Tag: TheOriginal200PlusSecretRecipesBook

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Mondays & Memories of My Mom – Goodbye August, Hello September

Thank God Its Monday and, as such, #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

This week we say goodbye to August and hello to September, which begins on Friday. Friday is also the start of Labor Day Weekend – the unofficial end of summer and beginning of fall. September is said to be one of the most temperate months of fall. However, technically, fall is only during the last week or so of the month. So not a fair assessment.

September is also known as the harvest month. Thus, farmer’s markets and harvest festivals are in abundance throughout the month. By the way, did you know that September’s Harvest Moon is the fullest moon of the year?

The kids go back to school the day after Labor Day if they haven’t already. Regular season football begins next week. The days are getting noticeably shorter, as we inch closer to the fall equinox. The nights are getting cooler. Many of us will soon be packing away our swimsuits, shorts, and tank tops as we pull out our blue jeans, corduroys, flannels, and sweats.

Little bits of color changes have already started to pop here and there among the trees in Michigan. But more color is on its way, throughout the month. Oktoberfest celebrations will soon begin, too (Americanized to a September observance because the weather is nicer then). By the way, National Drink-Beer-Day is September 28th.

September also observes, among other things, Better Breakfast Month, National Blueberry Popsicle Month, National Chicken Month, National Courtesy Month, National Honey Month, National Italian Cheese Month, National Library Card Sign Up Month, National Mushroom Month, National Potato Month, National Rice Month, National Sewing Month, National Self-Improvement Month, and National Whole Grains Month!

FROM MOM’S MEMORIES…

As seen in…

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

IN THE SUMMERTIME…

…THROUGHOUT UPSTATE MICHIGAN, the roads borough through tunnels of green trees for miles and miles. There’ll be light traffic on these curving two-lane highways with single cars spaced two blocks or so apart coming toward you.

There was the quaint and very unique Settling Inn at the Village of Northport, the most northern point of M-22. Farther south there was the Sugarfoot Saloon at Leelanau, near the Sugarfoot Mountain Resort. It was quiet country, secluded but refreshing, compared to sophisticated urban activity.

At County Road 669, a sign announced ‘Sleeping Bear Dunes’ straight ahead on M-22. The road curved like a long licorice ribbon up and down the hillsides of densely grown white birches, Scotch pines, maples, oaks and poplars. Suddenly we were conscious of how clean the air smelled.

The city wasn’t like this! What a lovely contrast! What a splendid memory! The first time we saw the Traverse Bay area, in upstate Michigan, we fell in love with it. It was Labor Day [weekend] and summer was still at the peak of its promise.

Six weeks later, 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 the Old Mission region.

The side roads were cut like corridors through a series of canopies in brilliant orange, red, and yellow; where 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 with 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.

There really aren’t any “traditional customs” for observing Labor Day. Yet, there are so many different ways to celebrate it, including family and community picnics, parades, outdoor concerts, festivals, fireworks and even shopping; as retailers always offer huge Labor Day weekend deals and discounts to move the rest of their summer stock.

Below is a picture of me, my siblings, and 2 neighbor-boys, standing in front of the Algonac Lions Club trolly that was in all of our local parades. I think this was from Labor Day weekend, 1970, and we got to ride on the trolley, with Dad, during the parade.

How do you celebrate the unofficial end of summer – one last vacation, a day at the beach, or a barbeque in the backyard? Mom liked to celebrate right at home…

Decades ago, when my siblings and I were kids, I think the only reason Mom celebrated Labor Day was because it meant that we were going back to school the next day and she could start her vacation! Pictured below is one of Mom’s syndicated editorial columns, from August 1971 – she called it School Begins and so Does Mother’s Vacation.

MORE FROM MOM’S MEMORIES…

As seen in…

Gloria Pitzer’s Mixed Blessings – Recipes & Remedies (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; March 1984, pp. 178-179)

GETTING TO SLEEP, WITH A FEW PLEASANT MEMORIES

FOR A LONG TIME now, I’ve had trouble sleeping at night. For one thing, my love snores like a Yamaha, going uphill in second gear and coming down again. It’s not his fault, mind you, over which he has any personal control. He simply breathes loudly when he’s deep in sleep.

