June 2019 - Secret Recipes

June 29, 2019July 14, 2019

Media Friends of Gloria Pitzer, the Recipe Detective™

6/29/19

DEAR MEDIA FAMILY,

MANY HEARTFELT THANKS TO ALL OF YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR SUPPORT!

On behalf of,

Gloria Pitzer, ‘The Secret Recipe Detective’

#MediaFriends

It is as much a thrill for me, today, to hear somebody… request that ‘Gloria, The Secret Recipe Detective’ try to duplicate a recipe, as it was for me a decade ago when it all began. – Gloria Pitzer (May 1982) [*NOTE: That thrill continued to remain with Mom, for many more decades, until she passed away in January 2018.]

This tab is dedicated to all of those whom have made a ripple in Mom’s life as the ORIGINAL Recipe Detective^TM. As I continue to come across more names in Mom’s writings, I will also continue to add their “thank you” notes and internet links (if I can find them) in my blogs and here, using #MediaFriends…as well as on social media! – Laura (Pitzer) Emerich

To all those who are reading this, please contact me, by email, at [email protected] or through Messenger, on Facebook (@TheRecipeDetective), with your memories of my mom! I’d love to hear from you!

The following “thank you” notes are from page 4 of Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – The Best of the Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018), with additional excerpts found, mostly, in My Cup Runneth Over and I Can’t Find My Mop (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; Dec. 1989); followed by some other publishings, as well as, where Mom has mentioned these stations, shows and hosts.

THANK YOU, AGAIN, TO…

…Bob Allison & his “Ask Your Neighbor” radio program, formerly on WWJ-Radio (Detroit, MI) and WEXL-Radio (Royal Oak, MI; 1340 AM). Now, you’ll find Bob on WNZK-Radio (960 AM; Detroit, MI) with his son, Rob Allison. The “Ask Your Neighbor” show has been broadcasting since 1962!

[Thank you] for your moral support and interest in my research and development of recipes that imitate restaurant and commercial food products. You’ve been a great friend over the years! – Gloria Pitzer (1982)

“ASK YOUR NEIGHBOR!” – I called [Bob] frequently with answers to his other listeners’ recipe questions, until I became ‘a regular’ on the show. With Bob’s generous help in mentioning my monthly newsletter, my subscriptions began to climb… I was finally showing a profit! That gave my husband, Paul, some relief from his skepticism that I would eventually outgrow my obsession with writing… From Bob Allison’s listeners alone, Paul and I had received over 1,000 letters in one day! [Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – The Best of the Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p. 9)]

…Art Lewis and his “Listen to the Mrs.” program [and cohost, Sue Smith] on WSGW-Radio in Saginaw, MI – which has been on the air since 1952… and also to Fred Krell [RIP], program director at WSGW-Radio, who had originated the early “call-in” talk shows, “Listen to the Mrs.” and “What’s Your Opinion?”

[Thank you, all, for being great friends over the years! – Gloria Pitzer]

Mom with Sue Smith at WSGW-790, Saginaw MI

DEAR FRIENDS – The best part of April [1995] will be our bus trip to Branson, Missouri with ‘The Art Lewis Tour’. Art is the co-host of my every Tuesday radio visits on WSGW-Radio (Saginaw, MI)…Paul and I haven’t been to Branson in 8 years. The best part…we aren’t doing the driving…Art is! And we’ll be in the company of so many new friends! [From the introduction, on the cover of Mom’s Spring-1995 newsletter, Secret Recipes Quarterly.]

…Warren Pierce of WJR-Radio (Detroit, MI) and “The Warren Pierce Show”, which has been on the air since 1976! Also…Bob Hynes and Jack Mindy, each, of WJR-Radio fame (Detroit, MI).

[Thank you] for putting me in touch with some of the most responsive and enthusiastic listening audiences. – Gloria Pitzer (1982)

Warren Pierce of WJR-Radio, (Detroit, MI) was one of my first radio friends with whom I would visit on the air regularly, giving out recipe secrets from the food industry. When Warren had an evening show, we found that the listeners’ responses to the famous “make-at-home” recipes prompted some very interesting challenges…my visits, on the radio, with Warren Pierce are still among my favorite experiences in my recipe investigations. I would rather do a radio show with Warren, in fact, than television with anyone else. [Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – The Best of the Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p. 254)]

…Jim White [RIP], Ann Keefe [RIP] & Art Fleming [RIP] of KMOX-Radio, St. Louis, MO…

[Thank you] for all the great years we visited on the air, sharing secrets of some giants in the food industry with your nationwide audience. – Gloria Pitzer (1982)

In the Mid-West (especially in the St. Louis, MO area), one of the most-often requested recipe secrets from my visits with KMOX-RADIO was for Steak and Shake’s chili. On my way to Los Angeles in March of 1982, I had to change planes in St. Louis and had some lay-over time in which to visit some of the area and get a good bowl of chili! The trip was well worth it! … Some of the radio shows that I took part in were on-the-air at midnight, especially my favorite visits with KMOX in St. Louis and WGY[-Radio] in Schenectady. [Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – The Best of the Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p. 54)]

…Bob Cudmore of WGY-Radio, Schenectady, NY [1980 to 1993 night time talk show host for “Contact”… and to his predecessor Bill Miller!]

…for whose listeners have become good friends over the many years of our radio visits with your wonderful audience…[Thank you!] – Gloria Pitzer (1982)

ONE OF MY FAVORITE radio visits, on a monthly basis (and sometimes more often than that) was with a Schenectady station [WGY-Radio]. Originally, I worked with Bill Miller, whose…show [called ‘Contact’] drew a good following. It was because of Bill’s interest in the nuns of St. Claire, an order in New York state, who baked a delicious cheesecake and sold it to raise money for the poor, that I was first asked to duplicate the recipe…It was a real challenge. Eventually, however, we did come up with our own version and it was a divine experience, which I called ‘Blessed Cheesecake’.

Bill Miller left WGY and was soon replaced by Bob Cudmore, who had [previously] worked with me… at a Pittsfield, MA station. I continued on with ‘Contact’ for a long while, until…around Christmas of 1988. [My Cup Runneth Over and I Can’t Find My Mop (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; Dec. 1989, p. 60)]

…Ralph Story [RIP fellow Michigander] of KNX-Radio (1070 AM), Los Angeles, CA. Also…Jackie Olden, Mel Baldwin and Melinda Lee on KNX’s “Food News Hour” [Source: My Cup Runneth Over and I Can’t Find My Mop (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; Dec. 1989, p. 58)]

[Thank you] for introducing me to your west coast audience, which offered me many new restaurants to investigate. – Gloria Pitzer (1982)

…Bob Barry of WEMP-Radio, Milwaukee, WI (1976-1979)…

…whose newsletter to…radio personalities included notes of my progress and opened many doors for me…[Thank you!] – Gloria Pitzer (1982)

…Paul Harvey, broadcaster for the ABC Radio Networks…

[Thank you] for [your] kind words about my work. – Gloria Pitzer (1982)

…Michigan’s [Nat’l] Federation of Press Women

…[Thank you] for MANY years of meaningful membership. – Gloria Pitzer (1982)

…Marian Burros, Food Editor of “The Washington Post” and author of Pure and Simple…

[Thank you] for your encouragement and enthusiastic endorsement as Food Editor of ‘The Washington Post’, making my research of the food industry’s secrets an exciting and interesting labor of love. – Gloria Pitzer (1982)

…Ed (& Sydney) Busch of WFAA-Radio, Dallas, TX (1976-1982, hosts of “America Over the Weekend”)…

[Thank you for your priceless contacts and wonderful audience!]

