Historical Nibbles

Beef and Corn Casserole Recipe

/ sandramervillehart

This recipe is from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, which was originally published in 1896.

I like making meat and vegetable casseroles for my family and this one did not disappoint me.

Chop 1 onion and set aside. Chop 1 green pepper and set aside. Peel and slice 2 firm, ripe tomatoes and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Saute the green pepper and onion in 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. (I used my cast iron skillet.) Cook, stirring often, until the onion is soft. Add 1 pound of lean ground beef, breaking it into small pieces. Cook meat in the onion until no longer pink.

Drain and return to the skillet.

To the beef mixture, add 1 can cream-style corn and salt to taste. (I used ½ teaspoon salt.) Mix well.

Prepare a 2 ½ quart baking dish with cooking spray and pour in the beef mixture. Arrange the tomato slices over the top.

The recipe calls for a topping of buttered bread crumbs. I used plain, store-bought crumbs and drizzled melted butter on top.

Bake until the crumbs are lightly browned, about 25 minutes.

I enjoyed this meal. The flavor of green pepper stood out, enhancing the whole dish. I like fresh tomatoes so I didn’t know how I’d like the cooked tomatoes on top, but I did. It worked well with the other ingredients. The only thing I didn’t really taste is the corn. Maybe add a second can of corn to the recipe.

This casserole is delicious. If your family doesn’t like to eat plain vegetables, I think it would also work to add another vegetable, such as peas, to the dish.

I’d love to hear if you try it.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

Revised by Cunningham, Marion and Laber, Jeri. The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, Alfred A Knopf Inc., 1983.

 

 

Corn Pone Pie Recipe

/ sandramervillehart

This cornbread recipe is from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, which was originally published in 1896.

I remember my dad talking about eating corn pone pie so when I found this recipe, I was intrigued.

Chop 1 onion and set aside. Chop 1 garlic clove and set aside. (I used ½ teaspoon of chopped garlic.)

Melt 3 tablespoons bacon fat in a large skillet over medium heat. (Cast iron skillets work well for this.) Saute the onion until soft. Add 1 pound of lean ground beef, breaking it into small pieces. Cook meat in the onion until no longer pink.

Drain and return to the skillet.

To the beef mixture, add 1 can chili beans, the chopped garlic, 1 can (or 2 cups) diced or stewed tomatoes, and 1 tablespoon chili powder. Salt to taste. (I used ½ teaspoon salt.)

Reduce heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

While the beef mixture simmers, prepare a topping of cornbread batter  and set aside.

Select a shallow 2 ½ quart baking dish and prepare it with cooking spray.

After simmering, pour chili mixture into the prepared baking dish. Spoon cornbread batter over the top and bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes.

This was delicious. It was similar to eating a bowl of chili with a serving of cornbread. I was surprised what a “comfort food” dish this turned out to be.

I will plan on making this for a family gathering soon.

I’d love to hear if you try it.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

Revised by Cunningham, Marion and Laber, Jeri. The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, Alfred A Knopf Inc., 1983.

 

Cornbread Recipe

/ sandramervillehart / 1 Comment

This cornbread recipe is from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, which was originally published in 1896.

I was making a corn pone pie recipe and it called for a cornbread batter topping.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare an 8×8 square baking pan with cooking spray.

Mix together ¾ cup yellow cornmeal, 1 cup flour, 1/3 cup sugar, 3 teaspoons baking powder, and ½ teaspoon of salt in a large mixing bowl.

Add 1 cup milk, 1 beaten egg, and 2 tablespoons of melted shortening or bacon fat. Mix well.

Pour batter into the prepared baking pan and bake about 20 minutes.

Since I was using this batter for another recipe, I didn’t bake it. I set it aside until needed. It made a delicious topping for the corn pone pie.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

Revised by Cunningham, Marion and Laber, Jeri. The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, Alfred A Knopf Inc., 1983.

 

Sugared Pecans Recipe

/ sandramervillehart

This Sugared Nuts recipe is from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, which was originally published in 1896.

I needed to take something to share at a recent writers’ meeting. Because it travels easily, this recipe caught my eye. You can use either pecan halves or walnut halves. I chose pecans.

Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Prepare a cookie sheet with cooking spray.

I used a pound of pecans since I was taking these to a meeting. You may need less depending on the size of the crowd.

Mix together ½ cup sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon of cinnamon in a flat bowl and set aside.

Take 1 egg white (room temperature works best for beating) and add 1 tablespoon of water. The recipe did not say how long to beat the egg white mixture, so I beat it until stiff, frothy white peaks formed.

It worked best for me to set up an assembly line: beaten egg whites next to the sugar mixture and then the cookie sheet.

Dip the pecans into the egg whites. Roll it in sugar and then place it on the cookie sheet. One by one grew tedious quickly. I put a handful of pecans into the egg whites and then placed them on a separate plate. I added pecans to the plate until the excess egg whites were absorbed. Then I rolled them by small bunches into the sugar.

I had to make a second batch of cinnamon sugar to finish a pound of pecans.

Bake the sugared pecans for 1 hour at 225 degrees, stirring them every 15 minutes. They smell heavenly!

Delicious! Baking made the pecans a crunchy dessert that later softened. The aroma made me hungry. I like cinnamon so I will double it the next time I make these.

A pound of pecans filled the whole cookie sheet, so let that guide you in guessing how many you will need to serve. These make a delicious appetizer for a party.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

Revised by Cunningham, Marion and Laber, Jeri. The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, Alfred A Knopf Inc., 1983.

 

 

 

 

Corn Crisps Recipe

/ sandramervillehart

I bought The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, which was originally published in 1896.

A recipe for corn crisps caught my eye. I’d never eaten them. The recipe is quick and easy so I decided to try it with two different corn meals.

The first batch was made using a coarse grind corn meal.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and prepare a cookie sheet with cooking spray. (The original recipe says to use butter on the baking pan. That probably enhances the buttery flavor of the crisp.)

Set aside a ½ cup of yellow cornmeal and ¼–½ teaspoon of salt.

Add 2 tablespoons of butter and ¾ cup of water to a small saucepan. Bring this to boil and then immediately stir in the dry ingredients. Mix well.

Drop by rounded teaspoons onto prepared baking sheet. Bake 10 to 15 minutes.

The batch with the coarse grind corn meal lightly browned in 12 minutes. They tasted good but very salty.

I then made the recipe using some cornmeal milled in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. These took longer to bake. I took them out at 16 minutes. The bottom was lightly browned but the top was still pale. These retained their shape. They still tasted salty, so I think reducing salt by half may be better.

Leave them in the oven longer for a crispy consistency.

All in all, an easy salty snack that can be cooked and served within a half hour.

I halved this recipe and it made 6 crisps each time.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

Revised by Cunningham, Marion and Laber, Jeri. The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, Alfred A Knopf Inc., 1983.

 

 

Popcorn Balls

/ sandramervillehart / 2 Comments

The Fannie Farmer Cookbook was originally published in 1896. Fannie Farmer’s name is still well-known today.

A recipe for Popcorn Balls stated that it was “an authentic old-fashioned version.” Intrigued by a recipe considered “old-fashioned” in 1896, I decided to make it.

Preheat oven to 250. (All temperatures are Fahrenheit.)

Pop 3 quarts of unbuttered, unsalted popcorn. To do this frugally, add 1/3 cup of popcorn to a lunch-sized paper bag. Important—tape the bag shut. Microwave it on the popcorn setting until popping slows. This makes at least 10 cups of popcorn, which was plenty.

Coat a large, oven-safe bowl with shortening. Pour the popcorn in the bowl and keep warm in a 250 oven.

You’ll need 2 to 4 tablespoons of butter later. For now, butter a large spoon or fork and set it aside. You’ll need some wax paper for the hot popcorn balls as well.

In a 3-quart heavy pot, combine 2 cups light corn syrup, 1 tablespoon cider vinegar, and ½ teaspoon of salt. Stir to mix together.

Cook over medium heat. Use a candy thermometer to monitor the temperature of the syrup until it reaches the hard-ball stage of 250 degrees.

