Keeping Up With The Times

It was June, 1945. World War II was in its final stages, food rationing was about to be abandoned, and--fresh from college--I was ready to embark on my career as a home economist at The Los Angeles Times. It was an exciting time to be serving L.A.’s homemakers: the new war brides, the “career” women back from their jobs in war production plants and the ordinary homemakers glad to see things returning to normal.

The home economics department at The Times--where I assisted Fleeta Hoke, known to readers as “Marian Manners”-- published a daily food column, provided cooking advice by phone and answered questions that had been mailed in. But it was the Wednesday-morning cooking school in The Times’ auditorium that was the readers’ favorite. Women arrived from all over the city to watch Marian Manners demonstrate recipes and give food preparation tips. Automobiles were rare and costly, so many homemakers came via the red Pacific Electric cars, disembarking at the Hill Street subway station and walking to The Times building at 1st and Spring. Because so many foods were rationed during the War--sugar, butter, meat, coffee, canned and processed foods--participants were eager to see what could be done with the foods available and, as rationing was discontinued, to cook more creatively.

Hoke performed her cooking demonstrations on a stage, using a special table with an adjustable overhead mirror that enabled the audience to watch the preparation while following the recipes in the day’s program. The finished products, displayed at the end of the cooking school session, were prepared the previous day since there wasn’t enough time during the two-hour class to complete recipes that had to be baked, molded, braised or processed in other ways.

Our Test Kitchen was adjacent to the stage, and it was here we tested recipes for the column and classes. Back then, many cooking supplies were provided by The Times’ advertisers, but we still had to do some shopping. Often I’d walk to the Grand Central Market on Broadway to purchase special items. Even then the market was bustling with ethnic activity, although prices were a bit lower: In 1947 you could get nine grapefruits for 25 cents, 10 pounds of potatoes for 35 cents, a tall can of red salmon for 49 cents and a flat can of tuna for 29 cents.

During the cooking class, Hoke kept her audience captivated with a repertoire of special techniques. I can still see her frosting the sides of a white layer cake, then picking it up and rolling the sides in a bed of coconut before frosting the top. Another crowd-pleaser was custard pie. She would bake the crust and filling separately in identical pie plates, then loosen the cooled custard filling and slip it into the baked crust. Voila --no soggy crust!

Baking mixes, which had previously been unavailable to the public, began making their appearance on grocery shelves after the war, and it took some time for them to be fully accepted. Although there were only a few varieties, Hoke demonstrated them all in sparkling fashion. One of the first was a gingerbread mix that she used to make cupcakes. She filled the muffin pans one-third full, added a teaspoon of peanut butter, a little more batter and finally a meringue topping that baked along with the cupcake.

Another early mix was corn bread. She dressed it up by making muffins into which she inserted a walnut-stuffed date before baking.

The first cake mix drew raves and skepticism. Hoke demonstrated the proper mixing technique and produced a cake baked and frosted the previous day for display. At the end of the program, members of the audience filed by the display table to take a closer look at the finished products and, we hoped, to admire them. But doubts lingered; some homemakers just didn’t believe that a mix cake could be as good as one made from scratch. One woman examined our picture-perfect white layer cake, shook her head and said: “Well, that cake couldn’t possibly have been made from a mix. I tried the same mix and it was awful.” Then she added, matter-of-factly: “I even improved it by adding more sugar and a couple more eggs.” Her additions, of course, had ruined the formula.

Another program was devoted to potato recipes. Because the United States was shipping wheat to many war-torn countries, the government was asking homemakers to reduce the purchase of wheat products by 40%. The Times’ 1946 cooking class recommended potatoes as a good “stand-in” for wheat products, including bread, flour, cereals, macaroni and spaghetti. (We didn’t say pasta in ‘46; the term--and most pasta varieties--were still unique to the Italian community.) Some of our potato substitutions included creamed chicken on mashed potatoes instead of toast, baked eggs in nests of mashed potatoes, potato pancakes instead of the usual variety, and meat pies topped with mashed potatoes instead of pastry.

As a Midwestern transplant, I was intrigued by California’s indigenous fruits and vegetables: persimmons, pomegranates, avocados and artichokes, to name a few. Hoke created a delicious holiday recipe for steamed persimmon pudding, and I soon learned that a sprinkle of pomegranate seeds could spark any fruit salad. Guacamole and steamed artichokes became family favorites.

Other favorite recipes of the postwar period were ragout of lamb, curried chicken, Veal Vegetable Birds, beef tongue with raisin sauce, deviled eggs in cream sauce, Southern dumplings, creamed dried beef, Ladyfingers, Charlotte Russe, Boston cream pie, sponge cake and Lemon Cake-Top Pudding. (As the new bride of a recently discharged soldier, I never tried the creamed dried beef recipe. GIs had eaten a hybrid version of the dish in the army and had given the concoction their own unflattering label. Serving anything resembling it to an ex-soldier would have upset domestic tranquility.)