Illustrations by Gloria Pitzer; edited by Laura Emerich

…KSL-News Radio, Salt Lake City, UT…

…Toby Gold of WSAY-Radio, Rochester, NY

…Toni Harblin of WTNY-Radio, Watertown, NY

…Bunny Morse of WCMY-Radio, Ottawa, IL (and “The Morning Mix”, currently hosted by Maggie Frost)

…Pat Rogers of WOAI-Radio, San Antonio, TX – host of the show, “Cover Story”

[Thank you all for all of your past support!]

…Eddie Schwartz of WGN-Radio, Chicago, IL – founder of the Good Neighbor Food Drive that continues on today.

…Bob Sweeney of WHIO-Radio, Dayton, OH [FYI: Dayton is where Phil Donahue’s show originated.] Also…Lou Emm [RIP] of WHIO-Radio

…“PM Magazine” and their television crew in Detroit (at WJBK-Detroit as “PM Magazine Detroit” and “PM Detroit”)…

[Thank you] for having created new interests in my recipes. – Gloria Pitzer (1982)

…The Phil Donahue Show and its amazing television audience!

…Carol Haddix, Food Writer at the “Detroit Free Press”, 1971-1977 & Food Editor at the “Chicago Tribune”, 1977-2011…

[Thank you] for an over-whelming response to my “Eating Out at Home” ideas. – Gloria Pitzer (1982)

…Rosanne Robinson, who found my Facebook tribute page for Mom (@TheRecipeDetective). She said, in part, that Mom was a regular guest on her radio show at WMB-Radio, adding, “she was my favorite guest and a guarantee my mom would listen too!”

Thank you, Rosanne, for your messages and memories of my mom! Keep in touch!

The names for these NEW “thank you” notes that follow, were collected from Mom’s book, My Cup Runneth Over and I Can’t Find My Mop (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; Dec. 1989, pages 58-61)]. All of these stations, talk show hosts and reporters contributed to the ripples of success for the Recipe Detective^TM. Therefore, on behalf of my mom and our family, I want to say a big “THANK YOU” to…

…KSDO-Radio, San Diego, CA

…WBKV-Radio, West Bend, WI

…WFIR-Radio, Roanoke, VA

…Andy Thomas of WVOC-Radio, Columbia, SC

…Carol Arnold of KTOK-Radio, Oklahoma City, OK

…Marty Kaye of WIBA-Radio, Madison, WI

…Jan Michaelson of WHO-Radio, Des Moines, IA [NOTE: Jan had, also, previously worked with Mom out of a Cincinnati radio station, but I couldn’t find the call letters for it.]

…Jeff Pigeon of WIBC-Radio, Indianapolis, IN

…who, after talking to me for only 5 minutes, had so inspired his listeners to want to try our recipes that we received nearly 1,000 letters within 2 days after the radio visit…[Thank you for having created new interests in my recipes.] – Gloria Pitzer (1989)

…Kevin McCarthy of KLIF-Radio, Dallas, TX

…Bob Lee of KSL-Radio, Salt Lake City, UT

…JB Miller of WKRC-Radio, Cincinnati, OH (1989) [NOTE: JB Miller, of “Miller in the Morning”, was previously from a West Virginia radio station in 1976/1977 when he first worked with Mom.]

…Preston Westmoreland and Pat McMahon of KTAR-Radio, Phoenix, AZ…

[Thank you for your long-time holiday friendship! – Gloria Pitzer]

…Mike Donovan of WSTV-Radio, Steubenville, OH – Host of “Open Mike”

…Kathy Keene of WHBY-Radio, Appleton, WI

…Margie Kreschollek of WSUB-Radio, New London, CT…

‘The Microwhiz’…a new radio visit I thoroughly enjoy…[as she] takes my conventional recipes and converts them to ‘micro’ cooking in no time at all! [Thank you for having created new interests in my recipes!] – Gloria Pitzer

…Jim Warren [RIP], host of Moody Radio‘s “Prime Time America”

…Beth Albright of WISN-Radio, Milwaukee, WI

…Tim Regler of KLIN-Radio, Lincoln, NE

…Dennis Elliott of WMFR-Radio, High Point, NC – host of the “Opinion Please” show

…Dan Leonard of WEBR-Radio, Buffalo, NY…

I was honored to be one of your last guests when you left that station…[Thank you for having created new interests in my recipes.] – Gloria Pitzer

…Good Sam RV Club (MI & OH Branches)

…Thank you for giving me the opportunity to meet with and talk to people from all over the country, relative to their recipe interests and food needs… Since our camping experiences with…’Good Sam’, [Paul and I] have truly adopted their slogan, ‘In Good Sam, there are no strangers – only friends we haven’t met yet!’ – Gloria Pitzer (1989)

…“The Noon News”, on WDIV-TV, (Channel 4) Detroit, MI

…Mother Jones Magazine, created in 1976, in the spirit of Mary Harris Jones, is an award winning magazine of investigative journalism that did a story about Mom in its inception.

…Julie Greenwalt of People Magazine, who…

…called and asked me to think about those typical things that happen here, which they could photograph to accompany the story she was writing about us…

Everyday…things, here, are quite unpredictable! Mostly, it’s a day filled with pleasant interruptions – such as the grandchildren dropping by to see us for a few minutes or a radio station calling and asking me to fill in at the last minute! [Thank you! – Gloria Pitzer, My Cup Runneth Over and I Can’t Find My Mop (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; Dec. 1989, p. 94)]

…Dick Syatt, of WRKO-Radio, Boston, MA (host of the “Hotline” show) –

I remembered what Dick Syatt, one of our radio friends, had told me about finally getting everything you ever wanted, when he said, “Hell is God, giving you what you thought you wanted.” Sometimes we need to have something, lose it and get it back again, before we can really appreciate what we have. I had that chance and I am so glad for it… Thank you! – Gloria Pitzer [My Cup Runneth Over and I Can’t Find My Mop (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; Dec. 1989, p. 96)]

…CR Powers and Loren Mitchell on AGM-Radio, Santa Fe, NM – where Mom shared her sister’s recipe (my Aunt Hazel) for her awesome appetizers, which she called “Hot Dog & Bacon BBQ”.

…Bob Talbert [RIP] of the Detroit Free Press fame, along with our condolences to his surviving family and friends. Mom often talked about his helpful boosts in getting her name out to his readers with the wonderful plugs he gave her products. Bob Talbert and Mom had a delightful friendship over the years, and she was quite saddened by his passing in 1999. Bob mentioned Mom’s first cookbook in one of his 1973 columns, where he referred to it as being great “…for a buck-and-a-half-and-a-belly-laugh” per page!

John Owen, Seattle Post-Intelligencer – Published March 1, 1994 – wrote…COLONEL SANDERS’ ORIGINAL RECIPE was pressure-cooked in oil. The spicing is supposed to be a secret. One researcher concluded there are only four “secret herbs and spices” in the late colonel’s recipe. Another…The Recipe Detective…offers an excellent approximation but contains 11 herbs and spices. And it’s probably better for you because it is oven-cooked. Gloria Pitzer calls it “Colonel Sanders-Style Chicken.”

