A few weeks ago, my Aunt Esther and I talked about fresh garden tomatoes and how tasty they are. I season my fresh-sliced tomatoes differently than Joe does and I asked my aunt what she puts on her tomato slices. I was surprised when she said salt, pepper, and sugar. That’s the same way I eat sliced tomatoes! The way we ate them at home as I grew up, the way my mom served them. And I bet Grandma and Grandpa Schumm did the same. Maybe even their parents as well. Our preference for seasoning tomatoes has been passed down for several generations.
Speaking of tomatoes, one of my favorite sandwiches is a BLT (bacon, lettuce & tomato), but I add a fried egg to the sandwich. I guess you would call that a BELT. Restaurants that also serve breakfast will add the egg to the sandwich if I ask.
We undoubtedly get most of our food preferences from the food we ate growing up, at home and at school. Some of the not-so-common food we ate at our house:
We had radish sandwiches–radish slices with salt and pepper on butter bread. We often ate an apple with our popcorn. Salt is good on a raw apple. At school they served peanut butter sandwiches with mac & cheese and with chili soup, food pairings that Joe and I both still like.
A favorite meal by Grandma Miller was fried pork chops, fried potatoes (fried in a cast iron skillet), and stewed tomatoes. Joe said his mom also made this same meal.
Joe likes some more unusual pairings: peanut butter & mayonnaise sandwich; peanut butter & bologna sandwich; bread, butter & catsup sandwich; syrup on fried potatoes, and syrup on tuna noodle casserole. Actually, syrup on tuna noodle casserole is pretty good.
We both like anchovies on our pizza and Cesar Salad. Two people who like anchovies were destined to be together.
My dad and I really liked ice cream and we came up with some unique toppings. Our favorite was vanilla ice cream topped with crunchy peanut butter and orange marmalade. He added chocolate syrup to that. Another good ice cream topping was Coco Puffs, especially when the ice cream softens a little so you can mix the Coco Puffs in.
Times were hard during the depression. My dad put milk and sugar on popcorn for breakfast. He packed potato sandwiches for his school lunch. Joe’s mom put lard on bread in place of butter.
Awhile back I wrote about church cookbook recipes and mentioned that my Aunt Kate showed me how to make a Swedish Tea Ring when I was a young girl.
A reader asked about the tea ring recipe and here it is. Making the pastry takes a little work but is well worth the effort.
Swedish Tea Ring
Mix together:
1 cup lukewarm milk
½ cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
Crumble 2 cakes of compressed yeast into the mixture and stir until the yeast is dissolved.
Stir in 2 eggs, ½ cup soft shortening, 4½-5 cups flour, adding the flour in 2 additions, using the amount necessary to make the dough easy to handle. Mix first with a spoon, then with your hands.
Turn onto lightly floured board and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Round up into a greased bowl, greased side up. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in warm place (85 degrees) until double in size, about 1½ hours. Punch down and let rise again, until almost double, about 30 minutes.
After the second rising, roll and shape the dough into an oblong, about 9” x 18.”
Spread with 2 Tbs. softened butter and sprinkle with ½ cup sugar, 2 tsp. cinnamon, and ½ cup of raisins.
Roll up tightly, beginning at the wide side, making a long roll. Seal well by pinching the long edges of the roll together.
Place the roll on a lightly greased baking sheet, sealed edge down. Shape the roll into a ring and join and seal the ends of the ring together.
With a scissors, make cuts 2/3 of the way through the ring at 1” intervals. Turn each section on its side.
Cover and let rise until double in bulk (35-40 min). Bake at 375 degrees, 25-30 minutes, until golden brown and completely baked through.
While still warm, drizzle a powdered sugar glaze over the ring and decorate with nuts and cherries.
Best eaten warm! With coffee.
To be clear, I have not made a Swedish Tea Ring for many years, but after reading through the recipe again, I am thinking about making it for the holidays again.
Maybe I’ll make the Swedish Tea Ring after I master another holiday favorite–my mom’s delicious Rum Cake.
A wonderful post honoring veterans, including those photos of decorated graves.
Thank you to all who have served and are serving currently. May they be blessed and protected with God's mercy…
You are correct. The information from the 1950 census gives us a glimpse of life in the 1950s. The answers…
I have mainly focused on our rural area but now I want to look through some of the other areas…
Très instructif et reflète bien des détails de la vie quotidinne... Merci Karen d'avoir pris soin de souligner ces annotations…