Mondays & Memories of My Mom – Happy Halloween Eve

#ThankGodItsMonday, again. Thus, #HappyMonday to all! I look forward to every Monday because they’re my 52 Chances a year, in which I get to share Memories of My Mom with you!

#TheRecipeDetective

We’re almost at the end of October. Today’s Halloween Eve (aka: Devil’s Night) and tomorrow, Halloween will be kicking off October’s farewell party. Incidentally, October is also Halloween Safety Month.

Whether you celebrate Halloween by trick-or-treating through a neighborhood or hosting or attending a party – who doesn’t love dressing up and pretending to be someone (or something) else for one day/night? It brings out the kid in us.

There was a time when Halloween was revered as a demonic day. Just like every other holiday, it seems, we’ve Americanized it – into a celebration of imagination; embracing the scariness and thrills of old folklore stories. It’s probably the most creative holiday.

Halloween has become such a star of the fall celebrations, it’s surpassed Thanksgiving’s fame. You could say it’s probably just as popular as Christmas is among the winter celebrations. Retail marketing has launched many campaigns making it a fun (and profitable) celebration. Even Hollywood cashes in on the Americanized spirit of Halloween.

FROM MOM’S MEMORIES…

As seen in…

No Laughing Matter, a syndicated column by Gloria Pitzer (no date on reprint)

[Originally printed in her syndicated Food For Thought column, circa 1969]

HALLOWEEN TRICK IS FINDING WEIRD ATTIRE

EVERY YEAR, I KEEP hoping somebody will do something about Halloween costumes. Shopping for really weird costumes poses a problem when we are still offered the same monotonous choices we were given back in the Neo-Saddle-Shoe days of [my] own tarnished youth.

Somehow, I’ll locate those boxes in the attic that contain all the rain-soaked, Donald Duck outfits, Bozo suits, Frankenstein masks with missing elastics, and the gypsy attires. And if I do, I’ll be able to clothe an entire hippie colony for at least a year.

Somewhere, I also have a box of threadbare pillowcases stained with licorice and lipstick that didn’t wash out. However, if I’m lucky, I won’t have to give our 12-year-old a bag this year because he says he’s ‘going to eat the stuff right on the spot!’

And, if it’s an especially good year, he promises to save me all the chocolate Easter bunnies he gets. Mike told me not to worry about getting his sister a mask, ‘since Debi doesn’t need one!’

I’ve decided their father can take them trick-or-treating this year! I’m still quite hurt from the tactless comment made by the neighbor at the end of the block, who offered me the candy corn last year because he thought I had a sensational costume. Trouble was, I wasn’t wearing one! I looked like an accident, going somewhere to happen!

‘That’s my mom!’ Mike told the man. ‘But if you think she looks scary now, you should see her in the morning!’ That kid is going to get underwear for Christmas! In fact, a few more comments like that may turn me against honesty, altogether.

Actually, some of the costumes the kids have dreamed up, themselves, have shown more ingenuity than the manufacturers who produce kids’ costumes that are somehow programmed to self-destruct before a mother can find a safety pin to fasten the neck opening.

You’d think, for $2.98, they would at least put gripper snaps or zippers or supply you with safety pins on those skimpy outfits. Do they care that a mother cannot locate a safety pin when she needs one, without summoning the aid of Mannix and Mr. Keane, Tracer of Lost Persons?

Trying to find safety pins for Halloween costumes in October is as likely as finding D batteries for Christmas toys in December! Naturally, all my good suggestions went out the window, so the kids tried to put their own costumes together and I’m supposed to act surprised, when they come calling at our house Halloween night.

Now, maybe I won’t be able to recognize my offspring, but one thing’s for sure… I can certainly identify my sheets! Or, if you’ll excuse the pun – they don’t have a ghost of a chance of fooling me!

Communities and local media sources encouraged families to take the scariness out of what was once known as “All Hallows Eve”. Americanizing the holiday put the focus on FUN, with activities and treats for everyone; while still enjoying bonfires and costumes, but as parties to strengthen families and community ties – not to ward off evil spirits.

By the 20th century, parades, pumpkin festivals, pumpkin-carving events, scary movies, corn mazes, haunted houses, and neighborhood “trick-or-treating” were incorporated into the mix of fun (and frightening) activities, for celebrating Halloween.

The 21st century added “Trunk-or-Treating” parking lot gatherings for safe and fun community events geared toward the family. Simultaneously, it took haunted houses to a whole new level of bone-chilling thrills and terror, for those who like to indulge. Check out the Detroit area’s own Eloise Asylum, voted #5 in the country and #1 in the state.

[NOTE: To learn more about the origins of Halloween and how it came to be what we celebrate now, check out History.com.]

MORE FROM MOM’S MEMORIES…

As seen in…

Food For Thought, a syndicated column by Gloria Pitzer [circa 1973]

EVERYDAY IS HALLOWEEN AROUND HERE!

WHERE WE LIVE, in ‘Halloween Heights’, trick-or-treat is nothing to get excited about. I mean, explaining mischief to the kids in this neighborhood is like trying to explain sex to Dr. Reuben. With the kids on our block, Halloween is a way of life; religiously observed on any day that has the letter ‘Y’ in it!

Last year, we rushed out and bought 100 pieces of penny candy. A lot of good that did! The first kid who rang our doorbell wanted to borrow a cup of bullets. The year before that, nobody rang the doorbell… Somebody had stolen it.

And to think that when we first moved into this neighborhood, from the ‘big city’ 8 years ago; things were so dull all we had to look forward to was our dentist appointments. We couldn’t wait until some families moved in, with children for ours to play with.

Imagine our surprise when we got our wish but learned that those kids gave incentive lectures to pickpockets. They carry their BB guns around in violin cases. Even their sweatshirts are inscribed with slogans like ‘Boris Karloff is a SISSY!’ ‘The mafia wants to join you!’ And… ‘Do unto others before they do it unto you!’

Halloween to these kids is about as exciting as Girl Scout Thinking Day is to the Godfather. They don’t have time to fool around with child’s play. At least, not until they’ve finished putting up all of their signs, reading: ‘KEEP ON THE GRASS!’

I don’t understand them at all. Halloween used to be a marvelous time for masquerading and mischief when our parents would take us to the Five-and-Dime to select a costume and warn us not to fall for the first ugly face we see.

The kind of costumes we used to wear for trick-or-treat would completely turn off today’s kids. After all, they dress that way for school every day. There was always something so wonderfully scary about when we were kids. The kids in this neighborhood aren’t scared by anything.

They aren’t afraid of their parents. They aren’t afraid of the police. They’d probably run Godzilla out of town if they had the chance! For the kids in this neighborhood, doing a good deed is making a contribution in your name to local crime statistics.

