Twice-Baked Bread

Bread cut or torn into small pieces and heated in a very slow oven until thoroughly dried and very delicately browned is good food for children.

The warming oven of a coal stove is about hot enough for this purpose. In the case of gas ovens it is often difficult to get the gas low enough without having the door open a little way.

The advantage of tearing instead of cutting the bread is that it makes it lighter in texture and easier to eat. The crust can be torn off from all but the ends of the loaf in one piece. This crust should be torn into pieces about two inches wide. The inside of an ordinary loaf of bread will make about 16 pieces of convenient size. Tear first across the loaf and then tear each half into eight pieces. It is usually necessary to make a small cut first in order to start the tearing. It is well to keep the crust separate, as otherwise they are likely to get too brown. Such bread will need to be reheated before being served unless it is kept in a warm place, like a warming oven.

The above is a good way to use stale bread. Some people crush it and use it with milk as a breakfast food.

Farmers’ Bulletin 717, March 4, 1916 “Food for Young Children”

As I wrote last weekend, in addition to being tasty treats, these recipes also act as a window into the homes of their time. They reflect the economic and political realities. These quotes come from bulletins in the late teens and discuss the need for food substitutions:

“As a nation we have depended largely on meat as a source of protein, i.e., tissue-building food. At the present time, however, meat is not only scarce but also needed by our soldiers and Allies. Eggs, which often take the place of meat, are high in price because of the expense of feed. It is therefore necessary for fish. Milk, cheese and tissue-building vegetables to figure prominently is our menus as a substitute for meat and eggs.”

Extension Bulletin 216, October 1, 1917 “Substitutes for Meat”

“These recipes call for less sugar, or shortening, or something other than white flour; hence the name “war cakes”, which makes one think of conservation and economy.

Extension Bulletin 242, November, 1917 “Baking Club Project-War Cakes”

“To conserve wheat is not a hardship to the American people. With abundant crops of corn, rice, potatoes, oats, barley, buckwheat, kafir, milo, feterita, peas, beans, peanuts, etc., any one of which may be used in larger or smaller amounts in place of wheat flour, there is no danger of hunger or lack of bread. Every housewife, therefore is urged to use some substitute for part of the wheat flour in whatever bread, biscuits, muffins, pastry, etc., she prepares thereby joining the ranks of those who are helping to win the war. Such bread will have even greater nutritive value than if made from flour alone. In fact, many believe that for food purposes a mixture of different grains is better than one kind alone. In using wheat substitutes, therefore, locally grown products should be used as much as possible. All unnecessary shipment of materials should be avoided, so that transportation facilities may be reserved to the greatest degree for the needs of our soldiers and essential war business. Furthermore, almost every section of our country produces in abundance some crop other than wheat, and to market this at home rather than at a distance would prove an economic benefit to such localities.”

Farmers Bulletin, March 1918, “Use of Wheat Flour Substitutes in Baking”

Cheese Pudding (6-8 servings)

• 8 slices buttered bread, preferably whole wheat or graham
• ¼ to ½ pound American cheese, grated or ground
• 4 eggs
• 4 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ cup bread crumbs

1. Place slices of buttered bread on bottom of a greased baking tin. Sprinkle part of the cheese evenly over the buttered bread.
2. Place alternate layer of the cheese over the buttered bread.
3. Beat eggs, add milk and salt. Pour this mixture over the bread and cheese.
4. Sprinkle bread crumbs on top.
5. Bake in a moderate oven until knife thrust in center show that the custard is set.

Variation: Corn may be used instead of bread and cheese, especially cream-style corn.

Extension Bulletin 537 Low Cost Menus for One Month December 1939

Ground beets with Harvard sauce (6 servings)

• 3-4 large beets
• 1 ½ cups boiling water
• ¾ teaspoon salt

Beets are often so tough and hard that it requires two hours or more to cook them whole. Time may be saved and the product improved by peeling and grinding or grating the beets. When the water is boiling, add the salt and ground beets, cover and boil rapidly until tender, which takes about 35 minutes for tough beets. Addition of acid sauce brings back red color.