There was a strong vinegar smell when the syrup began to cook that dissipated after a few minutes.

The recipe says you can stir occasionally, but I had to make this twice because I forgot to add vanilla at the end the first time. The final caramel-type mixture worked better without stirring.

When the temperature reaches 200, watch carefully as it begins to shoot up quickly.

Remove from heat when it reaches 250. Add 2 teaspoons of vanilla. I was surprised that the vanilla sizzled. Stir to mix it in.

Remove the warm popcorn from the oven. Moving quickly, use the buttered spoon to toss the popcorn as you pour it slowly from the kettle. The caramel is very thick and pours in a thin ribbon while you move the popcorn around to cover it.

Butter your fingers. Since the popcorn sets quickly, as soon as the popcorn mixture cools enough to handle, begin shaping it into 3-inch balls. Start from the outside parts that have cooled a bit. Keep buttering your fingers to enable you to work with the sticky popcorn.

My husband and I both thought these popcorn balls tasted like Cracker Jacks. Delicious! But, if you cook it until 250, the caramel is little hard. I’d remove it at about 240—or even a little less. Experiment for the caramel consistency you enjoy.

I had fun learning how to make this, but the makers of Cracker Jacks have perfected it long ago. I think I’d buy a box next time. I bought Cracker Jacks a few months ago for a baseball party so they are still around.

Enjoy!

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

Revised by Cunningham, Marion and Laber, Jeri. The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, Alfred A Knopf Inc., 1983.

 

 

Early Baseball Snacks

/ sandramervillehart

Doscher Brothers, a Cincinnati confectioner, made a type of flat popcorn ball and named it Popcorn Fritters. The snack, resembling a rice cake, was sold to the Cincinnati Red Stockings, probably beginning in the mid-1870s. Their home ballpark from 1876-1879 was Avenue Grounds, located about four miles from the center of Cincinnati. Fans traveled in trains and horse-drawn streetcars to games.

Two brothers, Frederick and Louis Rueckheim, experimented with adding molasses and peanuts into popcorn and introduced the treat when the World’s Fair came to Chicago in 1893. They perfected the product and began selling it as “Cracker Jacks” in 1896.

“Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks” is a line from the popular 7th inning stretch baseball tune “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” This song, written by Albert Von Tilzer and Jack Norworth in 1908, immortalized both baseball snacks.

Sometime from 1896 to 1908, Cracker Jacks had become a popular snack at ballgames.

The song also mentions peanuts. That salty snack got its start in 1895. Harry Stevens, a ballpark concessioner, sold advertising on scorecards. A peanut company paid for their advertisement with peanuts—a very wise decision because Stevens sold them to fans at the ballparks.

It seems we can also thank Harry Stevens for bringing hot dogs to ballparks.

Ice cream—another early ballpark food!—wasn’t selling well on a cool Spring day in 1905. Stevens sent his employees to buy sausages and Vienna rolls. The sausages were served on the rolls to fans and called “red hots.” They sold so well that he kept them on the menu. In 1910, a cartoonist shortened the name to “hot dog.”

What about drinks?

Brooklyn’s first enclosed ballpark included a saloon on an outfield corner where they sold beer.

The Cincinnati Reds ballpark from 1902-1911 was the Palace of the Fans, a grandstand designed after the Chicago’s World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893. This park either had a bar on the grounds or one nearby because waiters served beer to standing-room crowds on “Rooter’s Row,” an area underneath opera-style boxes that jutted out three rows from the grandstand.

Since families attended baseball games, it seems likely those early ballparks also sold lemonade, tea, or coffee.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

“Reds Ballparks,” Reds.com, 2019/03/23 http://mlb.mlb.com/cin/history/ballparks.jsp.

Suess, Jeff. “Red’s legendary Palace of the Fans symbol of baseball’s growth,” Cincinnati.com, 2019/3/22 https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2017/04/05/reds-legendary-palace-fans-symbol-baseballs-growth/100063096/.

“The History of Ballpark Food,” History.com, 2019/03/23 https://www.history.com/news/the-history-of-ballpark-food.