Be careful! If one of them ever asks you for the time, it means they want your watch! Listen! Because of the kids in this neighborhood, my Avon lady sends me my order BY MAIL!

Remember how kids used to swallow goldfish as a teenage prank? Well, around here the kids swallow piranhas! Fortunately, though, they haven’t bothered me much. Somebody told them the syndicate has a contract on me – and they didn’t realize that it meant my column was being carried in newspapers across the country.

It wouldn’t do any good to pass out candy to these kids, this Halloween. By the time they ring the bell, we look through the peephole, unfasten the lock, slide back the bolt, unhook the chain, leash-up the German shepherd, disconnect the burglar alarm, and open the door – it would be Thanksgiving!

LAST THOUGHTS…

In a few weeks (the 23rd), it’ll be Thanksgiving. Two weeks after that, is the start of Hanukkah (Dec. 7-15, for 2023); which is followed, in another two weeks, by the Winter Solstice and Yule observations (on Dec. 21st). Those are quickly ensued by the Christmas, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s celebrations, as well.

Blink your eyes and suddenly the Super Bowl festivities will be upon us, followed quickly by Fat Tuesday (aka: Mardi Gras) and Valentine’s Day, a few days later. Before you know it, we’ll also be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, which is closely followed by the celebration of the spring equinox.

The one common denominator in almost all of these great celebrations is food!

IN CLOSING…

In honor of this still being October and National Dessert Month, as well as National Apple Month, here’s Mom’s copycat recipe for “Apple Square Pan Pie” [inspired by Marie Calender’s (Los Angeles, CA)]; as seen in her self-published cookbook, The Copycat Cookbook (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; April 1988, p. 75).

[NOTES: Mom’s Butter Crust recipe, mentioned in this recipe, can be found on the Recipes tab of this website. Additionally, I first shared this recipe, in 2020, on Kathy Keene’s Good Neighbor’ show, which used to air on WHBY (Appleton, WI), before she retired.]

#NationalAppleMonth

#NationalDessertMonth

P.S. Food-for-thought until we meet again, next Monday…

#LearnSomethingNewEveryDay

October is still observing… Eat Better & Eat Together Month, German-American Heritage Month, Italian-American Heritage Month, National Applejack Month, National Bake and Decorate Month, National Chili Month, National Cookie Month, National Fire Prevention Month, National Book Month, National Cookbook Month

#NationalBookMonth

#NationalCookbookMonth

#GloriaPitzersCookbook

https://www.balboapress.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-001062253

National Kitchen & Bath Month, National Pasta Month, National Pickled Peppers Month, National Pizza Month, National Popcorn Poppin’ Month, National Pork Month, National Pretzel Month, National Sausage Month, National Seafood Month, National Women’s Small Business Month, National Work and Family Month

#WomensSmallBusinessMonth

#WorkAndFamilyMonth

Pear and Pineapple Month, Polish American Heritage Month, Positive Attitude Month, Rhubarb Month, Self-Promotion Month, Spinach Lovers Month, Tackling Hunger Month, and Vegetarian Month – and so much more!

Today is also… National Candy Corn Day!

Tomorrow is also… National Caramel Apple Day. Plus, it’s still National Caramel Month AND National Apple Month. In honor of all three, here’s a bonus, free recipe, for your Halloween treat – Mom’s imitation of “Caramel Apples” like we had at Disney World (Los Angeles, CA); as seen in her self-published cookbook, Top Secret Recipes Al’a Carte (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; Sept. 1979, p. 11).

#CaramelAppleDay

#NationalCaramelMonth

#NationalAppleMonth

November 1st is… National Authors’ Day, National Calzone Day, National Cinnamon Day, National Deep Fried Clams Day, National  Cook For Your Pets Day, and National Vinegar Day! Plus, as the first Wednesday in November (for 2023), it’s also… National Stress Awareness Day! Additionally, it’s the start of… National Fig Week, which is always November 1st-7th.

#NationalAuthorsDay

November 2nd is… National Deviled Egg Day and National Ohio Day! Plus, as the first Thursday in November (for 2023), it’s also… National Men Make Dinner Day (must cook… no BBQ allowed!)

November 3rd is… National Housewife’s Day and National Sandwich Day! Plus, as the first Friday in November (for 2023), it’s also… National Jersey Friday!

#NationalHousewifesDay

November 4th is… National Chicken Lady Day and National Candy Day! Plus, as the first Saturday in November (for 2023), it’s also… National Bison Day and National Play Outside Day, which is always the first Saturday of EVERY month!

November 5th is… National Doughnut Day! Plus, as the first Sunday in November (for 2023)… Daylight Saving Time Ends and Standard Time resumes.

#TGIM

https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-thank-god-its-monday-day-first-monday-in-january/

…44 down and 8 to go!

Mondays & Memories of My Mom – TV Talk Shows

Thank God Its Monday, once again; and, as such, happy Monday to everyone! I personally look forward to all Mondays, as they’re my 52 Chances a year, in which I get to share Memories of My Mom with you!

#TheRecipeDetective

Along with October being, in relation to Mom, National Women’s Small Business Month, National Work and Family Month, Positive Attitude Month, Self-Promotion Month, National Book Month, and National Cookbook Month, among many other things; TODAY is National TV Talk Show Host Day (and Johnny Carson’s birthday).

#TVTalkShowHostDay

Mom found much success, promoting her recipes on radio talk shows, first (and last). During her last 20 years in business, that was all in which she indulged, for promoting her latest imitations. But it was the TV talk shows, on which she appeared, during her first 20 years in business, that catapulted her unique recipes nationally and worldwide.

Throughout the first two decades of being the Recipe DetectiveTM, Mom demonstrated her talents for imitating some of our favorite “junk foods” – like KFC’s fried chicken, Oreo cookies, Hostess Twinkies, Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookies, and more – on national TV talk shows like the Phil Donahue Show, ABC’s Home Show, CNN News, and PM Magazine.

The first television talk show, on which Mom appeared to discuss her innovative recipe ideas, was a Detroit program called A.M. Detroit, hosted by Dennis Wholley [WXYZ-TV, Channel 7 (Detroit, MI)]. That episode was recorded on November 14, 1974 (my 10th birthday).

From that appearance, Mom was contacted to be interviewed on New Year’s Day (1975) by Bob Hines on CKLW-TV, Channel 9 [Windsor, Ontario (Canada)]. Later, on Christmas Eve (1976), she was also interviewed, at our home in Algonac, by Jack McCarthy of WXYZ-TV, Channel 7 (Detroit, MI).