Harvard sauce for beets

• 2 tablespoons (level) cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup vinegar
• 2/3 cup boiling water
• 2 tablespoons butter

1. Place cornstarch, sugar, salt and vinegar in a small saucepan and mix thoroughly.
2. Place on stove, add boiling water, and stir until mixture thickens. Cook five minutes.
3. Add butter. Combine sauce and cooked beets and serve hot.

Extension Bulletin 537 Low Cost Menus for One Month December 1939

Prunes

• ¾ pound dried prunes
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon flour

Dumplings

• 1 ½ cups flour
• 2 ½ tsps baking powder
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tablespoon fat
• Milk, about ½ cup

1. Bring prunes to a boil and soak 2 or 3 hours after boiling.
2. Stew gently until tender.
3. Mix flour and sugar of bottom column, add to the prune juice and cook until juice is thickened as a thin sauce.
4. For the dough, mix and sift together all the dry ingredients of top column.
5. Work in the fat either with fingers or knife.
6. Add milk, making a drop batter. Drop by tablespoons on top of hot prunes.
7. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.
8. Serve immediately with nutmeg sauce

Variation: Stew apples that hold their shape. When nearly done, cook dumplings on top of them. Serve with nutmeg sauce.

Nutmeg  Sauce (4 servings)

• 1 cup milk or top milk
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1. Combine sugar and nutmeg dry. Add mixture to milk.
2. Stir until sugar is dissolved.
3. Serve cold as sauce for puddings.

Variation: 1/8 teaspoon of ground cinnamon instead of nutmeg.

Extension Bulletin 537 Low Cost Menus for One Month December 1939

“There is a certain amount of confusion regarding the name for that three-legged, long-handled frying pan we call a “spider.” Collectors of kitchenware tell us that its shape evokes the arachnid-high stilty legs holding up a round black body. With a bit of a stretch, the long handle appendage is also somehow lifelike. The opening at the shaped tip of the handle, usually a hook or a rattail, suggests an eye. The organic nature of the image is carried into its name, as was typical of early technology terminology. It’s like the common use of the word “dogs,” (originally work animals,) and the terms “firedogs” (andirons,) or “spit dogs” (mechanical spit turners.)”

To learn more, read the There’s History in Your Frying Pan article in the Journal of Antiques Collectibles.

Cheese Jelly Salad

• ½ cupful of grated cheese
• 1 tablespoon of gelatin
• 1 cupful of whipped cream
• Salt and pepper to taste

Mix the cheese with the whipped cream, season to taste with salt and pepper, and add to the gelatin dissolved in a scant cupful of water. This may be molded in a large mold or in small molds.

When the jelly begins to harden, cover with grated cheese. The jelly should be served on a lettuce leaf, preferably with a cream dressing or a French dressing, to which a little grated cheese has been added.

Extension Bulletin 537 Low Cost Menus for One Month December 1939

Eggless, Butterless, Milkless Cake

• 2 c brown sugar
• 2 c hot water
• 2 T lard or other shortening
• 2 c raisins or dried prunes or dried apricots. Wash but do not soak prunes or apricots.
• 1 t salt
• 1 t cinnamon
• 1 t cloves
• 4 c flour
• 1 t soda

Cook together for 5 minutes, after they begin to bubble, everything but the flour and soda.Cool-then add flour and soda sifted together.Bake in 2 loaves for 45 minutes. Best after standing a week.

Note: 2 c of honey may be used instead of sugar. 2 T chocolate may be added if desired.

Extension Bulletin 242, November, 1917,  Baking Club Project-War Cakes

As you enjoy the dishes from days of yore this month, remember that they weren’t always “historic.” The useful the tips, tidbits, and guides included in these recipes were once quite contemporary and modern, reflecting more than just the meals that were put on tables, but a complex social, political, and cultural environment. How do the ingredients reflect the economic conditions? How do the dietary suggestions point to health concerns? How do the exclusions reveal the social situation?

