Text 15944, 76 rader
Skriven 2008-11-01 22:41:29 av Nancy Backus (1:3634/12.0)
     Kommentar till en text av Ruth Haffly
Ärende: garlic
==============
-=> Quoting Ruth Haffly to Nancy Backus on 10-30-08 13:42 <=-

 RH>> otherwise. Birthdays always had cake (no ice cream) except my dad's--he
 RH>> always had strawberry short cake.  It's something his mom started;
 RH>> we've often wondered how she got strawberries in January in upstate NY.
 NB>> Good question.  Maybe a greenhouse product?  I'm sure they were pricey
 NB>> in any case... a good reason to save it for super special...  At least
 NB>> if they were fresh.  They might have been frozen strawberries, they
 NB>> were often used for shortcakes...

 RH> I know my mom used frozen strawberries but freezers weren't too common
 RH> in the 1920s-40s.  My dad was born in 1922. I know the family had an
 RH> ice box for years but don't know when they got their first "real"
 RH> fridge with a freezer.  

I just checked with my resident font of information... (G)  His grampa
was born and brought up in Northern New York (St Lawrence co) in the
late 1800's, and had told him lots about how things were back then. 
Greenhouses were used to grow fruits in the winter, mostly vine or small
bush varieties, so strawberries and other berries were commonly grown
there.  Some got exotic and even did miniature oranges.  There were
some* commercially frozen foods, but the only way to freeze and keep
frozen was to surround by ice, so iceboxes wouldn't work for home use. 
So, not likely to have had frozen strawberries, but fresh were quite
possible, if a bit pricey, so likely to be used just for super special.

 RH> Guess I ought to get my dad to start writing somewhat of an
 RH> autobiography so we will have some of those details preserved. 

Very good idea.  :)  And/or get him talking on tape...  :)

 RH> I inherited (in 1974) my grandmother's first edition Betty Crocker
 RH> Picture Cookbook.  It's a bit worn but not as bad as the copy my mom
 RH> has as it's her main "go to" book. I bought a JoC in a used book store
 RH> some years ago, a 2 volume paperback edition.

The most used and loved ones become quite worn, indeed... :)
 
 NB>> Betty Crocker's for Boys and Girls.  

 RH> That's the one I got one year from a friend for my 8th birthday.  I'm
 RH> not sure if my mom still has it or what became of it but mom made the
 RH> snow man cake almost every year after I got it for a brother's January
 RH> birthday.  One year my sister that has an August birthday requested
 RH> (and got) it.  It's basically a white cake, baked in 2 layers that are
 RH> set up as a snow man. It is frosted in white and coconut sprinkled over
 RH> that, with gum drop eyes, nose, mouth, buttons, etc.
 
Lots of neat recipes in that cookbook.  :)

 RH> It still is one of my favorite points of reference.  Which LLLI cook
 RH> book do you have?  I have "Mother's in the Kitchen" and "Whole Foods
 RH> for Whole Families", first edition of the latter (with my name
 RH> mentioned in the list of "many LLLI contributers").  Rachel got copies
 RH> (via her sister) of both when she got married.

I know that I have Mother's in the Kitchen... probably not the latter,
as I was last truly involved with LLL almost 30 years ago....  I took my
niece to one meeting shortly after her baby was born, so that she'd have
at least a point of contact with them.
 
 NB> Fanny Farmer and NYTimes Natural Foods.  :)

 RH> Don't have those but I've got lots of others.  One favorite is "The
 RH> Deaf Smith County Cookbook".

I've got that one, but never used it much...  have lots others, too,
that have never or rarely been used.  Both FF and the Natural Foods ones
are in paperback... and certainly show their usage...  I even ended up
getting a spare copy of the latter when I had a chance, just in case. :)

ttyl      neb

... It's a waist of thyme to putt yore trussed in spelling chequers

 * Origin:  (1:3634/12)