The Plucky Housewives

It was lunchtime yesterday and I was hungry, only not for the usual sandwich, salad or leftovers.  It was a cold, rainy day and I wanted something warm and cozy.   What came to mind was an old standard from my childhood.  My mother would open up a jar of home-canned tomatoes into a sauce pan, add soda crackers, butter and some cream and heat until bubbly.  It was spooned into some bowls and always hit the spot.   Today, I did the usual, adding some basil and parmesan cheese (something my mother never would have done) and was curled up on the couch, listening to the rain and feeling all cozy again! I started to wonder, as I usually do, where did this come from?  My mother’s old standards have a tradition of being German-born, so I went about researching to confirm its origins.  It was more complicated than I thought.  In 2009, the Chicago Tribune ran an article in it’s A&E section, telling the story of Tomato pudding as an early-American recipe.   Tomato pudd

My Neice Anne is a fabulous cook and loves to try to take old things and make them new.   She takes combinations that you ordinarily wouldnt think of putting together and turns them into mouth-watering, just got to have more dishes.  This is a great salad that is a great accompaniment to any grill meal, or it can stand alone by adding some of that leftover grilled chicken or beef you had the night before! Annie’s Salad Romaine lettuce, washed, root end removed and rough chopped Grape or cherry tomatoes (I use 1/2 a Costco package of grape tomatoes) 3-4 cobs fresh corn, cooked and cut off the cob 2 avacados cubed 2-3 cans cannellini (white kidney) beans or great white northern beans, drained and rinsed 1 sweet onion, sliced thin Lighthouse brand Creamy Ciltrantro dressing (Taste the dressing and see if it has enough kick, if not, add more cilantro) Combine lettuce, tomatoes, corn, avocados, beans, onion in salad bowl.   Toss.   Add dressing and toss l

Heritage House Smorgasbord - Madison Wisconsin cir 1960 This recipe started out as a simple bread pudding recipe.  When I was a kid, my parents very rarely took their brood of 10 (7 children, the parents and a crotchety old German grandpa) out to eat, but when they did, they went to a Smorgasbord restaurant.   Now, for those of you who do not know what a smorgasbord is, we now call them all-you-can-eat and buffets.   However, back in the late 60s, early 70s in Wisconsin, the preferred term was Smorgasbord – its that Norwegian heritage infiltrating the local culture.  In Madison, it was Heritage House on the Northeast side of Madison.  It was an iconic place for many years and unfortunately in the late 80s, it saw its demise. Where is this going?   To the dessert table, of course.   There, without fail, was bread pudding.  I tried it once and fell in love with the stuff.  Why, cause I adore and love all things BREAD!   I had asked my mother to make it sometime a