1986 Apr – Gloria Pitzer’s Mostly 4-Ingredient Recipes

7/14/19 MORE THANK YOU NOTES TO…

[The following names are all from Gloria Pitzer’s Mostly 4-Ingredient Recipes (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; April 1986)]

…Al Holzmeier of KIRX-Radio in Kirksville, MO…

[…who] always tried to stump me when we did the regular broadcast for Hy-Vee Supermarkets. Al and I would take a look at the advertised specials for the week in the Hy-Vee markets and Al would challenge me, on the air, to come up with a short recipe that incorporated the advertised food items into a special dish.

…Perry Wright, host of “Nightline”, on WTRX-Radio in Flint, MI…

[We’ve] had some interesting questions from his listeners, but one intrigued me for the Cherry Dumplings, as…served…in a little café in Traverse City (about a block north of the Milliken Department Store…[unfortunately, the restaurant closed] after years and years of being one of the favorite places in Traverse City.

…Ellen Schenk of KFRU-Radio (1983-1991) in Columbia, MO… now [1992 – Present], she’s a co-host of “Kansas City’s Morning News” on KMBZ-Radio in Kansas City, MO…

[We] had some very interesting radio visits with her [Columbia area] listeners and, on one occasion, a listener requested the chewy, chocolate chip bars that only the professional bakeries seemed to know how to make – and, of course, wouldn’t share the secret! [You know I can’t keep a secret!]

…Mark Murray of WAMJ-Radio in Mishawaka, IN [former AM-1620 & AM-1580 in South Bend, IN]…

[We] keep his listeners up to date on the secrets of the recipe world every now and then; and the letters we receive from Mark’s audience always invite a challenge [like] The Meadow Club in Rolling Meadows, IL [that] served a drink that one listener was simply crazy about [the Miami Express Meadow Club Cocktail]!

…Art Dineen of WPLP-Radio in the St. Petersburg-Bradenton area (FL)…

[Who] has introduced me to the taste favorites of Florida and each radio visit with his listeners gives me another secret to try and crack!

…Jim Pilgrim [RIP] of Alberta Lea-Radio in Alberta Lea, MN and of KGHR-Radio in Austin, MN [where he hosted “House Party”]…

[We] recently shared some holiday recipes with his [Alberta Lea] listeners and the letters that we received from Jim’s audience were very enthusiastic… [Additionally, his Austin] listeners must have enjoyed my last visit with them because we were opening mail of approval for days afterward!

…Bruce Allen [RIP] of WEBR-Radio in Buffalo, NY…

…one of the stations that carries “The Ed Busch Show” and [it’s] where I visit regularly. A recent visit…prompted a caller to request a good steak marinade [for which I gave my Steak Marinade recipe.]

…John Michael [RIP] of CKTB-Radio in St. Catharines, Ontario (Canada)…

…[who] has been calling me for years to visit with his listeners in the Toronto-Niagara area. The favorite recipe [request] of his listeners is for the barbeque sauce like they serve at The Swiss Chalet – a favorite of mine, too!

…Don Burley [RIP] of KMBZ-Radio in Kansas City, MO…

…[whose] listeners asked for interesting ideas for taking the monotony out of mealtime with good side dishes [like my Green Rice recipe]!

…Bob Riggins [RIP], host of the “Morning Report” on KTOK-Radio in Oklahoma City, OK…

[Thank you for all of your support!]

…Cathy Shay of WOR-Radio in New York City, NY…

…[who] thought [my recipe for ‘Cool Whip & Cake Mix Cookies’ and ‘Frosting Cookies’] were unique because even a ‘non-cook’ could make them with ease!

ENCORE THANK YOUs TO…

…WSGW-Radio in Flint, MI

…[encore/repeat] Ed Busch in Dallas, TX [1984 – 1986 host/producer of the “Ed Busch Talk Show”, a national call-in talk show, in joint venture with the Associated Press and carried by their network.]

…[he and his wife, Sydney] have been inviting me to talk with their listeners for over 10 years – originally through the Dallas station [WFAA-Radio] and, now… When I recently visited with [Ed] on the air for 2 hours, I met the most wonderful listeners, coast-to-coast. Always, a former Detroiter will call and ask me to give my version of the famous Sanders’ Hot Fudge Sauce, which Ed always emphasizes is the most incredible, most unique topping you’ll ever find anywhere! My ‘Secret Fast Food Recipes’ book devotes [about] 16 pages to the Sanders’ company…

…[encore/repeat] Andy Thomas of WWKB-Radio in Buffalo, NY… and later, WVOC-Radio, Columbia, SC…

…the 50,000 watt station puts us in touch with listeners from all parts of Ontario, Canada and [the state of] New York. The requests from Andy’s listeners have kept me on my toes for many years and especially when it comes to the Buffalo-area specialties [like Buffalo Wings]!

…[encore/repeat] Kathy Keene of WHBY-Radio in Appleton, WI…

…[We] have shared recipe secrets with her listeners for a long time and their requests reflect the need to cut out the lengthy list of ingredients and get right to the heart of the matter. Some of the favorite recipes requested by Kathy’s listeners include an array of wonderful, but simple to make dishes [like my Summer Cheesecake]!

…[encore/repeat] Pat McMahon of KTAR-Radio in Phoenix, AZ…

…I was delighted to hear from a gentleman who wanted [my recipe for] Strawberry Pie, like the Fogcutter’s in Port Huron [MI].

…[encore/repeat] Warren Pierce, host of “The Warren Pierce Show” and “Mid-Day Magazine” on WJR-Radio in Detroit, MI…

…[whose] ‘Mid-Day Magazine’ show… always brought me special requests for dishes served by restaurants of the area, which were no longer around or had changed their menu offerings so that some favorites were no longer available… [like] the chicken pot pie [that] JL Hudson’s dining room served in their downtown Detroit store.

…[encore/repeat] Toni Harblin of WTNY-Radio in Watertown, NY…

…[whose] listeners share my enthusiasm for the abbreviated recipes that take the task out of cooking and make it more of a joy than a job!

…[encore/repeat] Ellen Schenk of KFRU-Radio in Columbia, MO…

…[whose] listeners were asking about the Flag Ship Rum Buns from the Washington, DC restaurant; and I found a beautiful recipe for them…it had over 18 ingredients… So, I invented an abbreviated version and they loved it!

…[encore/repeat] Bob Lee of KSL-Radio in Salt Lake City, UT…

…[whose] listeners also asked for interesting side dishes ideas for taking the monotony out of mealtime [like my Fried Rice recipe, with shrimp, pork and mushroom variations]!

…[encore/repeat] Jackie Olden and Mel Baldwin, hosts of the “Food News” show on KNX-Radio in the Los Angeles-Hollywood area (CA)…

…[who] always made me feel at home. Among the many requests from Jackie’s listeners were those for a basic, abbreviated spaghetti sauce recipe [for which I gave them my ‘Port Wine Spaghetti Sauce’ recipe, with variations for a meat sauce and a mushroom sauce].

STAY TUNED…MORE TO COME…

June 24, 2019April 24, 2023

I Keep the Munchies Away by Writing

By Mike Royko [Detroit Free Press, The Feature Page; MONDAY, DEC. 10, 1973]

IF YOU spend any time in this corner, you have noticed lately that I have been writing a lot about food, restaurants and eating. It always happens when I go on a strict diet. I satisfy my hungers by writing about food. A shrink could have a field day in my fat-choked noggin about this, and other things, no doubt, but who really cares, right? If it works, then I say write on, baby! The diet is working. I started at 245 a week ago this past Thursday and am right at 230 after a weekend of 1,200-calorie days. But to keep the ol’ write-and-lose therapy going, let me pass on some info about two rather novel cookbooks that have come to my attention.