I could, I found, sleep through a thunderstorm and not hear a crack all night, providing I once slipped into a cozy, peaceful mind and then drift off dreamily into a lovely landscape of the lazy fifth dimension of rest that my memory can call upon, whenever I choose to summon the scenes I’ve once found serene…

I tried to rest on those thoughts and images that gave my mind tranquility. I would recall all of the pleasant places I had ever visited, to which I wished again to return. I would find again in my memory chambers, every corner of my world that made me feel relaxed and then relish in revisiting these mentally.

I would walk the beaches around Saginaw Bay. It would be late August, again, on the movie screen of my mind. The lake was lapping at the beach where I walked through the soft, summer warm sand.

In August, the lake never ‘rushed’ in to meet the shore. It would wash in, and just as easily slip back again like sheets of silk, blue and gray with sprays of white foam writing each tumbling wave.

There was an instrumental rhythm, like crushing pieces of tissue paper in the music of the water as it caressed the sand and returned to itself like slippery, shining satin and bolts of silk, pulled smoothly over a pillowed featherbed, on which the wooded bluffs rested.

These were those pathways of peaceful places where I had been before and wish to return without having to pay rent or make improvements on property I couldn’t afford! I could see the beaches line with the birch trees and long needle pines.

I listened and I heard in my memory’s echo chambers, the soothing swishing of the waves on the peaceful shoreline of the quiet Bay. The water was winking impudently in the sunlight while the wind bulldozed the small dunes and, off in the distance, a lighthouse wore a halo of seagulls.

I was there once again in my memory album of restful visits. This must be ‘the house built without hands’ that John Ruskin wrote about. Listen! I can hear the water on the beach again. I can see the gulls, gliding to make an occasional swoop at the lake for a fish they’ve spied.

The air smells of the water, clean, wet and cool. Look! Down the road from the beach! The poplars and the maples are golden green, like new corn when it’s just ready for picking. Their branches barely stir because the breezes are subtle and seldom.

The late afternoon sun begins to slip right into a lovely blue horizon, where only occasional puffs of soft, innocent clouds move lazily across the Michigan sky. The scene can change, as I will it to, according to what records my memory has made of such visits there.

I can choose to see the gulls glide into the foam-capped waves, or the clouds moving carelessly across the blue August sky and the sun in mid-afternoon, golden, brilliant and later slipping, a little now, a little then, into a Western hillside horizon as the day descends into evening time.

To be there again, as we were that pleasant summer day, gives me reason to rest, putting me softly into the mood that invites peaceful rest. I can nestle down into the pillows and draw the thick down comforter up around my shoulders and chin and close my eyes.

I hear the fog horns of the ships further out on the lake, and the picture fades while I slip dreamily off into a much-needed sleep. I rest well with these soft thoughts, recalling my most loved memories of a favorite place…

LAST THOUGHTS…

In addition, September is also known as National Americana Month. Americana is a nostalgic culture of an idealized, patriotic, small town, Norman Rockwell lifestyle. According to Wikipedia.org, “Americana encompasses not only material objects but also people, places, concepts and historical eras…”

Norman Rockwell depicted the simple, small-town, middle-class lifestyle of Americans as humble, God-fearing people who enjoyed a strong and prosperous family life – with Americana-styled elements like community pride and patriotism, Coca-Cola memorabilia, blue-collar workers, white-picket fences, denim, baseball, football, chocolate brownies and apple pie.

IN CLOSING…

In honor of August, still being National Brownies at Brunch Month, here’s Mom’s copycat recipe for Aunt Jenny’s Brownies; as seen in her self-published cookbook, The Original 200 Plus Secret Recipes© Book (Secret RecipesTM, Marysville, MI; June 1997, p. 4).

#BrowniesAtBrunchMonth

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

#LearnSomethingNewEveryDay

The month of August observes, among other things… National Dog Month, Family Fun Month, Get Ready For Kindergarten Month, Happiness Happens Month, International Peace Month, National Back to School Month, National Catfish Month, National Goat Cheese Month, National Golf Month, National Panini Month, National Sandwich Month, and Romance Awareness Month!