During the 1980-1981 winter season, while we were living in St. Clair, Mom had another at-home-interview – this time with PM Magazine’s Detroit TV crew. She also appeared on Detroit’s Noon News show, on WDIV-TV, Channel 4 (Detroit, MI) that same winter. Those appearances brought her additional media attention and her fan base quickly and steadily grew.

FROM MOM’S MEMORIES…

As seen in…

Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – The Best of the Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p.296)

[IN THE BEGINNING]

IT WAS THE WORST POSSIBLE TIME to launch a new business. The unemployment rate was terribly high. There was a newsprint paper shortage. There was a gasoline shortage. But I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to at least try to have my own publication.

It was something I had always wanted to do. I couldn’t tell Paul. I knew that! He would have been far too practical to have approved of my starting my own paper, so I enlisted the help of our children. I was taking in ironing at the time, at $5 a basket, and sometimes earned as much as $50 a week.

The money was supposed to supplement Paul’s paycheck, which – as soon as we found could make ends meet – we discovered somebody had moved the ends. So, I took what money I could from the ironing earnings and bought a mimeograph. I kept it in a big box in the utility room under my sewing table.

Paul would hardly pay attention to what I wanted him to think was only sewing paraphernalia. For nine months, I mimeograph, assembled and mailed out about 100 copies a month of my newsletter. Bill and Mike helped assemble it and Debbie help me test the recipes and address the copies.

I don’t know how we ever kept it from Paul for that long, but I couldn’t tell him what I was doing until I could assure him that I could make a profit. All I was doing was breaking even. Then Dennis Wholley, at Channel 7 in Detroit, called and said somebody had sent him a copy of my newsletter.

He was tickled with the crazy names I gave the recipes and the home-spun format. He wanted the entire family to be his guests on his ‘A.M. Detroit’ show on November 14 [1974] – which was also our Laura’s birthday.

I couldn’t keep it from Paul any longer, because I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to promote the paper on a popular local television show. He took it quite well, considering the state of shock he must have been in at my announcement.

But we took all 5 of the kids with us across town, in a blizzard yet, with Laura having a bout of carsickness during the hour’s drive there. And, during that experience, we met Coleman Young, the recently elected mayor of Detroit, who was also a guest on the show.

All of Pearl Beach must have been tuned into ‘A.M. Detroit’ that morning, with half of the population gathered at the Pearl Beach post office, watching the portable set there. It brought us many new orders for our newsletter, and it wasn’t long before CKLW’s Bob Heinz asked us to appear on his show on New Year’s Day.

We, again, took the family [to Detroit and] over to Windsor, Ontario – across the Detroit River – for another exciting experience and hundreds of letters that followed, wanting to subscribe to the newsletter.

By that time, Paul was giving me every evening of his time when he came home from his own job at the sign company, plus all the weekends just to fill the orders. My list of ‘Secret Recipes’ had grown to 200 and we offered them, on 4 x 6” cards [that I printed on my mimeograph], at $.25 each or 5 for a dollar.

It was quite a packaging process to fill the combinations of orders, so I put all those recipes into a book. It was going to be our only book on the subject, since most of the recipes were ‘fast foods’ – [as it was considered a ‘fad’ that wouldn’t last long] but, as it turned out, it was only the 1st of a series of, then, 5 books.

After ‘Book One’ took off and became a very good seller, I did a Bicentennial American Cookery book, as a limited edition, and was pleased when the Henry Ford Library at Greenfield Village (in Dearborn, Michigan) ordered copies for their bicentennial collection. That was July 1976…

Nevertheless, it was her FIRST appearance on “The Phil Donahue Show” (July 7, 1981) that brought her world-wide attention. Our small family business was inundated with over a million letters requesting her free recipes and ordering information for her books and newsletters.

For months, following Mom’s 1981 appearance on the Donahue Show, the episode re-aired around the country and around the world and we were slammed with mail. Our small, family operation had to bring in a lot of extra help, including some of my high school friends, to assist with the extra mailings we had to prepare and send out.

Mom’s friend and radio talk show host, Dick Syatt [RKO-Radio (Boston, MA)], once told her, in regard to the tremendous response we received from that Donahue Show episode and the diabolical toll it took on our family: “Hell is God giving you what you thought you wanted!”

We mailed out hundreds of thousands of Mom’s “free recipes and product-ordering information” sheets, in exchange for the hundreds of thousands of self-addressed stamped envelopes that poured in, per the offer announced on the show. We also were mailing out thousands more newsletter issues, from all of the new subscriptions that soon followed.

As chaotic as it was, in the end, Mom recognized that the Donahue Show opened a lot of doors for her that might never have happened, otherwise. It brought her unique style of “copycat cookery” to the attention of MILLIONS of new eyes, worldwide, fairly quickly (and that was before household internet). She felt very fortunate and grateful.

Mom’s small, family business boomed but the experience nearly crushed our household and the cottage-style dining room table operation of Secret RecipesTM. All parties involved eventually survived. However, Mom swore she’d never do another national TV show again.

Nevertheless, in February 1988, Mom appeared on ABC’s Home Show with host, Rob Weller; as it was set up by her friend, Carol Duvall, the famous crafter. The show surprised Mom, with having her meet Wally Amos, in-person, during the episode! Her SECOND appearance on the Home Show was three years later, on March 19, 1991.

Over 33 years ago (Memorial Day, 1990), a CNN News crew came out to our St. Clair home to record an interview with Mom. Later that year, in October, Mom appeared on the Kelly & Company show [WXYZ-TV, Channel 7 (Detroit, MI)] with the hosts, husband and wife team, John Kelly and Marilyn Turner. Her SECOND appearance was May 8, 1991.

In 1993, Mom was invited back to the Donahue Show. She and Dad agreed, only if the show would NOT share their contact information. Inadvertently, because of that, the show received more requests for the transcript than for any other episode, obliterating the previous record. Regardless, people found us and we were overrun again with mail.

LAST THOUGHTS…

Mom also agreed to do an infomercial as the Recipe DetectiveTM, in 1993, with Guthie-Renker Corp. It was set up like a TV talk show, called ‘Ask Mike’. It was similar to Phil Donahue’s and Rob Weller’s interviews and cooking demonstrations, and included an appearance by Wally Amos, too.

But they wanted to change the look of her available books (and there was other drama, as well). It turned out to be a big disappointment and a really unpleasant endeavor for, both, Mom and Dad. The whole thing was produced and directed by Positive Response Television. The family was given copies (on VCR tapes) but it never aired, publicly.

Afterward, Mom refused to do anymore TV talk shows; accepting only newspaper, magazine, and radio talk show interviews. She never regretted that decision, turning down offers from big TV talk shows like The Rosie O’Donnell Show and The Late Show, with David Letterman.