First, there’s Gloria Pitzer’s handmade (her five kids in Algonac even helped hand-color the cover) delight called, “The Better Cooker’s Cookbook.” Gloria is a delightful newspaper columnist and she notes in the front of her book: “If the Good Lord had intended for me to cook, why wasn’t I born with aluminum hands?”

Another sparkling observation: “Cookbooks do not tell you, for instance, such vital items as the Impossibility of Using Up Easter Eggs!” I really groove on the little asides she tucks between the over 200 sensible recipes. Like this one: “Frankly, I never met a melon squeezer I really liked. They always make me feel so insecure, the way they hold the melon to their eye and thump it like they are expecting a heartbeat.” …It’s a buck and a half and a belly-laugh a page…

June 24, 2019September 18, 2021

Hopeless Twinkles

HOPELESS TWINKLES – an Imitation of Hostess Twinkies

By Gloria Pitzer (Feb. 1976, among Gloria’s “Original 200” recipes)

Filling Ingredients:

¼ pound (1/2 cup) butter or margarine,

½ cup Crisco or homogenized solid shortening,

1 cup granulated sugar,

¾ cup Pet or Carnation evaporated milk

1 tablespoon vanilla

Filling Instructions:

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter for 5 minutes on medium speed. Add Crisco a little at a time. Cream another 3 or 4 minutes. Add sugar a little at a time while continuing to beat. Then add the milk (mixed, first, with the vanilla), beating and scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl. The longer you beat this, the better it becomes – but food processor preparations are also possible – timing depends on manufacturer’s directions for “creaming”. Mixture will “grow” in the bowl. Keeps refrigerated in covered container up to a month. Use as directed below with the cake “strips” for TWINKLES. Should fill about 2 dozen.

THE YELLOW-SPONGE-LIKE CAKE that I use is the same recipe that I suggest using for imitating at home the cake product from the company ‘nobody doesn’t like’ – who shall remain nameless – YOU can say it out loud… but I can’t!

Cake Ingredients:

3 large eggs

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla

1 cup whole milk

½ cup butter

1 ½ cups sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3 ½ teaspoons baking powder

2 cups all-purpose flour

Cake Instructions:

As listed, beat the ingredients in large mixing bowl on medium speed, beating 1 minute with each addition. Pour batter into 2 square, 8-inch, greased cake pans or Pyrex baking dishes (or a 13 x 9 x 2” pan.) Bake in preheated, 350°F oven for 30 to 35 minutes – for the 2 square pans – both pans in the oven at same time. For the oblong pan, bake 40 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on wire rack. Best to use the cake when it is slightly frozen – about 30 minutes in the freezer. Cut cake into bars – 1.5 x 3.5”. Put bottom-side of each bar facing up on waxed paper. Spread bottom halves with the Twinkle Filling and put together with an un-frosted bar – sandwich style. Wrap in small plastic sandwich bags or snack-size bags. Seal and date. Freeze up to one year – or refrigerate up to 2 weeks. Makes about 24 cream-filled cakes.

Mondays & Memories of My Mom – A Day in the Life of the Happy Homemaker

June 24, 2019June 24, 2019

Mondays & Memories of My Mom – A Day in the Life of the Happy Homemaker

Happy Monday AND happy “Please Take My Children to Work Day”! Yes, Virginia! There is such a thing!

Before my mom was the Recipe Detective^TM, before she authored all those newsletters and cookbooks, Mom penned and syndicated various “hot topic” and “homemaker” satirical-styled editorials/columns, as well as a series of cartoon panels! One of her later series of columns was called “No Laughing Matter” (aka: “No Laugh ‘N Matter”), which she continued doing for a while, even after the rise of her Secret Recipes^TM business took off in the 1970s.

Mom would have had a field day writing a column about this national “Please Take My Children to Work Day” – I can’t believe there really is such a thing! Apparently, it’s been celebrated yearly on the last Monday of June for 16 years (since 2003). This year, that happens to be today! Who knew? I could have used that when my kids were young – NOT! I can just hear my mom laughing and saying the same thing, too!

We got our “me times” the old fashioned way… when the kids were involved in school, sports, play groups, Scouts, city activities… the list goes on, including hiring a sitter for a day every now and then – or exchanging sitting favors with another mom! Sorry – but, really people – you don’t need a national holiday to devise a one-day break from parenting responsibilities! It’s a lifelong commitment. Besides, there’s already a yearly national “Take Your Child to Work Day” on the last Thursday in April!

For more information on what the “Please Take My Children to Work Day” holiday is really all about, you can check out these three websites, on which I found some interesting information; or do a search of your own, but here are some starting points:

In one of Mom’s “No Laughing Matter” columns from the 1970s (not sure what date it was actually published in the papers wherever it was syndicated), Where Have All Our Homemakers Gone?, Mom wrote: “The full-time homemaker is, unfortunately, being short-changed by today’s ‘paycheck-oriented’ society and, if Women’s Lib have their own way, ‘homemaker’ will be a 4-letter word… the women who either by choice or by circumstance makes a career out of making a home.”

Here it is about 40 years later and not much has changed. I constantly recognize the timelessness in a lot of the issues about which Mom once wrote. I guess it’s true – the more things change, the more they also stay the same!

In another “No Laughing Matter” article (circa 1970s), Just a Housewife and a Pro!, Mom wrote: “As a ‘suburban housewife’, I fail to see how anyone could classify my routine as ‘dull’! For one thing, everyone knows that the mother of an active family has no routine! We’re lucky if we can get our slippers on the right feet first thing in the morning. In fact, we’re lucky if we can even find those slippers, having to, first, plow through an undergrowth of Tinker Toys and Lincoln Logs on the way to the kitchen, where we must witness testy debates over who gets the [prize] in the box of [cereal] and why a 40-year-old man refuses to take the Donald Duck thermos in his lunch…

What’s wrong with a quest for a roll of Scotch tape that’s your very own or having the phone ring and the call is for you instead of your teenager? [Margaret Mead’s] working definition [of a ‘first-class’ woman, not being a housewife or homemaker,] is a ‘trained, competent, professional woman’. Now, I’d be the last one to contradict an expert, but in defense of women who become wives and mothers… we have had training (although much of it’s on the job), are extremely competent and are professional [according to Webster’s dictionary] in that we have ‘a vocation requiring knowledge of some department of learning or skill’…

If you don’t think it takes learning or skill to varnish a complex-of-disorder with enough love and efficiency that husbands and children grow up with security and comfort, drop around my kitchen some Sunday night… no matter what they tell us [working-outside-the-home homemakers] about turning our kids over to a day care center, there’s nothing like coming home from school to know that Mom’s in the kitchen, whipping up a pitcher of Tang and a plate of Twinkies.” [NOTE: See Mom’s recipe for homemade Twinkies at the end of this blog.]

Mom often referred to our family as being the total opposites of the Brady family on TV! Here’s a take, from the early years of the Recipe Detective^TM, when Dan Martin of Newsday Wire Features wanted to come to our house in Pearl Beach to interview Mom about her bi-centennial cookbook that he had seen at The Henry Ford Museum in Greenfield Village… To hear Mom tell the story, it was just another day in the life of the “happy homemaker” – the kind of “stuff” from which country songs (or reality TV shows) are made!