Today is also… National Thoughtful Day, National Red Wine Day, and National Cherry Turnovers Day!

Tomorrow is… National Chop Suey Day and National Lemon Juice Day!

Wednesday, August 30th, is… National Toasted Marshmallow Day and National Beach Day!

Thursday, August 31st, is… National South Carolina Day and National Trail Mix Day!

Friday, September 1st, is… National Chicken Boy’s Day and National No Rhyme (Nor Reason) Day! Plus, as the first Friday in September (for 2023) it’s also… National Lazy Mom’s Day, National Food Bank Day, National College Colors Day, and National Chianti Day!

September 2nd is… National Blueberry Popsicle Day! Plus, as the first Saturday in September (for 2023), it’s also… National Tailgating Day! Additionally, the first Saturday of EVERY MONTH is also… National Play Outside Day! According to AwarenessDays.com, the first Saturday in September is unofficially International Bacon Day! [NOTE: National Bacon Day is December 30th.]

Sunday, September 3rd, is… National Welsh Rarebit Day and U.S. Bowling League Day! Plus, as the start of the first FULL week in September (for 2023) it’s also… National Waffle Week!

#GloriaPitzersCookbook

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

#TGIM

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

…35 down and 17 to go!

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CONEY SAUCE, LIKE LAFAYETTE’S

CONEY SAUCE, LIKE LAFAYETTE’S

By Gloria Pitzer, as seen in… The Original 200 Plus Secret Recipes© Book (Secret RecipesTM, Marysville, MI; June 1997, p. 42)

THE SECRET IS SIMPLE. You brown and crumble the beef and then put half of it into your blender with only enough liquid to cover the blades. Blend it until it is the consistency of cement mortar. Jack McCarthy of Detroit’s Channel 7 (WXYZ-TV) confessed to me, once, was the real secret to good, authentic, Greek style coney sauce.

He had come to our house on Christmas Eve years ago to do a film about us. Apparently, Jack was a gourmet cook and loved good food! When he traveled, he would take a lot of kidding, about carrying with him, what most people would think is a tennis racket, when it was actually a crepe pan in a tennis racket cover.

Don’t be overwhelmed by the number of ingredients! It is one of those everything-in-one-kettle type of recipes that can’t go wrong.!

INGREDIENTS:

2½ to 3-lbs ground sirloin

2-tsp ground cumin

Few grains cayenne [pepper]

½ tsp black pepper

1 tsp crushed oregano leaves

3-TB beef bouillon powder

6-oz can tomato paste

3 cups hot, black, strong tea

1 envelope onion soup mix

1 TB chili powder

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp garlic salt

3-TB packed brown sugar

1 cup ketchup

6-oz V-8 Juice

½ tsp Kitchen Bouquet (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

In lightly greased Dutch oven, on top of stove, over medium-high heat, brown the sirloin until all pink color disappears, crumbling it with a fork until it looks like rice. Add to it all but the hot, black tea. Put the tea in your blender with half of the sirloin mixture and blend briefly, until smooth, returning it to the rest of the mixture in the kettle…

Allow to cook at a low simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring often. Then turn heat to lowest possible point and cover kettle with lid, letting it heat gently about an hour before serving. To serve – spoon mixture into split hamburger buns or over grilled hot dogs in buns…

GREAT CHILI CON CARNE

Add to meat mixture [above] 3-lb can chili beans, in chili gravy, and heat gently to serve… in bowls. Serves 8 and it freezes beautifully, in smaller portions, to use in a few months.

#GloriaPitzersCookbook

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

See also…

Mondays & Memories of My Mom – Take The Junk Out Of Junk Food

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FRIED ICE CREAM BALLS & BEST FAST HOT FUDGE SAUCE

FRIED ICE CREAM BALLS & BEST FAST HOT FUDGE SAUCE

By Gloria Pitzer, as seen in… The Original 200 Plus Secret Recipes© Book (Secret RecipesTM, Marysville, MI; June 1997, p. 15).