“The Story Behind Peanuts and Baseball,” National Peanut Board, 2019/03/25  https://www.nationalpeanutboard.org/news/whats-story-behind-peanuts-and-baseball.htm.

Weber, Roger. “A History of Food at the Ballpark,” SportsLibrary.net, 2019/03/25 http://baseballjudgments.tripod.com/id45.html.

Wilson, Laurnie. “Candy History: Cracker Jacks,” Candyfavorites.com, 2019/03/25 https://www.candyfavorites.com/blog/history-of-cracker-jacks-retro/.

Woellert, Dann. Cincinnati Candy—A Sweet History, American Palate, 2017.

 

Soda Fountains Still Inspire Nostalgia

/ sandramervillehart / 2 Comments

An 1895 photo of the soda fountain and candy store at Mullane’s on Fourth Street in Cincinnati, Ohio, shows men and women ready to serve customers. A long marble-topped counter appears to have spindle-backed chairs (not stools) for at least twenty customers.

Mullane’s made their own syrups—over 30 of them—for ice cream sodas. Some of the store’s interesting flavors were Catawba syrup, Ives Seedling syrup, beef tea syrup, and Nesselrode, which was a Victorian drink with candied pineapple, Maraschino cherries, hazelnuts, and rum flavoring.

Other flavors available in the late 1800s were Cherry Smash, Orange Julep, Orange Crush, and Green River. Root beer and Coca-Cola flavors have thrived to this day.

Just how long have soda fountains been around? Samuel Fahnestock received the first patent for his soda fountain in 1819, and other inventors continued making improvements.

A soda jerk squirted the highly-concentrated soda fountain syrup into a glass and then added carbonated water and phosphate. Watching their tasty drinks being prepared must have been part of the customers’ anticipation.

Drugstores often had soda fountains, first appearing around the 1830s and growing in popularity. In 1888, Jacob Baur started manufacturing carbon dioxide in tanks. This made it easier to establish soda fountain shops, which were in demand through the 1950s.

Our tastes may have changed over the years but the sight of an old-fashioned soda fountain and ice cream parlor can still inspire nostalgia—even for those of us who never experienced its heyday.

When you see one of these shops, stop a few minutes. Relax and enjoy an experience readily available to our grandparents and great-grandparents—who probably walked to the soda shop after a movie date.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

Bellis, Mary. “The History of the Soda Fountain,” Theinventors.org, 2019/3/22 http://theinventors.org/library/inventors/blsodafountain.htm.

“History of the Soda Fountain,” Soderlund Drugstore Museum, 2019/03/22 http://drugstoremuseum.org/index.php/soda-fountain/soda-fountain-history.

“Invention and History of Soda Fountain,” History of Soft Drinks, 2019/03/22 http://www.historyofsoftdrinks.com/soft-drink-history/history-of-soda-fountain/.

“Syrup Dispensers and the Drugstore,” Soderlund Drugstore Museum, 2019/03/22 http://drugstoremuseum.org/soda-fountain/syrup-dispensers/.

“The Drugstore Soda Fountain,” Soderlund Drugstore Museum, 2019/03/22 https://www.drugstoremuseum.com/soda-fountain/.

Woellert, Dann. Cincinnati Candy—A Sweet History, American Palate, 2017.

Baseball Cards First Sold with Gum?

/ sandramervillehart

Did you know that baseball cards celebrated a 150-year anniversary in 2018? In 1868, the first baseball cards were produced by Peck & Snyder, a sporting goods store in New York.

Tobacco companies began including baseball cards with their products in the 1880s. This practice eventually died out because they learned that children were the main audience for the cards—most states prohibited children from purchasing tobacco by the end of World War I.

So, when were baseball cards first included with gum?

H.D. Smith & Company, a Cincinnati company that began in 1856, may have been the first to include a baseball card packaged with gum. An ad that mentions HD Smith & Co.’s products in Leslie’s is dated October 27, 1888. A partial ad reads:

“A novel production of theirs this season is the St. Louis and Detroit Champion Baseball Gum—a piece of gum with a perfect lithograph picture of one of the champion nine of the National League or American Association on each piece. The pictures were made to order in Germany, and are wonders in their way.”