FROM MOM’S MEMORIES…

When he knocked on the door that day, it was like inviting him into a Jean Kerr production of “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies”. There were a dozen baskets of ironing here and there in the large dining room, each tagged with the [customer’s] name, phone number and date… Two long tables, under the windows [along the east wall], were covered with freshly mimeographed 4×6 cards of recipes, spread out for the ink to dry. Several times a week, I printed up about 200 recipes, at 50 copies each. At that time, we sold these through our newsletter for 5-for-a-dollar or 25-cents each. We did very well with them too!

Gloria Pitzer, mimeographing in her early years as the Recipe Detective [TM]

In the living room, Debbie’s friends had gathered with their driver’s training manuals to quiz each other for the big day coming up – when those six teenagers would be taking their driving tests. In the kitchen, Cheryl and Lorie were working on Girl Scout badge projects with some of their friends. It was a mad house!

Mr. Pipersack was shuffling in and out of the side porch door [off of the utility room], trying to unplug the bathroom pipes and clean out the septic tank for us. In the back room, where the prehistoric furnace was located in the 80-year-old house, a man from the gas company was arguing with a man from [the electric] company about what was wrong with our furnace and why it wouldn’t work [and recommending that I hide Paul’s wrench!]…

Our oldest son, Bill, was hunting through the kitchen drawers for some tools… so he could get under the hood of his [car] out in the driveway and, then, let Mr. Pipersack pull his truck into the yard. Mike, our next oldest, was on the phone trying to convince a girl that the things she had heard about him weren’t true and, if he could get his dad’s car on Saturday, would she go to the movies with him…

[Furthermore,] the cat was having a litter of kittens under the sewing table and our police dog, Suzie, was about to have a litter of pups and was moping about, looking for comfort…

Had our life been made into a TV series, it probably would’ve been called ‘The Pitzer Pack Rats’! …Based purely on the unfounded talents of our five kids to keep our house looking like it was just about to be condemned by HUD! I pretend not to care for ‘The Brady Bunch’, because I envied their lovely lifestyle, where problems were solved without so much as a hair out of place or a tear shed in despair…

My husband… loved the way the Brady’s bathroom mirror never got steamed up from somebody’s shower and how Mr. Brady never had to threaten a child… for catapulting a meatball off of their fork and into [his] coffee cup the way our kids would! I liked the way their stairway was always free of common household litter and their door wall never had fingerprints on it.

Their house plants flourished and when their phone would ring, it was always somebody… who had something pertinent to contribute to the entire 30-minute story… When [the phone] rings in this house, it’s usually a lady calling long-distance, from Toledo, to tell me about an exciting new offer on my favorite… magazines at drastically reduced rates, or… my Avon lady…

Mrs. Brady lived the kind of saccharine existence all mothers of my day dreamed of, for she never had to explain why they had Coca-Cola stains on the ceiling or how she blew the food budget on a pot roast for Sunday’s dinner, or why she had to take down phone messages in the dust on the end table because she could never locate a pencil and paper when she needed it, like I did!

Her kids did not spend hours on the phone with a friend just listening to each other breathe, nor did they waste their allowances on a record album with a 3-aspirin rating! And, I noticed, the Brady kids never used a windowsill for a foot-rest, a lampshade for a coat rack or a younger brother for a punching bag.

Mr. and Mrs. Brady never argued with each other over his bowling night and her Bridge Club. Have you ever noticed how their oldest boy never stood around, cracking his knuckles when he was bored? Ours did. Everything that happened to them was an object lesson with a happy conclusion where the parents always come out on top, knowing what was best for the youngsters and proving it, too!

We always felt lucky, on the other hand, if Paul and I could only get the cherries out of the fruit cocktail before the kids did! And, while all of the Brady kids uttered adorable little sayings… our teenaged son explained how he had just initiated his new chemistry set by concocting Nitro-glycerin in the utility room.

The Brady Bunch may have lived in a Walt Disney [style] happily-ever-after world, but I did really like them… because [the story] didn’t tell it like it WAS, but how it COULD be! – Gloria Pitzer, My Cup Runneth Over and I Can’t Find My Mop (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; Dec. 1989, pp. 27-29)

Inspired by some of Mom’s stories and cartoons, I wrote the following parody of The Brady Bunch theme song, That’s the Way we all Became the Brady Bunch, by songwriters, Frank DeVol and Sherwood Schwartz (© Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC):

Parody by Laura Emerich, Illustrations & Photo by Gloria Pitzer

MY “DIET” UPDATE:

Friday marked the first day of summer! On the first day of spring I adopted the low-carb lifestyle (like Atkins). It has been 97 days of no bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, sugar – you know, all the good stuff! After starting out at a 20-gram-carb-limit for a few weeks, I raised my carb-limit to 25 grams a day and have kept it there so far.

I’ve recently started using almond flour to make some Keto recipes. I LOVE the 90-Second Microwave English Muffin! I turned my slices into a Monte Cristo sandwich one morning and, OMG, I was in heaven (and stuffed) for a maximum 9-grams of carbs! I’ve also discovered that some heavy whipping cream and sugar-free, flavored gelatin make awesome “carb-free” desserts!

As of today, I’ve lost about 30 pounds! My goal is to lose another 10 pounds, at least; maybe 15 pounds at most. However, my “exercise regimen” is not steady, to say the least, and I still need to change that! I don’t spend near enough time weeding my garden or going for brisk walks.

IN CLOSING…

June 17, 2019September 18, 2021

Fudge, like Disneyland’s and Disney World’s

Disneyland/World-Style Fudge

By Gloria Pitzer (1996-1997 “Free Sample Recipes” sheet)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup milk

1/4-lb. butter

1/3 cup Hershey’s Cocoa powder

1-lb. powdered sugar

Instructions:

Place ingredients, in order as listed, in a 1 1/2-quart Pyrex bowl, but do NOT stir.

Put the bowl, as is, in a 350°F oven for 25 minutes.

Remove from oven and, immediately, beat with hand-mixer on high speed for 3-5 minutes, until absolutely smooth.

Pour into a greased, 8-inch square pan and refrigerate until firm. Then cut into 1-inch squares. Makes 64 pieces.

NOTE: Do NOT double this recipe! Make two bowls, using same oven time. After beating each bowl smooth, pour them, both, into a greased 9-inch loaf pan. Chill until firm, then slice.

Mondays & Memories of My Mom – The Trials and Tribulations of Experience

June 17, 2019

Mondays & Memories of My Mom – The Trials and Tribulations of Experience

Happy Monday to everyone! I hope all the dads out there had an awesome, memory-making Father’s Day with their kids yesterday!

Yesterday was a bitter sweet day for me, as it was my parents’ anniversary, as well as Father’s Day. I’m so happy that they’re together again and yet I miss them, both, so much! Since my dad passed away in the fall of 2014, Father’s Day has become one of those days when I miss my dad more immensely than others! Like any daughter might feel, he was and will always be my hero! Thus, being that yesterday was Father’s Day, I want to share with you an old, satirical editorial that Mom wrote about Dad called “Father’s Day (or) the King and I!” Below is a photocopy of the article, which I found in Mom’s June 1974 newsletter issue.

There weren’t many things that stumped my mom more than understanding my dad’s love of football. However, Mom was always perplexed to come up with an easy answer for people, asking her advice on how to write and publish a cookbook or to start their own newsletter. My mom often wanted to create an easy, step-by-step plan to give people. However, there was no one-size-fits-all answer; not even based solely on what was Mom’s own experiences, hard work and involvement.