INGREDIENTS:

1-qt ice cream, any flavor, in 2” balls, hard frozen

2 cups finely rolled pound cake crumbs or cookie crumbs

2 eggs, well beaten and combined with 4 TB milk

(in small bowl for coating ice cream balls)

1 pint/8-oz oil for frying

INSTRUCTIONS:

…Using [only a] few [balls] at a time, from the freezer, roll balls in crumbs and then in egg [mixture], back quickly in crumbs and into freezer one more time. Heat oil to 320°F and deep fry coated balls a few at a time from the freezer in hot oil only a few seconds, until slightly golden. Return to freezer again to serve either at once or icy cold later on with hot fudge sauce over them.

BEST FAST HOT FUDGE SAUCE

Melt [together] 5-oz Pet Milk, 5-oz white Karo, and 14-oz box Milk Duds until smooth and hot; without letting it boil, cooking and stirring often – about 20 minutes, just below the boil.

#GloriaPitzersCookbook

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

See also…

Mondays & Memories of My Mom – Tourist Town Treasure

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AUNT JENNY’S PINEAPPLE BARS (or Tarts)

AUNT JENNY’S PINEAPPLE BARS (or Tarts)

[aka: 4-CORNER MUFFIN TARTS]

By Gloria Pitzer, as seen in… The Original 200 Plus Secret Recipes© Book (Secret RecipesTM, Marysville, MI; June 1997, p. 5)

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups crushed pineapple, drained [and saved]

¼ cup maraschino cherries, halved

2 TB pineapple juice

½ cup sugar

¼ tsp grated lemon peel

1/8 tsp salt

1 recipe pie crust four double 9-inch pie shell

2 or 3 TB butter

INSTRUCTIONS:

Combine all but last two ingredients. Prepare pie crust and roll out 1/8-inch thick. Cut into 5×5-inch squares. Place each in greased muffin well. Put 2 to 3 tablespoons pineapple mixture in center of each and dot with a bit of the butter. Draw 4 corners of each square up and pinch to seal.

For bars: Roll half of dough out to fit buttered, oblong, 13-inch pan. Spread on filling. Top with rest of dough, rolled out to fit snuggly over it. Wipe top of dough in a little additional butter and sprinkle with a bit of additional sugar.

Bake at 425°F for 20 to 25 minutes. Makes 16 muffin tarts or 24 bars. Dust, either, while warm with powdered sugar. Add chopped walnuts to garnish top if you wish. Keep refrigerated to use in a week.

#GloriaPitzersCookbook

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

See also…

Mondays & Memories of My Mom – Workaholics

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DAYTON SUMMER FRUIT PUDDING

DAYTON SUMMER FRUIT PUDDING

By Gloria Pitzer, as seen in… The Original 200 Plus Secret Recipes© Book (Secret RecipesTM, Marysville, MI; June 1997, p. 53)

Mickey, from Dayton, passed this delightful recipe to me at the potluck supper our Good Sam chapter had in Ohio. It was the first dish on the table to turn up empty. Best endorsement I know!

INGREDIENTS:

1-lb can pineapple chunks, in their own juice

The pineapple juice (above), plus enough water to make 1 cup

1 small box instant vanilla pudding powder

10-oz can mandarin orange sections, drained

1½ to 2 cups seedless, green grapes; sliced in halves

½ cup thin sliced almonds

½ cup flaked coconut

2 cups miniature marshmallows

INSTRUCTIONS:

Drain pineapple and RESERVE the juice, adding to it enough water to make 1 cup. Combine this with the pudding powder and, in a medium size bowl, combine [pudding mixture] with the pineapple, mandarin orange sections, & grape halves. Add almonds, coconut, and marshmallows. Combine well. Cover tightly and refrigerate, serving within a few days. Serves several safely.

#GloriaPitzersCookbook

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

See also…

Mondays & Memories of My Mom – Fair Food Fever

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Mondays & Memories of My Mom – Take The Junk Out Of Junk Food

Thank God Its Monday, again! 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

#NationalJunkFoodDay

Friday, July 21st, is National Junk Food Day! For decades, fast foods and junk foods were always getting a bad rap from the critics, regarding how unhealthy they were. However, over 50 years ago, my mom figured out how to make those taboo foods at home – where she controlled the ingredients, thereby taking the junk out of junk food.