And, as much as she loved Johnny Carson, Mom even turned down an appearance on the Tonight Show. However, she did become friends with fellow Michiganders, Pam and Ed McMahon… And never regretted her decision.

IN CLOSING…

In honor of TODAY, being National Boston Cream Pie Day (and it’s still National Dessert Month), here’s Mom’s copycat recipe for “Boston Cream Pie Ala Fast”; as seen in one of her first few, self-published cookbooks… The Second Helping Of Secret Recipes (National Homemakers Newsletter, Pearl Beach, MI; July 1977, p. 8).

#NationalDessertMonth

#BostonCreamPieDay

P.S. Food-for-thought until we meet again, next Monday…

#LearnSomethingNewEveryDay

The month of October observes a lot of things, including… Eat Better & Eat Together Month, German-American Heritage Month, Halloween Safety Month, Italian-American Heritage Month, National Apple Month, National Applejack Month, National Arts & Humanities Month, National Bake and Decorate Month, National Caramel Month, National Chili Month, National Cookie Month, National Fire Prevention Month, National Kitchen & Bath Month, National Pasta Month, National Pickled Peppers Month, National Pizza Month, National Popcorn Poppin’ Month, National Pork Month, National Pretzel Month, National Reading Group Month, National Sausage Month, National Seafood Month, Pear and Pineapple Month, Polish American Heritage Month, Rhubarb Month, Spinach Lovers Month, Tackling Hunger Month, and Vegetarian Month!

#NationalBookMonth

#NationalCookbookMonth

#GloriaPitzersCookbook

https://www.balboapress.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-001062253

Today is also… National Mole Day!

Tomorrow is… National Food Day, National Bologna Day, and United Nations Day!

Wednesday, October 25th is… National Greasy Food Day!

Thursday, October 26th is… National Tennessee Day, National Pumpkin Day, and National Mincemeat Day!

October 27th is… National American Beer Day, Navy Day! Plus, as the last Friday in October (for 2023), it’s also… National Breadstick Day!

October 28th is… National Chocolate Day! Plus, as the fourth Saturday in October (for 2023), it’s also… National Make A Difference Day! Additionally, as the last Saturday in October (for 2023), it’s also… National Trick or Treat Day!

Sunday, October 29th is… National Oatmeal Day!

#TGIM

https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-thank-god-its-monday-day-first-monday-in-january/

…43 down and 9 to go!

Mondays & Memories of My Mom – Women And Family Businesses

#ThankGodItsMonday and #HappyMonday to everyone! I personally look forward to all Mondays because they’re my 52 Chances a year, in which I get to share Memories of My Mom with you!

#TheRecipeDetective

Mom had an undeniable gift for writing, which began at a young age. Her dedication to writing began in 1946, after seeing the Warner Brothers movie, Devotion, about the Bronte sisters. That’s when she began journaling seriously, on a daily basis; mostly writing about her life, dreams, and faith.

Mom filled journal after journal, for more than 70 years, with her ideas, feelings, and observations; from the time she was 10 years old until she physically couldn’t, shortly before she passed away in January 2018. Writing was so much more than a hobby or vocation, to Mom. It was definitely a DEVOTION!

#WorkAndFamilyMonth

You could say writing was in Mom’s blood, as her dad’s family published the newspaper for the Union Mills-Cromwell area of Indiana during the late 19th century. Mom, herself, worked in the newspaper industry for over a decade, before quitting to develop her own small, family operated, recipe business, in the early 1970s.

Mom was very creative at whatever she attempted. I wish I had half of her talent. She wore so many hats in our family and in the “family enterprise”. For our family, she was the cook, housekeeper, chauffer, doctor, seamstress, counselor, mentor, teacher, and so much more.

#WomensSmallBusinessMonth

#SelfPromotionMonth

Within her small business, Mom was the recipe developer, author, illustrator, layout creator, publicist, promotion specialist, public speaker/lecturer and, again, so much more! She didn’t do it all by herself, as she also employed me and my siblings to help; and, later, Dad.

As a semi-modern, yet somewhat old-fashioned housewife-turned-homemaker-turned-entrepreneur, during the 1970s and amidst the Women’s Liberation Movement, Mom felt extremely blessed to be able to write for a living – and to be able to do it from home.

#NationalBusinessWomensWeek

She always said, she made a living with her writing, but it was her writing that made living worthwhile! By the way, Sunday kicked off the beginning of National Business Women’s Week, plus it’s still National Women’s Small Business Month, too. Women entrepreneurs and small family businesses actually run in our family, in both sides of my parents’ ancestors.

In honor, this week, I wanted to share some of Mom’s stories about “Grandma’s Backdoor Bakery”. This series of stories, about which Mom wrote over 40 years ago, are based loosely on family fables that were passed down (and embellished) through a couple of generations. I call it her “kin-folklore”.

[NOTE: The following part of “The Backdoor Bakery” saga (pictured below) – from Eating Out At Home Cookbook (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; Sep. 1981, 12th Printing, p. 24) – includes recipes for “Saturday Bread Dough” and “West Virginia Bread”. These were posted once before, in a previous blog, and can also be found on the Recipes tab of this website.]

MORE FROM MOM’S MEMORIES…

As seen in…

Eating Out At Home Cookbook (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; Sep. 1981, 12th Printing, p. 24)

[Below, continued from THE BACKDOOR BAKERY (pictured above).]

THEY BARTERED FOR THE baked goods when they didn’t have the cash to pay. A bushel of apples or a peck of potatoes might be a fair-trade for bread, sufficient to feed a large family for a week. From the batter bread recipe, many versions of baked goods were created.

Greased cupcake or muffin wells half-filled with the batter produced a good dinner roll (when baked at 375° for 20 to 25 minutes.) Grandma insisted on one test for ‘doneness’ – tapping the crust with a finger. If it made a hollow sound – it was done! Grandma and the five girls were up at 4 AM to begin the baking each Saturday.

During the bristling winter days at her ‘Backdoor Bakery’, there was a large enamel pot of lemonade keeping hot on the back of the stove. She sold [the warm lemonade] for a few cents a cup to go along with a doughnut or cookie to those customers warming their hands over the heat of the stove before departing.

When Jasper Fillmore turned up, she noted in her journal, there was a slug of Grandpa’s favorite whiskey added to it – providing no local ladies from the Temperance Society were about.

AGAIN, MORE FROM MOM’S MEMORIES…

As seen in…

Eating Out At Home Cookbook (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; Sep. 1981, 12th Printing, p. 42)

HOMESTEAD, HOTEL AND RESTAURANT

(The continuing family saga by Gloria Pitzer, based on ‘kin-folklore’.)