Other than 3 of the most commonly known, basic steps – (1) write about what you know best, (2) know who your target audience is and, (3) follow through or sell it to them – Mom could never come up with a more detailed outline that could cover all the multitudes of possibilities involved in writing a newsletter or book. Mom believed that only the trials and tribulations of experience could be the best guides by which to set and accomplish one’s goals.

Similar to some advice that Mom once gave me for writing to capture my audience’s attention and doing it in the first sentence or two, Stephen King said, of “opening lines”, in an interview by Joe Fassler (July 23, 2013) in The Atlantic magazine:

‘There are all sorts of theories and ideas about what constitutes a good opening line. It’s a tricky thing, and tough to talk about because I don’t think conceptually while I work on a first draft — I just write. To get scientific about it is a little like trying to catch moonbeams in a jar…But there’s one thing I’m sure about. An opening line should invite the reader to begin the story. It should say: Listen. Come in here. You want to know about this.’

Instead of composing a “How To…” guide for writing and publishing, Mom wrote “our family story” in her book, My Cup Runneth Over and I Can’t Find My Mop (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; Dec. 1989); in hopes that it might help inspire someone else. Here is a patch-work quilt of excerpts from that book – excerpts which Mom wrote on the subject of creating your own newsletter or book…

FROM MY MOM’S MEMORIES…

THE EXPERIENCES WE’VE ENCOUNTERED in building this family enterprise of ours, this cottage industry…has occurred while distributing recipe secrets through radio broadcasting and newspaper exposure and our own publishing efforts. If someone can benefit from our experiences, all the better. Mostly, though, this is just a story of our family, our five children…and how we made a dent in the hard shell of the publishing industry. – Gloria Pitzer, My Cup Runneth Over and I Can’t Find My Mop (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; Dec. 1989, p. 2)

At least once a week…I am asked how I got into this business, how it all started and how somebody else can write their own book [or newsletter] and get it published. If there were a formula for our kind of success…I would be happy to share the information…

The experiences that comprise the success and longevity of our Secret Recipes^TM include some very wonderful people who have gone out of their way to make it easy for us to present our work to the public…[those were some to whom I’ve started addressing “thank you” notes in my last couple of blogs…among others yet to come.]

Over the years, it has been, not a job, but a joy to continue investigating the secrets of the food industry, combining this information and recipes with the logic of the heart, the food for thought as well as food for the table. It continues to arouse interest and delight in, both, our readers and radio listeners all over the country, as well as the world! – Gloria Pitzer, My Cup Runneth Over and I Can’t Find My Mop (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; Dec. 1989, pp. 14-15)

If someone were to copy our so-called “success”, I could give them no blueprint for that condition. Each one of the little steps that we had to take to develop the kitchen table activity into a professional business operation, are like the grains of sand that the oyster requires to form a pearl. – Gloria Pitzer, My Cup Runneth Over and I Can’t Find My Mop (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; Dec. 1989, p. 25)

With…writing and marketing, it’s all based on individuality, on experience being the best teacher and on having a responsive audience…it also begins with a sale. You have to know to whom you will be directing your material and how you will be meeting their needs. Nobody can tell you HOW to do that – you either know or you don’t! If you don’t know how to talk to your reader, you’re like a lighthouse without a light!

You have to let your light shine – and part of the preparation of communicating with your readers is to know how to talk to them, what they need from your [books or] newsletters that will enrich them or make their lives better. – Gloria Pitzer, My Cup Runneth Over and I Can’t Find My Mop (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; Dec. 1989, pp. 43-44)

Believe me, it’s not easy, putting out your own [book or] newsletter; and it is foolish for anyone to believe that there is a blueprint…to follow that will promise instant success. – Gloria Pitzer, My Cup Runneth Over and I Can’t Find My Mop (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; Dec. 1989, p. 48)

IN THE BEGINNING…

In 1973, Mom wrote and self-published her first cookbook, The Better Cooker’s Cookbook. It was a collection of recipes that she had developed, tested and originally published in Cookbook Corner, a recipe column she wrote and syndicated to newspapers for over 5 years prior. Mom laughingly called her collection the “reluctant-cook-budget-tested” recipes.

“THANK YOU”

I’d like to place a big “THANK YOU” note, here, to Bob Talbert (RIP) of the Detroit Free Press fame, along with our condolences to his surviving family and friends. Mom often talked about his helpful boosts in getting her name out to his readers with the wonderful plugs he gave her products. Bob Talbert and Mom had a delightful friendship over the years, and she was quite saddened by his passing in 1999. Bob mentioned Mom’s first cookbook in one of his 1973 columns, where he referred to it as being great “…for a buck-and-a-half-and-a-belly-laugh” per page!

At that point, as Mom’s collection of recipes grew – recipes which she developed and tested initially from requests made by her readers and, then, from the radio listeners of Bob Allison’s Ask Your Neighbor show that she was beginning to know – she decided, rather than writing another cookbook, she’d start writing a monthly newsletter. Mom called it Gloria Pitzer’s Homemaker’s Newsletter (1974) and referred to it as a “compendium of fact and fancies…the almost-magazine – not quite a newspaper – that can build into a book.” Mom also knew exactly who her target audience was and instinctively saw how to sell it to them!

When Mom made mention of her newsletter during one of her frequent call-ins to Bob’s radio show to answer a listener’s recipe question, he was immediately enthralled to know more about it and how his listeners could get it.

The first few cornerstones, in the building of Mom’s Secret Recipes^TM empire, were her fellow journalists, as well as radio talk show producers and their hosts. My mom mailed out advertising fliers that she designed and complimentary copies of her work to every one of whom she could think to promote her talents. The unique niche Mom carved out in the food industry in the mid- to late-1970s, when she dared to embrace the fast food and junk food fare that all the nutritionists were warning the public against consuming, grabbed the public’s attention by storm!

Mom constantly found innovative ways to sell her creations through a lot of business cards (placed everywhere and anywhere allowed) and promotional mailings for radio talk show programs, the wire service, newspapers, magazines and even television that catered to her same focus group (along with a follow-up note or phone call). Mom’s newsletter and her ensuing collection of self-published cookbooks seized the interest of people, all over the country and internationally, as there wasn’t anything else on the market like them!

The History of ‘Gloria Pitzer’s Secret Recipes Newsletter^TM’ can be found at https://therecipedetective.com/2019/01/21/the-history-of-gloria-pitzers-secret-recipes-newsletter/. Long story, short version… Originally, Mom’s newsletter was a small (5.5” x 8.5”), 3-ring binder-style publication that could be collected, volume by volume, to form a book. Mom called the “almost-book, almost-magazine” Gloria Pitzer’s Homemaker’s Newsletter. It boasted 12 back-to-back pages per issue, laid out in the style of a patchwork-quilt and stuffed full of food for the soul, food for thought and food for the table. In addition, there were kitchen, cooking and household tips; plus, humorous quips and satirical cartoons! Furthermore, the early issues included a “Reader’s Swap Shop” and a “gardening tips” page.

‘Every issue is like getting together for coffee with friends!’ _SM – Gloria Pitzer

Over the decades, the newsletter evolved with the changing times – the subject matter never ran low of ideas to cover, as more and more chain restaurants surfaced with specialty dishes that people wanted to know how to imitate at home, and new “convenient” grocery products were constantly being developed and introduced by various food companies. Mom added restaurant reviews and her radio show schedule to the newsletter issues, eventually eliminating the “Reader’s Swap Shop” and “gardening tips” page.