Mom was a trailblazer in the 1970s, when she carved out a new niche in the food industry. She called her concept “copycat cookery” for “eating out at home”. The fact is, fast food and junk food recipes weren’t found in any cookbooks, back then. So she found ways to imitate our favorites at home and for less cost!

In the early 1970s, Mom started investigating how to imitate famous dishes, junk foods, fast foods, and grocery products, at home. She looked forward, every day, to investigating all the possibilities from this new platform! If it saved her household money, she shared it, to help others save too!

Mom took the junk out of the junk foods that the critics warned us not to eat. For 40 years she wrote and self-published more than 40 cookbooks, as well as hundreds of newsletter issues. Over those four decades, her recipe catalog grew from a couple hundred imitations to tens of thousands! I’m still working on a master index list of all of her recipes.

‘THE JUNK FOOD COOK… Is a person who can make instant decisions and not be upset by an exhilarated lifestyle. They are a bit reckless in their choices, usually preferring total freedom and personal happiness even if there is a risk to be considered. They don’t like to waste time and cannot be troubled with unimportant details or pretensions. They like short-cuts because they are usually impatient – but extremely thrifty.’ – Gloria Pitzer, Gloria Pitzer’s Secret Recipe Report (Secret Recipe Report, St. Clair, MI; Issue 85, January 1981; p. 2)

FROM MOM’S MEMORIES…

As seen in…

Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – Best Of The Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p. 6). [A revised reprint of Gloria Pitzer’s Better Cookery Cookbook (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; May 1983, 3rd Edition).]

[FAST FOODS & JUNK FOODS]

THE CRITICS WHO CONTEND that ‘fast foods’ are ‘junk foods’ and not good for us, have probably never prepared these foods themselves. Certainly, they have no access to the closely guarded recipes from the food companies that created these dishes…

There are only a few people in each operation that are permitted the privilege of such information! So, 99% of the critics’ speculations are based on their own opinions.

To know what these dishes contained, they’d have to be better chemists than I, as I have tested over 20,000 recipes with only the finished product as my guide to determine what each contained.

‘Fast foods’ are not ‘junk foods’ unless they’re not properly prepared. Any food that is poorly prepared (and just as badly presented) is junk! Unfortunately, ‘fast food’ has carried a reputation, by default, of containing ingredients that are ‘harmful’ to us.

Yet, they contain the same ingredients as those foods served in the ‘finer’ restaurants with wine stewards, linen tablecloths, candlelight, coat-check attendants, and parking valets; which separate the plastic palaces of “fast food” from the expensive dining establishments.

One ‘eats’ at McDonald’s, but ‘dines’ at The Four Seasons. Steak and potato or hamburger and French fries – the ingredients are practically the same. How they are prepared makes the difference!

#GloriaPitzersCookbook

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

Junk foods and fast foods are also considered “comfort foods”. Science has frequently shown that emotions and food are significantly linked together. It’s widely believed that, in times of stress, “comfort foods” often make us feel better, providing nostalgic or sentimental value but with very little nutritional value.

According to TimeAndDate.com: “Studies have shown that consuming junk food ONCE-IN-A-WHILE does not have a negative effect on health – it is only when one eats junk food for a majority of their meals that their diet can be considered unhealthy. Consuming large amounts of foods considered to be ‘junk’, can lead to several health problems, including a high risk of obesity, diabetes, and heart issues.”

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 shows like the Phil Donahue Show, ABC’s Home show, and PM Magazine.

Mom’s favorite interviews were those with the hundreds of radio talk shows, nationally and internationally, which she enjoyed doing for 40 years! It’s unfortunate that many of those shows aren’t around anymore because the information they provided became so easy to find on the internet.

I’d like to add that YouTube.com has a music video called “Junk Food Junkie”, by Larry Groce (1976). I remember Mom liking that song when it came out. For great information and ideas with which to celebrate Junk Food Day, check out Chiff.com.