INSTINCTIVELY, GRANDMA KNEW what food combinations had to be ‘balanced’. She didn’t know why, nor did she anguish over the possibility that somebody in the family might be suffering from nutritional deficiencies. She didn’t fret because she lacked a formal education in the science of food chemistry or dietetics.

She just knew that 11 children grew healthy and strong with one soapy hot tub bath a week, baking soda-brushed teeth once a day, church on Sunday, school attendance without excuses – except for illness (and being sick of school was not an acceptable excuse).

[All of that was] combined well with definite daily chores, hot food, ample drinking water, sufficient sleep and loving tolerance of each other in spite of personal faults. Cheese and eggs were both important ingredients in Grandma’s cooking.

The eggs came every other day from Cousin Nell, who had a lucrative ‘egg route’ for many years, sufficient, in fact to feather her nest nicely with an all brick house of nine rooms and a live-in housekeeper and a handyman to tend to the chickens in the coops on the back of the 20 acre parcel where she resided.

No one knew what happened to Cousin Nell’s husband, Regis, who (some whispered) had up-and-left with one of the saloon girls on a train heading for St. Louis. Nell pulled herself together quickly when she realized she had no one to look after her and the four children.

She tended her garden, started selling the eggs from a dozen hens until she had enough money to buy more laying-hens from a hatchery and [her] business grew.

The cheese, in grandma’s kitchen, was homemade – if it were the soft type that could be used within a few days. But she bought the hard cheese from the mercantile in town once a month.

She would wrap it in smaller portions, in wine-soaked cloth, or dip some in melted paraffin to keep even longer. These were interesting ingredients in the products of her ‘Backdoor Bakery’.

When grandma sliced warm, fresh bread in her ‘Backdoor Bakery’ and made sandwiches for her customers, she kept it simple, using her homemade cooked salad dressing, sliced cheese, and their choice of apple butter, marmalade, or walnut butter with.

Together, with a cup of hot cinnamon tea [or lemonade], from the enamel cattle (which I have now, sitting on the hearth in our living room) – no customer had to brave the chilly April rain without a warm cup of tea before leaving.

The food industry today markets their products in a more sophisticated method than Grandma did when she packaged her baked goods in brown paper and string, neatly piled in a large basket – sometimes in several baskets – and delivered by carriage over some curved roads between Grafton and Morgantown, West Virginia…

As for Nell, Grandpa’s brother’s girl, life was difficult at first. When the egg route began to support her nicely, there was talk around town that most of Nell’s money came from the card games she would sit in on when she delivered eggs to the hotel.

No one ever confirmed it, since Nell was a handsome woman, to be envied by many of the matrons whose husbands found her attractive – and a good listener when they needed one.

The Homestead Hotel was the only place in town to stay – if you had to stay in town. And Vivian told how she ‘spent a week there one night’, when a snowstorm kept her from returning home from town. That was the night that Grandpa was with her – and Nell was sitting in on one of those ‘naughty’ poker games.

Grandpa was holding a full house, trying to beat the town’s commercial Baker, and Grandma’s competitor. When Grandpa ‘called’ him, Hartwig Horton was holding a flush of diamonds, but confessed he couldn’t pay Grandpa in cash.

However, he would call the debt squared, if Grandpa would agree to take, instead of cash, a much-coveted recipe for his family’s ‘Texas Fruitcake’ that Grandma had been trying to duplicate for years; the secret formula closely guarded by Horton’s Texas family. Grandpa agreed.

But there were other hands dealt that wintry night, as Nell took on Morris Weismann, a few others, and came away holding the mortgage to the hotel as her winnings. The rather scarlet details of the all-night card game between Nell and the men, have been lost in translation among aunts and uncles who still recall its excitement.

We only know that Nell and her four children, in their teens by then, moved into the hotel, staffed it themselves and kept the 20 upstairs guest rooms with the five baths between them, continuously occupied and tidy.

Meanwhile, grandma worked out an arrangement with her niece to furnish the hotel restaurant with all of its baked goods for a fair price if Nell promised to shut down the saloon and the card games.

LAST THOUGHTS…

According to NationalDayCalenar.com, “In many parts of the world, women are less likely to own land, a business, or attend school. Education alone is a powerful tool, leading to financial independence for women. Their children reap the rewards, often for generations to come.”

As an avid reader, Mom often promoted, in her many food-for-thought articles, the benefits of always trying to learn something new each and every day.

IN CLOSING…

Since today is National Department Store Day, here’s Mom’s imitation of J.L. Hudson’s Butterscotch Biscuits; as seen in her self-published cookbook, The Original 200 Plus Secret Recipes© Book (Secret RecipesTM, Marysville, MI; June 1997, p. 17). Hudson’s was Mom’s favorite department store dining destination, developing more than 65 imitations from there.

#DepartmentStoreDay

P.S. Food-for-thought until we meet again, next Monday…

#LearnSomethingNewEveryDay

#NationalBookMonth

#NationalCookbookMonth

#GloriaPitzersCookbook

https://www.balboapress.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-001062253

This week also observes… National Food Bank Week! Plus, as the third week in October [15th-21st for 2023] it’s also… National Kraut Sandwich Week, National Friends of Libraries Week, Free Speech Week, and National Retirement Planning Week!

Today is also… National Sports Day, National Liqueur Day, National Dictionary Day, and Global Cat Day! Plus, it’s National Boss’s Day (which is always on Oct. 16th, unless it falls on a weekend; then it’s observed on the closest Friday/Monday workday)! Additionally, as the third Monday in October (for 2023), it’s also… National Clean Your Virtual Desktop Day!

Tomorrow is… National Edge Day, National Mulligan Day, National Pasta Day, and National Black Poetry Day!

October 18th is… National Chocolate Cupcake Day! Plus, as the third Wednesday in October (for 2022), it’s also… National Hagfish Day and Support Your Local Chamber of Commerce!

October 19th is… National Kentucky Day and National Seafood Bisque Day! Plus, as the third Thursday of the fourth quarter (for 2023), it’s… Get to Know Your Customers Day, which occurs on the third Thursday in every quarter of the year (during Jan., Apr., Jul., and Oct.).

Friday, October 20th is… National Youth Confidence Day, National Brandied Fruit Day, and International Chefs Day!

October 21st is… National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day! Plus, as the third Saturday in October (for 2023), it’s also… National Sweetest Day!

October 22nd is… National Make a Dog’s Day, National Nut Day, and National Color Day! Plus, as the fourth Sunday in October (for 2023), it’s also… National Mother-in-Law Day!

#TGIM

https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-thank-god-its-monday-day-first-monday-in-january/

…42 down and 10 to go!

Mondays & Memories of My Mom – Michigan Apples

As usual, #ThankGodItsMonday again. Thus, #HappyMonday to all. I look forward to every Monday! They’re my 52 Chances a year, in which I get to share Memories of My Mom with you!