When an auction house came across two baseball cards from 1888, they researched the origin. The players were Sam Thompson and Ned Hanlon. “H.D.S. & Co.” was printed on one of the tabs. Further digging led to the H.D. Smith & Company. If these were printed early in 1888, they believed they might have found baseball cards from the first chewing gum company to include them.

This company manufactured and sold a variety of chewing gums. The “Big Long Chewing Gum” was advertised as “the best paraffine gum made.” They sold a patented medicinal gum called “Cough.” “Red Riding Hood” gum was advertised on ceiling fan pulls.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

Blitz, Matt. “How Gum and Baseball Cards Became Intertwined,” Food & Wine, 2019/03/18 https://www.foodandwine.com/news/how-gum-and-baseball-cards-became-intertwined.

“Spectactular 1888 Scrapps Uncut Pair of HOFers – Sam Thompson/Ned Hanlon – SGC Fair 20,” Love of the Game Auctions, 2019/03/18 http://loveofthegameauctions.com/spectacular-1888-scrapps-uncut-pair-of-hofers—sa-lot3962.aspx.

“Pictorial history of baseball cards covers 150 years of diamond dandies on cardboard,” Starr Cards, 2019/03/18 http://starrcards.com/history-of-baseball-cards/.

Woellert, Dann. Cincinnati Candy—A Sweet History, American Palate, 2017.

Confectioner of the West

/ sandramervillehart

Johann Meyer immigrated with his family from Württemberg to the United States in 1804. Unfortunately, sickness claimed the lives of his father, brother, and two sisters during the ocean voyage. Even worse, the family’s belongings were stolen when they disembarked in Baltimore. Then about eleven, Johann indentured himself for eight years to pay his family’s passage. Yet the skills he learned while indentured served him well later in life.

He met his wife while working for a baker in Philadelphia and, in 1817, the young couple moved to Cincinnati where Johann started the city’s first confectionery.

A few years later, Revolutionary War General Lafayette received an invitation from President James Monroe to tour all twenty-four states as the nation’s 50th anniversary approached. Lafayette accepted and his Grand Tour lasted from August of 1824 through September of 1825.

A tour stop in Cincinnati gave Johann the opportunity to create a dessert display for a grand ball held at Cincinnati Hotel, located at the northwest corner of Front and Broadway Streets on the Public Landing

Lafayette arrived by barge in Cincinnati on May 19, 1825. Though the city’s population was then only about 12,000, some 50,000 gathered at the Public Landing on the Ohio River to honor the Revolutionary War hero. Speeches by General William Henry Harrison and Ohio Governor Jeremiah Morrow remarked on the many war patriots that had settled in Cincinnati.

At the grand ball, marzipan figures recreated events from Lafayette’s Continental Army experiences on Johann’s elaborate six-foot sugar pyramid. His amazing dessert earned him the nickname of “Confectioner of the West.”

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

Engelking, Tama Lea. “The Story Behind CSU’s Lafayette Collection,” Cleveland State University Library Special Collections, 2019/03/18 http://www.clevelandmemory.org/lafayette/engelking.shtml.

Icher, Julien. “The Lafayette Trail: Mapping General Lafayette’s Farewell Tour in the United States (1824-1825), American Battlefield Trust, 2019/03/18 https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/lafayette-trail-mapping-general-lafayettes-farewell-tour-united-states-1824-1825.

Jones, William. “Lafayette’s Visit to the United States, 1824-1825,” The American Patriot, 2019/03/18 https://larouchepub.com/eiw/public/2007/eirv34n46-20071123/54-63_46.pdf.

Suess, Jeff. “Our history: Hunting for Lafayette almost 200 years later,” Cincinnati Enquirer, 2019/03/18 https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2018/10/11/project-maps-lafayettes-u-s-tour/1600338002/.

Suess, Jeff. “Our history: Thousands welcomed war hero Lafayette in 1825,” Cincinnati Enquirer, 2019/03/18 https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2018/06/20/thousands-welcomed-lafayettes-visit-1825/717476002/.

Woellert, Dann. Cincinnati Candy—A Sweet History, American Palate, 2017.