoons thick sour cream
1 1/2 - cup mashed bananas
Sift flour, soda, salt and baking powder together; stir in nut meats and wheat bran. Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition.
Combine mashed bananas and sour cream; add alternately with flour to first mixture. Bake in a greased 8x4x2 loaf pan lined with waxed paper, at 350˚ for about 1 1/4 hours. |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 08 July 2009 )
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