#TheRecipeDetective

#NationalAppleMonth

I LOVE OCTOBER! The trees are bursting with fiery colors, farmers are harvesting their crops, corn mazes have been cut for fun autumn entertainment, houses and yards are decked out in Halloween decorations, and the apple cider mills are packed every weekend. By the way, October is also National Apple Month, among other things.

Apples are one of the largest and most valuable fruit crops grown in Michigan. Some of the most popular varieties are Gala, Fuji, Honeycrisp and Red Delicious – these are also among the best apples for making cider. It takes about 20 pounds of apples (roughly 30-40 apples, depending on size) to produce one gallon of cider.

The state of Michigan is not the biggest producer of apples in the U.S. – that honor goes to Washington, as we come in third, behind New York. However, I read somewhere that Michigan slices more apples than any other state – mostly for apple pies, which are an all-American staple.

Incidentally, Michigan’s unofficial “State Dessert Pie” is a toss-up between apple and cherry – depending on where you poll. The Traverse City area (and the northern Michigan region) is famous for its cherry crops (and wine)! However, apples are the more abundant crop throughout the state, over all.

#WorkAndFamilyMonth

Michigan has about 775 family-run apple orchards and more than 60 cider mills. More than a dozen apple festivals are anticipated, all around the state, for next weekend.

All of my children agree that this time of year always reminds them of when my mom and dad used to take them and my sister’s kids to the Ruby Tree Farm & Cider Mill, a few towns away.

By the way, the fall in which we moved from Algonac to St. Clair, Mom and Dad took me and my sister, Cheryl, to see the famous tree farm and cider mill. Mom was very impressed with their pumpkin pie and created a wonderful imitation of it.

Since this is National Dessert Month, below is a copy of that recipe, as seen in Mom’s self-published cookbook, The Second Helping Of Secret Recipes, Revised (National Home News, St. Clair, MI; November 1978, p. 24).

#NationalDessertMonth

I know it thrilled my parents to go to the tree farm just as much as it thrilled the kids. We all loved the big cafeteria style dining hall where we would get lunch and watch them press the apples into cider. There was another area where we always stopped to watch them make fresh donuts, too.

In a separate building, they sold old fashioned candy and souvenirs, as well as antiques. In that building, a large, old, player piano would usually be playing something festive. Dad would buy each of the kids some candy and sit with them on the hearth of the big fire place near the piano while Mom shopped.

My kids favorite memories there, besides spending time with their grandparents and having lunch in the big hall, included riding on an old fashion fire truck, walking through the petting zoo, riding the ponies, going on a hay ride around the farm, and picking out their own pumpkins to carve at home (plus, baking the seeds – see Mom’s secret recipe below).

Ruby’s local gem was a big tourist attraction for many decades. It first opened in 1956 and grew to hundreds of acres of trees and fall fun. It was very popular for its Christmas trees, November through December. So many families would traditionally go there, every year, to cut down their own perfect tree. The Reuters loved bringing families joy.

Unfortunately, after the owner passed away in 2009, his family decided to retire the business and everything was eventually auctioned off. They continued to sell through the rest of the property’s Christmas trees for another six years, until the farm permanently closed in 2015. It will always be remembered as the small family business with a big heart.

FROM MOM’S MEMORIES…

As seen in…

Gloria Pitzer’s Mixed Blessings – Recipes & Remedies (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; March 1984, p. 15)

SIMPLE COMFORTS

COOKING IS ONE OF THOSE personal accomplishments that afford us all the opportunity to express ‘talent’. We love being approved of. In fact, we eat it up! It’s the little pat on the back that gives us the incentive to continue trying. And where else, but in the kitchen, can you try to win approval with such satisfying results!

I’m very partial to my kitchen because it is the one place in our home where I feel the most comfortable! Whether I’m there alone, working on a recipe, or sitting at my desk, looking for inspiration on a new article I’m writing, or sharing a cup of coffee with a neighbor or a friend, who’s dropped by – it’s my favorite room!

I have a desk in the kitchen right next to the [glass] door-wall that overlooks the yard. Our daughter, Debbie, and our son-in-law, Jim, gave me a flowering Crab [Apple] tree last Mother’s Day, which they planted right in the middle of the yard.

I can enjoy it’s flowers each spring; also the very long bare, red branches during the autumn and it’s snow-covered limbs all winter. It’s my sundial, by which I observe the seasons and the changes involved with this natural wonder.

While the Scotch pines around this little tree never change, never go through the transition of bud to blossom to barren branches and then buds again, I can see the contrasts that are parallel to our own personal predicaments…

I’ve spent my entire life being a writer. It’s not what I do, but what I am. I love every minute of it, and by writing about what I have come to know best – cooking – it occurs to me that having a desk in my kitchen was awfully appropriate.

Mind you, I’m not all that crazy about cooking. It’s by default rather than decision that I have learned more about it than any other skill I’ve attempted.

#RhubarbMonth

When we lived in Algonac, Mom had a raised garden bed, about 8-ft square. I remember helping her harvest the strawberries, cucumbers, and tomatoes. I also recall picking rhubarb, apples, and pears from our little orchard along the driveway, with which she made jams, pies, and cobblers. By the way, October is also National Rhubarb Month.

During the first couple years of writing and self-publishing her newsletter, Mom included many gardening tips each month. Eventually that went to the wayside, along with some other “segments”, to make room for more copycat cookery. As Mom’s recipe business continually grew during the 1970s, she incessantly less time to spend on a garden.

I enjoyed learning how to garden from Mom, just as she had learned about it from my grandma. I loved harvesting the fruits and vegetables, from which she created so many wonderful dishes and desserts. Her strawberry-rhubarb pie was one of my favorites! [NOTE: A sugar-free version that Dad really loved, is on the recipes tab of this website.]

MORE FROM MOM’S MEMORIES…

As seen in…

Gloria Pitzer’s Mixed Blessings – Recipes & Remedies (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; March 1984, p. 158)

THE SOUNDS OF SIMPLICITY

BACON CRACKLING AND A hot skillet… The crisp, first bite of a firm, juicy, red apple… The tinkling of a wind chime hanging in front of an open window on a breezy warm day… The steady, muffled static of a summer rain on the roof, like 1000 tiny mice scampering across a sea of tissue paper…

The snapping of a log burning in the fireplace on a cool evening… The soft delight in a child’s amused giggle… An old man humming a tune as he weeds his garden… The baritone foghorn of a freighter slipping through the mist-covered river… The low wooing whistle of a train interrupting the night…

The lake lapping against the beach as it pulls back into itself and returns again to caress the sand… The gargling whistle of wrens in the slanted morning sunshine of a new spring day… These are the sounds of simplicity that set a satisfying mood and give me a sense of contentment.

