The Plucky Housewives

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...

When trolling a Facebook group this week about growing up in Madison, a discussion was started about Carson Gulley's Black Bottom Pie.   I had long forgotten about this decadent dessert and was quickly transported back to days sitting in the union, having wandered down with friends just for an excuse to have some of this pie.   I was surprised to see that a large number of people were involved in this "discussion".   I had no idea it had become so iconic.  So I set out to do a little research myself. I discovered that there is quite a legend as to the origins of the pie and its attribution to Carson Gulley (head chef of UW Madison's residence halls for over 20 years).   A great article was written by Michael Penn on The Life of a Pie and the life of Mr. Gulley.  Follow the link and you can read all about it.   Something more than just the story of the pie hit me as I was devouring this article.   Julie Vincent, Memorial Union's assistant direc...

A "Dixie" pudding/trifle I have to tell the story behind this one.  I needed to make a dessert for a funeral lunch of a dear friend.  It had been an exhausting weekend and start to the week and my grandiose plans of some fabulous and intricate yummy dessert were left behind because of shear exhaustion.  I looked through the freezer and cupboards and found the following:  A 1/2 sheet cake in the freezer (Florida Citrus flavor) that I originally baked for a going away party the previous weekend. Lemon curd, Coconut curd, Vanilla pudding, Cool Whip, Chocolate sprinkles,  and a couple of bunches of bananas ready to turn (who was not eating the bananas???) I wondered what could I do and mulled it over for a few days.  When Wednesday morning came, I woke up and had this idea.  Its a banana pudding/trifle kinda thing.  I can't see to find the right "name" for it.    I put it together, chilled it for several hours, to...

When I was first married, I went to a fathering for women in our neighborhood.  It was a brunch, so everyone brought something to niddble on.  For dessert, this recipe was served.  It is a great dessert if you need to feed a lot of people, or you can reduce the recipe in half to just feed your smaller family.   You will love it.  I have used frozen strawberries and fresh ones.  Of course, the fresh ones are to die for, but the frozen ones are a snap to use.  You get to decide which one you want.  Its all yummy! 1 pkg Danish Dessert (you can find this in the same area as the jello) 1-2 pkg fresh strawberries (or 1-2 pkg frozen strawberries).  How much you use depends on how strong a flavor you want. 1 white cake mix 1 pkg (8 oz) of cream cheese 1 c of whipped topping (regular whip cream does not work as well with this recipe) Make the Danish Dessert sauce according to the pie glaze directions on the package.  Add the berries at th...

I think I was very late in discovering this wonderful treat!  Once I did, it became a staple at almost every gathering we had.  Then come to find out, everyone I knew had their own "version".  So here is mine, all the subjective yummy components to everyone else's recipes.   FRUIT PIZZA 1 RECIPE (OR TUBE) OF SUGAR COOKIE DOUGH (My recipe follows) 1 Pkg (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened 1/2 c of confectioners sugar 1/2 carton of frozen whipped topping thawed (I use coolwhip) 1 c of red seedless grapes, halved 3 firm bananas, peeled and sliced thin 3 kiwi fruit peeled and sliced 1 can (11 ounces) mandarin oranges 1 pint fresh strawberries, halved, tops removed 1 RECIPE OF FRUIT GLAZE Press cookie dough into an ungreased 14 in pizza pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.  COOL COMPLETELY! Usine a medium setting on electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth.  Fold in CoolWhip.  Spread over the...