For those who are ambitious and looking for more than just an afternoon read, check out Cuisine and Culture: A History of Food and People, Food: The History of Taste (California Studies in Food and Culture, Better Than Homemade : Amazing Food That Changed the Way We Eat, Fashionable Food: Seven Decades of Food Fads, and Something from the Oven: Reinventing Dinner in 1950s America. Or for a more specialized lesson, look to Salt: A World History, The True History of Chocolate, Spice: The History of a Temptation, and Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World. And despite the misstatement “there was no real Betty Crocker,” (OSU’s Mercedes Bates was real!), Finding Betty Crocker: The Secret Life of America’s First Lady of Food is an interesting book that shows how Betty Crocker was turned into one of the most successful marketing tools ever.

If you don’t want to head to your arm chair with a book, but curl up with your computer instead, there are many web sites dedicated to the history of food. The Association for the Study of Food and Society is an international organization dedicated to exploring the complex relationships among food, culture, and society. The Anthropology of Food site is a web journal dedicated to the social sciences of food. Other, more anecdotal sites are also only a click away. What do you know about the history of Ceviche? Or the tale behind Frogmore Stew? Or the story of England’s tea time? The History and Legends of Favorite Foods site will give you a few details—and the opportunity to share your own bits of food wisdom. Have you ever thought about what foods the Vikings ate? How Thomas Jefferson made his ice cream? What the pioneers cooked along the Oregon Trail? Or who invented the potato chip…and why? Take a trip to the Food Timeline site! As the site says, “food history presents a fascinating buffet of popular lore and contradictory facts.” Explore and learn how the foods we eat have changed and evolved to their present version. You can also click around to learn more about the Slow Food Movement and the US Ark of Taste. Finally, The Michigan State University Library and the MSU Museum have partnered to create an online collection of some of the most influential and important American cookbooks from the late 18th to early 20th century called Feeding America: The Historic American Cookbook Project. Digital images of the pages of each cookbook are available as well as full-text transcriptions and the ability to search within the books, across the collection, in order to find specific information.

But what if you want more about Corvallis and OSU? Yes, there are even more resources to learn more about our community! The Ten Rivers Food Web, the Oregon Farmers Markets Association, and the Corvallis-Albany Farmers’ Markets all have great sites dedicated to our own food resources. To see what’s cooking by Corvallis cooks, look to the AllRecipes site for several local people sharing their recipes. And the campus departments are brimming with guides. Check out the College of Health and Human Sciences’ site Cultural and Historical Aspects of Food. Don’t forget the Department of Food Science & Technology (yes, this is where you find out about the Food Sensory Lab). Finally, The Food Innovation Center at OSU is dedicated to offering experience and technical skills to help foster the success of food and agricultural enterprises.

Turning to our Archives, make sure to look at the Ava Milam Clark Papers, the College of Home Economics and Education Records (RG 141), the Betty E. Hawthorne Collection, the Oregon Home Economics Association Records, the Extension Service Records (RG 111), the Nutrition and Food Management Records (RG 217), as well as the publications and photographic collections for the College of Home Economics (P 44) and Home Economics Extension (P 115).

What to have this morning? Let’s look to the December 1939 Extension Bulletin 537: Low Cost Menus for One Month for inspiration.

Carrot omelet (6 servings)

• 6 eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 6 tablespoons milk
• 1 pint creamed carrots
• 2 tablespoons fat for frying omelet

1. Beat the eggs briskly. Add salt, milk and flour mixed with a little of the milk.
2. Place frying pan to heat and place fat in it.
3. When frying pan is moderately hot, pour in egg mixture and cook slowly.  When set on bottom, slit bottom and let juice run under to cook.
4. When the eggs are set except for thin top layer, spread the creamed vegetable over one-half of the omelet.
5. Loosen the other half from the sides and bottom of pan, and with knife or spatula and pancake turner, turn the other half of the omelet over on top of the vegetable. Cook slowly three to four minutes longer. Loosen from pan and take up on hot platter.

Variation:  Almost any kind of creamed vegetable, such as asparagus, may be used in an omelet.