AGAIN, MORE FROM MOM’S MEMORIES…

As seen in…

Gloria Pitzer’s Mixed Blessings – Recipes & Remedies (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; March 1984, pp. 23-24)

[FALL IN MICHIGAN]

THE FIRST TIME WE saw the Traverse Bay area and upstate Michigan, we fell in love with it. It was Labor Day and summer was still at the peak of its promise. Six weeks later [in mid-October], we went back to the bay area to feast our eyes on the glorious, fiery colors of fall.

There was a crisp, clean chill in the air. Those long, straight, two-lane roads through the peninsula still lay like licorice ribbons on the slopes and hills of Old Mission region. The side roads were cut like corridors through a series of canopies in brilliant orange, red and yellow…

The trees were all standing like military sentries in full dress uniforms, crossing their branches above the roads like honor guards with their swords raised high.

It was a trip back into another time zone – peaceful valleys and wooded hillsides. Abundant were sturdy hedges of tall trees framing well-manicured cherry orchards – acres upon acres of them, as well as apple groves in great abundance everywhere!

Here and there a farmhouse and a weather-worn, well-kept barn reminded you that it was a populated and prosperous region, after all. The prosperity appeared to represent hard work, a practical living style and simplicity of needs, unlike the atmosphere of city dwelling.

Some of the recipes from dishes of this area have become my personal favorites. At the Settling Inn, in the village of Northport, a huge and tasty sandwich is the specialty of the house, presented on their own homemade bread; sliced quite right, and buttered on one side.

It’s grilling until crispy. Then the sandwich fillings are applied to the un-grilled side of the bread, and it’s assembled neatly and cut in half. With a mug of dark beer on a hot day, it hit the spot!

LAST THOUGHTS…

Sunday is the beginning of National Business Women’s Week, plus it’s still National Women’s Small Business Month, too. So next week I’ll share more of Mom’s stories about “Grandma’s Backdoor Bakery”. And speaking of “bakery”…

IN CLOSING…

In honor of TODAY, being National Angel Food Cake Day, and it’s National Dessert Month, here’s Mom’s copycat recipe for Sanders’ [Style] Angel Food Cake; as seen in one of her first self-published cookbooks, The Secret Restaurant Recipes Book (National Homemakers Newsletter, Pearl Beach, MI; Jan. 1977, p. 40).

#AngelFoodCakeDay

P.S. Food-for-thought until we meet again, next Monday…

#LearnSomethingNewEveryDay

#NationalBookMonth

#NationalCookbookMonth

#GloriaPitzersCookbook

https://www.balboapress.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-001062253

Today is… National Moldy Cheese Day! Plus, as the second Monday in October (for 2023), it’s… Native American Day and Columbus Day! Additionally, the second Mon.–Fri. in October [9th-13th for 2023] is… National School Lunch Week!

Tomorrow is… National Cake Decorating Day, National Handbag Day, and World Mental Health Day!

October 11th is… International Day of the Girl Child and National Sausage Pizza Day! Plus, as the second Wednesday in October (for 2023), it’s… National Take Your Parents To Lunch Day and National Curves Day!

Thursday, October 12th is… National Vermont Day, National Freethought Day, National Farmer’s Day, and National Gumbo Day!

Friday, October 13th is… National Yorkshire Pudding Day and Navy Birthday!

October 14th is… National Dessert Day! Plus, as the second Saturday in October (for 2023), it’s… National Costume Swap Day and I Love Yarn Day!

October 15th is… National Shawarma Day, National Cheese Curd Day, and National I Love Lucy Day! Plus, as the start of the week of October 16th [15th-21st for 2023] it’s… National Food Bank Week!

Additionally, the third week in October [15th-21st for 2023] is… National Kraut Sandwich Week, National Friends of Libraries Week, National Free Speech Week, and National Retirement Planning Week!

#TGIM

https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-thank-god-its-monday-day-first-monday-in-january/

…41 down and 11 to go!

Mondays & Memories of My Mom – Experiences

Happy October! Thank God Its Monday, again; thus, happy Monday to all, as well. I personally look forward to Mondays since they’re my 52 Chances a year, in which I get to share Memories of My Mom with you!

#TheRecipeDetective

#NationalBookMonth

#NationalCookbookMonth

#NationalNewspaperWeek

Happy National Book Month and National Cookbook Month. These are just a couple of reasons why I love October so much. October is also the threshold for the holiday season, throughout the next three months, and the holidays go hand-in-hand with food – which leads us back to it being National Book Month and National Cookbook Month.

It also happens to be National Newspaper Week. I mention this because Mom’s Secret Recipes business and her Recipe Detective persona may never have come to fruition if it had not been for her first being a food columnist at a local newspaper. That’s where her copycat cookery concept originated.

Mom’s success as the Recipe Detective basically stemmed from a series of experiences – meant-to-be’s, she would call them. Experiences steered her talents and love for writing in the direction of newspaper columns (and cartoons), newsletters, books and cookbooks – all geared toward the semi-traditional, semi-Women’s-Lib homemakers, like herself.

This week, I have a lot of Mom’s own memories to share with you, regarding her experiences in developing her small, family business. She often wrote about the events that she (and Dad) went through, to get where they were, doing what they were meant to be and doing. She also wrote regularly about her faith in her Higher Power leading the way.

FROM MOM’S MEMORIES…

As seen in…

Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – The Best of the Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p. 8)

[A revised reprint of Gloria Pitzer’s Better Cookery Cookbook (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; May 1983, 3rd Edition).]

THE SECRET RECIPE REPORT

ALTHOUGH I’VE BEEN WRITING longer than I’ve been cooking, the notion to investigate the secrets of the food industry didn’t become a full-time labor-of-love until I was working for a small-town newspaper [about 1971.]

As the only ‘married lady’ on the staff, I was always assigned the food page and recipe column, and I was willing to try the dishes at home and present a column or article about their results to the paper.

When you work for a small-town paper, you wear many hats. You set type, sell advertising, proof read, design headlines, create art work, campaign for subscribers; and, before you know it, you acquire skills you didn’t even know you possessed.

The food department became such a welcomed relief from the local politics that I poured my heart and soul into it, learning some of the essentials of good cooking purely by default! Everything went well until I initiated an idea to create advertising interest among local restaurants.

It started when I answered a reader’s request in my column for a recipe like McDonald’s ‘Special Sauce’. I knew it was a kissin’ cousin of a good Thousand Island dressing, so the development of the recipe wasn’t difficult.