Along with the changing eras, the name of Mom’s newsletter changed slightly a few different times, as well as the size, number of pages and amount of issues printed per year. Plus, of course, the cost grew with inflation too. To put it in perspective, in 1974, according to DollarTimes.com, the United States minimum wage was $2.00 per hour; which is an equivalent to $10.88 per hour in today’s, 2019, economy.

At times, when Mom was over-busy, authoring new cookbooks, she opted to place the newsletter into retirement for a few short periods of time. But, because of her love for the writing and consistent contact with her audience, Mom would always come back to the periodical, reincarnating it in a new format – much like the “retirement saga” of football-fame’s Brett Favre. Wow! I think I just channeled my dad there!

Among Mom’s things that I have now, I found an original layout for her 1999, 25^th anniversary edition of the 1974 newsletter collection, in a 60-page, large (8½ x 11-inch) format book filled with over 250 recipes and her usual added flair that had always set Mom’s books apart from the rest. I’d love to hear from anyone who still has old copies of Mom’s newsletters or any of her books! Please write to me at: [email protected] and include your memories of my mom!

IN CLOSING… since yesterday was also National Fudge Day, below is a photocopy of Mom’s imitation for fudge like Disneyland’s and Disneyworld’s famous product, which she shared on one of her “free recipe samples and ordering information” sheets in 1996 or 1997 (I haven’t found a copy of it in any of Mom’s books that I have, but it may have originally appeared in one of her newsletter issues that I don’t have)…

June 10, 2019September 18, 2021

Hot Dog & Bacon BBQ

Aunt Hazel’s Hot Dog & Bacon BBQ

[From Gloria Pitzer’s 2002-2004 free recipes, media promotion sheet.]

Ingredients:

1-pound Ball Park franks, each frank sliced in quarters

1-pound bacon, sliced in half

1 small box of round, wood toothpicks

1 cup each: ketchup and sugar

Instructions:

Cut each of the franks into 4 pieces of equal length. Cut each strip of bacon into 3 pieces of equal length. Wrap one piece of bacon around one piece of frank, securing with a toothpick and repeating until all the frank pieces have been wrapped in the bacon pieces.

Arrange all the wrapped and secured pieces in a single layer in a shallow baking pan. Bake at 400°F for 10-15 minutes, until bacon is “wiggly”. Remove partially-cooked pieces from pan and place in a slow cooker so that they fill it half-full.

Combine equal parts ketchup and sugar until you have enough mixture to keep the pieces submerged – I use 1 cup of each. Cover with a snug-fitting lid and turn it on high for 1 hour and then on low for 2 hours, or until ready to serve.

The toothpicks become nice little handles for picking them up and the heating process does not affect the wood, nor does the wood affect the sauce. Makes 8 to 10 appetizer-sized (4 to 5 pieces) servings. Leftovers, if any, can be refrigerated up to a week.

Mondays & Memories of My Mom – Reading, Writing and Radio

June 10, 2019September 18, 2021

Share-a-Lease Cheesecake

SHARE-A-LEASE CHEESECAKE

By Gloria Pitzer

[This recipe was part of Gloria’s original 200 recipes collection, from the early 1970s, and has been printed in many of her self published cookbooks; the first one being The Secret Restaurant Recipes Book (National Homemaker’s Newsletter, Pearl Beach, MI; Jan. 1977, p. 32), which is no longer in print, and the last one is Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – The Best of the Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p. 247)]

The crust:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Put ¼ pound butter or margarine in a 9-inch, square pan and into the preheating oven until butter melts. Meanwhile, put a 10-ounce package Lorna Doone Sugar Cookies (or plain sugar cookies) through a blender until fine crumbs. Combine crumbs with 1 envelope unflavored, gelatin powder and ¼ cup sugar. Add ½ teaspoon cinnamon if you wish. Mix it well.

Remove pan containing butter from oven as soon as it is completely melted. Mix in crumb mixture, reserving ¼ cup of this and setting it aside to use over filling later, and stir to blend thoroughly. Pat remaining crumb mixture evenly and firmly over bottom of pan. Return to oven to bake exactly 8 minutes – which gives you just enough time to prepare the filling (below.)

The filling:

Mix the following until light and fluffy: 2 large packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, one 8-ounce carton dairy sour cream, 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, 2 large eggs, 1 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat with electric mixer on medium speed.

As soon as crust is baked, just slip rack out far enough, without even removing the pan from the oven, so that you can pour filling into hot crust. Sprinkle top of filling lightly with the reserved ¼ cup crumb mixture. Return to oven to bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until you can insert the blade of a table knife into the filling, 1 inch from the edge of pan, and it comes out clean. Cool about 30 minutes before cutting to serve – OR chill it thoroughly and serve it quite cold with whipped cream or Cool Whip topping to garnish. Makes 8 servings.

Mondays & Memories of My Mom – Hi, Neighbor!

June 10, 2019September 18, 2021

Wednesday’s Frosted Drink

WEDNESDAY’S FROSTED DRINK

By Gloria Pitzer

[This recipe was originally printed in Gloria Pitzer’s Better Cookery Cookbook(Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; May 1983, p. 329)]

Ingredients:

1 cup milk

½ cup Nestlé’s quick chocolate drink powder

3 cups slightly soft vanilla ice cream

Instructions:

Put ingredients in blender, using on/off agitation and blending until smooth. Stop motor occasionally to scrape mixture away from blades and repeat blending until creamy. Makes one serving.

Mondays & Memories of My Mom – The Cookbooks I Collected were Collecting Dust!

June 10, 2019

Mondays & Memories of My Mom – Reading, Writing and Radio

Happy Monday everyone!

ONCE UPON A TIME…

Whenever Mom was asked “how it all began”, she found it hard to pinpoint that one moment. Over the years, she had mentioned numerous times that, as a pre-teen, she was inspired to be a writer after watching a 1946 Warner Brothers Picture about the Bronte sisters, called “Devotion”. That was definitely when she began serious journaling on a daily basis! In fact, from then and for the rest of her life, Mom continued journaling – which came to more than 71 years of chronicles – now that’s devotion!

Mom, likewise, mentioned that, around the same time as seeing the movie, she had also penned a poem for a class writing assignment, which was published in The Detroit News – and how that was probably the turning point when her creative writing interest became serious, as she was so surprised that others found her composing to be that good! After that, Mom loved entering creative writing contests and, often, did so.

FROM MOM’S MEMORIES: The National Essay Award sponsored by the Daughters of the American Revolution offered a $100 scholarship [which was a large sum in the mid-1940s] for the best essay written by a high school senior, entitled ‘What it Means to be an American’. I worked so hard on that paper – gave it my all! At graduation, I received the scholarship check and I knew, then, that I would be a serious writer after all. [My Cup Runneth Over and I Can’t Find My Mop (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; Dec. 1989, p. 20)]

WDEE-Radio, in Detroit, gave me a portable radio for a recipe that took 1^st place in a contest they conducted – and in 1962, it was WBRB-Radio, in Mt. Clemens, that gave me a check for 1^st place in their recipe contest. Soon after that, Better Homes & Gardens sent me a check for a recipe in a contest they had conducted; and, in 1964, WJBK-Radio [Detroit] gave me a maple stereo and radio set for their [contest about the] most unusual experience while listening to the radio, when I wrote to them about our ‘Picnicking in the Snow’. Again, the story was food related, including recipes for having a cook-out on the beach at Metropolitan Park [on Lake St. Clair in Michigan] in the middle of winter, with the radio going to keep us in the proper mood. [Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – The Best of the Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p. 294)]

As a young wife and mother in the 1960s, the successes Mom continued to have with writing always had something to do with food and homemaking. Besides doing just about every conceivable job in a small town newspaper office, as had Mom’s ancestors; the editors for whom she worked, often, assigned Mom to also do those type of homemaker/food columns, since she knew how to cook and was the only “married lady” on the staff. As sexist as that may sound, that’s how it was back then. Regardless, it was all a ripple effect that eventually turned Mom’s love for writing, and “writing about what you know best”, into her legacy of love…her empire of Secret Recipes^TM.