All our recipes tried to stress good nutrition. We had seven basic food groups then, the same foods that are now in our Basic Four but divided differently. Eggs had their own category because of their value as a complete protein and their Vitamin A and Vitamin B content. The word cholesterol was rarely heard, though we discussed the fat content of many foods.

Cooking methods were similar to today’s. And while we had no microwaves or crock pots, we often prepared entire meals in the deep-well steam cookers that were built into many ranges.

One of our cooking programs included a deep-well cooker dinner that was assembled and cooked in this way: A rack was placed in the bottom of the cooker and one cup of water added. A ring mold of veal loaf was put on the rack and an unopened can of mushroom soup (to be used as sauce over the loaf) placed in the center-hole of the ring mold. Carrots were distributed around the soup can and over the veal loaf; a pan of apple spice pudding was then placed on top. The cooker was covered and the dinner steamed for 1 1/2 hours.

Mexican cooking was popular, and several of our classes were conducted by Elena Zelayeta, who was an outstanding cook. Her book, “Elena’s Famous Mexican and Spanish Recipes,” was a popular item at Robinson’s and Bullock’s--for $1.35.

Elena, who was blind, demonstrated her special dishes at the mirror-topped table, with her guide dog sitting at one side of the stage. I arranged her trays ahead of time, as she requested, so she knew exactly where all the ingredients were. She laughed and joked with her audience, keeping them entranced with her technical abilities as she prepared chili tamale loaf, chiles rellenos, tacos de jocoqui, chalupas and flan .

Because Los Angeles’ population and The Times’ readership were considerably smaller than they are now, we were able to answer readers’ questions by phone and by mail, a challenge that proved satisfying and humorous. Some phone questions verged on the frantic: “Somebody just gave me some brains! What do I do with them?”

We also provided recipes for large groups. “Our club wants to serve chili to 50 people. Do you have a recipe?” We did . . . and soon they did.

In June the questions turned to wedding receptions. We often suggested a recipe for something called party sandwich loaf. And at holiday time we “cooked” hundreds of turkeys by phone and by mail, often for young brides overwhelmed by their first turkey experience.

I retired from The Times in 1948 to start a family. But even today I prepare my holiday turkey, dressing and sweet potatoes the way Marian Manners did, with no objections from my four children, their spouses and my eight grandchildren. For dessert? The Times’ recipe for Charlotte Russe . . . because I’ve never been able to roll the sides of a layer cake in coconut.

VEAL VEGETABLE BIRDS

2 pounds veal steak (cut 1/2-inch thick)

6 small carrots, peeled

1 medium onion, sliced

1 egg

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons water

Salt, pepper

Bread crumbs

2 tablespoons shortening

Cut steak into 3x2-inch-piece servings. Wrap 1 carrot and slice of onion in each piece of steak. Fasten with wood picks. Beat egg with 2 tablespoons water. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Dip each steak in egg mixture, then in bread crumbs.

Heat shortening in heavy skillet. Add meat and brown on all sides. Add remaining 1 cup water. Cover and reduce heat. Cook slowly about 1 hour or until carrots are done. Makes 6 servings.

LEMON CAKE-TOP PUDDING

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup lemon juice

2 tablespoons grated lemon zest

2 tablespoons margarine

1 cup milk

2 eggs, beaten separately

Blend sugar with flour and salt. Add lemon juice, lemon zest and margarine. Slowly add milk and yolks. Fold in beaten egg whites. Pour into greased casserole and set in pan of hot water. Bake at 350 degrees about 35 minutes. Makes 4 servings.

Evaporated milk was used instead of whipping cream in this cooking school recipe because dairy products were rationed during the war. You might want to use whipping cream since it does give a better flavor and is much easier to whip. Also, though Charlotte Russe can be put together in a spring-form pan or pudding mold, in this cooking school recipe we used individual serving dishes.

CHARLOTTE RUSSE

2 tablespoons unflavored gelatin

1/2 cup cold water

4 egg yolks, well beaten

1 cup sugar

1 cup milk

2 cups evaporated milk, whipped or whipping cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 dozen Ladyfingers

Dissolve gelatin in cold water. Combine egg yolks, sugar and milk in top of double boiler. Cook and stir until mixture begins to thicken. Add gelatin and stir until dissolved. Chill thoroughly. Fold whipped evaporated milk into custard. Arrange 3 Ladyfingers in each glass serving dish or custard cup and fill with whipped mixture. Chill. Makes 6 servings.

Ladyfingers

2 egg whites

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup sifted powdered sugar

1 whole egg

2 egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup cake flour

Beat egg whites and salt until stiff but not dry. Fold in sugar and beat until mixture thickens again. Beat whole egg and egg yolks until thick and lemon-colored. Fold egg yolk mixture and vanilla into egg whites. Fold in flour and blend thoroughly.

Shape dough into 1 1/2 dozen oblongs on ungreased paper placed on baking pans. Bake at 375 degrees about 12 minutes. Remove immediately from paper. Makes 1 1/2 dozen.