The response from our readers was so appreciative that I contacted local restaurants for their advertising in exchange for my printing one of their recipes and menu in my column and a complimentary review of their place.

No one was willing to part with any of their ‘secrets’! So, I decide to see if I could ‘guess’ how they prepared their specialties of the house. I came across a hotel in town that advertised ‘homemade’ cheesecake, and I felt they should be telling their customers ‘home-baked’.

The difference to the public is very slight, but they wanted the public to ‘think’ it was homemade, from scratch, when it was, in fact, simply taken from a carton and popped into the oven like brown-and-serve rolls.

That was before our ‘truth in menu’ laws, but no one at the paper wanted to make an issue out of it. The restaurant insisted it was an old family recipe. I said the cheesecake smacked of commercial automation, stainless steel computerized kitchens and the family they referred to was probably that of Sara Lee!

At any rate, that was when I parted company with the paper and set out on my own to create the ‘Secret Recipe Report’, which I dearly miss now.

#WomensSmallBusinessMonth

#WorkAndFamilyMonth

#SelfPromotionMonth

October is also special because it’s National Women’s Small Business Month, National Work and Family Month, and National Self-Promotion Month. By the way, family values – honesty, integrity, empathy, kindness, responsibility, commitment, etc. – are among the many pros of doing business with small, family owned and operated companies.

From day one, Mom’s copycat recipe collection continually grew. There were always new challenges for her, as the requests from her fans grew, too. The growing success of her copycat cookery concept led to massive opportunities for her, promoting her new discoveries on radio and TV talk shows, all over North America.

In her first series of cookbooks, Mom shared over 1,400 imitations she developed, covering 59 restaurants (from Arby’s to Yummyland), 83 brands of grocery products (from A&P to Wonder), 22 famous hotel chains and inns, 15 favorite candies and carnival eats, 12 department stores and cafeterias, as well as treats from 7 various tourist hot spots!

Mom released a new book every year except in 1981, as the project she was working on at that time had to be put on hold while the family business was inundated by over a MILLION requests for what she was already offering, following her FIRST appearance on the Phil Donahue Show in July of that year!

AGAIN, MORE FROM MOM’S MEMORIES…

Various excerpts on “Experience”, by Gloria Pitzer; as seen in …

My Cup Runneth Over and I Can’t Find My Mop (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; Dec. 1989)

THE EXPERIENCES

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. (p. 2)

DOING SOMETHING THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE

ALL OF THIS SHOULD have started somewhere at a particular place in my life because most important things do have memorable beginnings. But I’m hard put to come up with that one event, that singular moment, when I knew that our Secret RecipesTM would touch other people, not just across the country but [also] across the world. And, in doing so, would make a difference. That’s what really counts – doing something that will make a difference for the good of others. (p. 7)

SUCCESS

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… (p. 14)

SUCCESS AND LONGEVITY

THE EXPERIENCES THAT COMPRISE the success and longevity of our Secret RecipesTM 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 shared ‘thank you’ notes in some of my past blog posts.]

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! (p. 15)

EXPERIENCES & PREPARATION

THE EXACT CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER, in which each of my writing experiences have occurred, are not clear in my memory now. However, each step [and] each experience was, on second thought, [neither] a delay nor a setback, as I used to believe. It was, instead, only preparation and the gathering of experience…

[Other than myself,] there has been no ‘real’ publisher, no public relations agent or the expensive efforts of professional promoters. [Their] ideas of how to publicize what I have to offer would only conflict with what I felt should be done.

My cup runneth over because I have been blessed with an enthusiasm for promoting my own work and have been twice-blessed with the support and partnership of, probably, the most honest man in the world; who knows, from his own valuable working experiences, exactly how to manage and protect this enterprise.

All of the blessings I derived from having stumbled my way through the [not so] meaningless jobs of the many newspapers for which I once worked, eventually paid tremendous dividends, as I was able to put those learned skills into practice with this family enterprise of ours. Each bit of experience contributed to what I would, later, be able to do without the help of professionals. (p. 20)

EXPERIENCES & RADIO

WHILE THE CRITICS SNICKERED that my fast food imitations would run its unhealthy course in a short while [and] that my ability to turn out copy would, soon, be exhausted; I continued to look to a Divine Source for [my] daily supply of, both, energy and ideas. I have never yet been disappointed or without something good to share with our family of readers and our radio listeners. My cup does, indeed, run over! (p. 21)

COPYCAT

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. (p. 25)

LAST THOUGHTS…

‘I felt as if the hand of Providence had poured me out a blessing and it was pressed down, shaken together and running over.’ – Gloria Pitzer, My Cup Runneth Over and I Can’t Find My Mop (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; Dec. 1989, p. 15)

https://www.balboapress.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-001062253

IN CLOSING…

In honor of October, also being German-American Heritage Month, here’s Mom’s copycat recipe for Frankenmuth Hot German Potato Salad, Like Zender’s; as seen in… Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – The Best of the Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p. 40). [A revised reprint of Gloria Pitzer’s Better Cookery Cookbook (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; May 1983, 3rd Edition)].

#GermanAmericanHeritageMonth

#NationalBookMonth

#NationalCookbookMonth

#GloriaPitzersCookbook

https://www.balboapress.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-001062253

P.S. Food-for-thought until we meet again, next Monday…

#LearnSomethingNewEveryDay

The week of October 1st is… Active Aging Week. Plus, the first week of October is also… National Chili Week, National Spinning & Weaving Week, and International Post Card Week!

Today is… National Fried Scallops Day! Plus, as the first Monday in October (for 2023), it’s also… National Consignment Day and National Child Health Day! Additionally, the first full Mon.–Fri. work week [2nd-6th for 2023] is… Customer Service Week! Moreover, the first Mon-Sun week [2nd-8th for 2023] is… Financial Planning Week!

Tomorrow, as the first Tuesday in October (for 2023), is… National Eat Fruit At Work Day! 

October 4th is… National Cinnamon Bun Day, National Taco Day, and National Vodka Day! Plus, as the first Wednesday in October (for 2023), it’s also… National Walk to School Day and National Pumpkin Seed Day!

Thursday, October 5th is… National Rhode Island Day, National Do Something Nice Day, and National Apple Betty Day!

October 6th is… National Orange Wine Day, National German-American Day, and National Noodle Day! Plus, as the first Friday in October (for 2023), it’s… World Smile Day, too!

October 7th is… National Chocolate Covered Pretzel Day, National Frappe Day, and National Inner Beauty Day! Plus, as the first Saturday of October (for 2023), it’s also… National Play Outside Day!

Sunday, October 8th is… National Fluffernutter Day and National Pierogi Day!

#TGIM

https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-thank-god-its-monday-day-first-monday-in-january/

…40 down and 12 to go!