Hi Neighbors – Appreciation Continued!

Last week, my blog was a big “thank you” note to many radio stations, as well as their shows’ hosts, who became family. There were so many though! I couldn’t get everyone into one blog. Most of those listed in last week’s blog were from a “thank you” page that Mom had originally dedicated to her radio family, as well as some television shows and some members of the press family, in her favorite, self-published cookbook, The Better Cookery Cookbook (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; May 1983).

By the way, that was the book that Mom had me rewrite for her, during the last few years of her life (and have published by Balboa Press), so it could be shared once again with a new digital generation! The “new” cookbook is now called Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – The Best of the Recipe Detective and is available, for sale through the publisher, Balboa Press, at $20.99 each; eBooks are also available for $3.99 each! This particular cookbook, is truly the best of Mom’s legacy – nothing made her happier before she passed than knowing her writing was going to live on!

MY WRITING WAS NEVER A HOBBY

FROM MOM’S MEMORIES: Journalism is a peculiar profession to follow. I’ve been a serious journalist [since graduating high school in 1954]. I’ve worked among writers who wrote to live, while the rest of us lived to write. We had to communicate, to reach out to someone with ideas…thoughts…reasonings and remembering.

While I live to write, I must consider that others do not. Writers never retire, not if they’re truly writers. Editors may retire and reporters may retire…at some given point. But, old writers never die, they just run out of words. [My Cup Runneth Over and I Can’t Find My Mop (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; Dec. 1989, p. 22)]

I never thought I’d see the day that Mom would run out of words. I’m sure she didn’t either! But, now, her words live on forever in all of her books, newsletters, columns/editorials and so on that people still have! I have heard from quite a few people, since starting these blogs last year, who’ve told me that they still have their copies of Mom’s publishings and how special they are to them. I pour through my copies all the time for inspiration for, both, cooking and writing! Please contact me at [email protected] or on Facebook (@TheRecipeDetective) with your memories of my mom! I’d love to hear from you as well!

I must say, the internet is an awesome source of information and archives to find some of Mom’s old No Laughing Matter columns; as well as her old cookbooks that have been out of print for years, which can still be found on Amazon and eBay (sometimes for ridiculous amounts because they are no longer in print), in addition to her last cookbook, Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – The Best of the Recipe Detective, that was published by Balboa Press and came out just before Mom passed away last year.

Mom made many mentions throughout her book, My Cup Runneth Over and I Can’t Find My Mop (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; Dec. 1989), about her radio family (the stations, talk show hosts and their listeners) that I want to thank in today’s blog. I started a “thank you” list in last Monday’s blog, Hi Neighbor. However, I continue to find more and more names throughout Mom’s writings, who should also be thanked! Mom’s radio family was her major inspiration for what to “sleuth-out” in the food industry. They were the ones who initially nicknamed her the Recipe Detective^TM – a name (and challenge) Mom proudly accepted for decades to come!

#RadioFamily

Additionally, as I continue to come across more names in Mom’s writings, I will also continue to add their “thank you” notes and internet links (if I can find them) in my blogs and #RadioFamily…as well as on social media! I’m also planning on adding a “Thank You” tab (or something along those lines) on this website, dedicated to all of those whom have made a ripple in Mom’s life as the ORIGINAL Recipe Detective^TM.

The names for these NEW “thank you” notes that follow, were collected from Mom’s book, My Cup Runneth Over and I Can’t Find My Mop (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; Dec. 1989, pages 58-61)]. All of these stations, talk show hosts and reporters contributed to the ripples of success for the Recipe Detective^TM. So, on behalf of my mom and our family, I want to say a big “THANK YOU” to…

…KSDO-Radio, San Diego, CA

…WBKV-Radio, West Bend, WI

…WFIR-Radio, Roanoke, VA

…Andy Thomas of WVOC-Radio, Columbia, SC

…Carol Arnold of KTOK-Radio, Oklahoma City, OK

…Marty Kaye of WIBA-Radio, Madison, WI

…Jan Michaelson of WHO-Radio, Des Moines, IA [NOTE: Jan had, also, previously worked with Mom out of a Cincinnati radio station, but I couldn’t find the call letters for it.]

…Jeff Pigeon of WIBC-Radio, Indianapolis, IN –

…Kevin McCarthy of KLIF-Radio, Dallas, TX

…Bob Lee of KSL-Radio, Salt Lake City, UT

…Preston Westmoreland and Pat McMahon of KTAR-Radio, Phoenix, AZ –

…[Thank you for your long-time holiday friendship! – Gloria Pitzer, 1989]

…Mike Donovan of WSTV-Radio, Steubenville, OH – Host of “Open Mike”

…Kathy Keene of WHBY-Radio, Appleton, WI

…Margie Kreschollek of WSUB-Radio, New London, CT –

‘The Microwhiz’…a new radio visit I thoroughly enjoy…[as she] takes my conventional recipes and converts them to ‘micro’ cooking in no time at all! [Thank you for having created new interests in my recipes!] – Gloria Pitzer

…Jim Warren [RIP], host of Moody Radio‘s “Prime Time America”

…Beth Albright of WISN-Radio, Milwaukee, WI

…Tim Regler of KLIN-Radio, Lincoln, NE

…Dennis Elliott of WMFR-Radio, High Point, NC – host of the “Opinion Please” show

…Dan Leonard of WEBR-Radio, Buffalo, NY –

I was honored to be one of your last guests when you left that station…[Thank you for having created new interests in my recipes.] – Gloria Pitzer

…Good Sam RV Club (MI & OH Branches)

…The Noon News, WDIV-TV, (Channel 4) Detroit, MI

…Mother Jones Magazine, created in 1976, in the spirit of Mary Harris Jones, is an award winning magazine of investigative journalism that did a story about Mom in its inception.

…Julie Greenwalt of People Magazine, who…

…called and asked me to think about those typical things that happen here, which they could photograph to accompany the story she was writing about us…

…Dick Syatt, of WRKO-Radio, Boston, MA (host of the “Hotline” show) –

I remembered what Dick Syatt, one of our radio friends, had told me about finally getting everything you ever wanted, when he said, ‘Hell is God, giving you what you thought you wanted.’ Sometimes we need to have something, lose it and get it back again, before we can really appreciate what we have. I had that chance and I am so glad for it… Thank you! – Gloria Pitzer [My Cup Runneth Over and I Can’t Find My Mop (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; Dec. 1989, p. 96)]

Again, I’d love to hear from all of you, who are reading this blog! Please contact me at [email protected] or through Facebook (@TheRecipeDetective) with your own memories of my mom! In closing…