MORE FROM MOM’S MEMORIES…

As seen in…

The Second Helping of Secret Recipes (National Homemakers Newsletter, Pearl Beach, MI; July 1977, p. 1-2)

DE-BUNKING THE JUNK!

WHAT IS THE TRUTH about junk food? The food experts have been referring to many snack foods and fast foods as ‘junk’ in an attempt to disqualify their value when compared to foods containing high amounts of protein and vitamins.

No one has confirmed a definition of the expression ‘junk food’, yet the public has been conditioned to accept any snack food, sweets, candies, confections, baked goods and many beverages as ‘junk food’ when, in reality, these are not without nutritional value.

All by itself, a raw carrot could hardly support the human system substantially; neither could a cup of yogurt. Yet, a candy bar or a small piece of cake or a hamburger on a bun is considered, by some of the food industry’s most prestigious experts, as having little or no food value in our daily diets.

The junk food paradox has caused school systems and other public institutions to ban the sale of any foods we would consider snack items, making it illegal, in fact, in the state of Michigan and some others, if such items were sold to children through vending machines on the premises.

‘There really are very few recipe secrets!’ – Gloria Pitzer

This is infuriating to the good cooks and… food chemists among us, who know that JUNK FOOD is actually any food that is poorly prepared. ALL food has nutritional value. Some just seem to have more than others. But, in the final analysis, it is purely personal taste that will determine the popularity of one food over another.

The ‘fast food’ industry has been the most successful of any phase in the business. Their success depending largely on the fact that their recipes are all closely guarded secrets! I say, ‘baloney!’ As a very believing public, we have been spoon-fed a good deal of shrewd publicity by some very skilled… advertising people, who count on our susceptibility to commercial advertising campaigns to buy their products.

Whether we’re buying a hamburger in one of McDonald’s restaurants… or a Twinkie off of the grocer’s shelf, we still believe that these products can’t be equaled by any other company in the industry, nor by the average cook in a standard, home kitchen… AND this is wrong!

EVEN MORE FROM MOM’S MEMORIES…

As seen in…

Eating Out at Home (National Home News, St. Clair, MI; September 1978, pp. 2-3)

SECRET RECIPES

YOU DON’T HAVE TO KNOW exactly how the original dish was prepared by the commercial food chains. All you need is a basic recipe to which you will add that ‘special seasoning’ or that ‘secret method of preparation’ that sets one famous secret recipe apart from those similar to it…

When I work to duplicate a recipe so that the finished product is as good as (if not better than) a famous restaurant dish, I begin by asking myself a series of questions: I want to know what color the finished dish has…[and] was it achieved by baking, frying or refrigeration?…What specific flavors can I identify?… and about how much of each may have been used…

Similar tests are used in chemistry…[to]…break down the components of an unknown substance and try to rebuild it. So the cook must work like a chemist (and not like a gourmet; who, most of the time, never uses a recipe – but, rather, creates one.)

The most remarkable part of the duplication of famous recipes is that you can accept the challenge to ‘try’ to match their [dish or product]. Sometimes, you will be successful. Sometimes you will fail in the attempt. But, at least, it can be done [‘practice makes perfect’], and it certainly takes the monotony out of mealtime when, for reasons of financial inadequacy, we cannot always eat out…

Stop cheating yourself of the pleasure of good food. Eat what you enjoy, but DON’T OVER eat…This is what really causes the problems of obesity and bad health – rather than believing the propaganda of the experts that ‘fast food’ is ‘junk food’…It is not! Poorly prepared food, whether it is from a fast-service restaurant or a [$20-plate in a] gourmet dining room, is ‘junk’, no matter how you look at it…if it is not properly prepared…

To debunk the junk…don’t think of Hostess Twinkies as junk dessert but, rather, the very same cake ingredients prepared in the Waldorf Astoria kitchens as the basis for their “Flaming Cherries Supreme”. All we did [to imitate the product] was shape the cake differently, adding a little body to the filling and putting it INSIDE the cake, rather than on top as the Waldorf did!

LAST THOUGHTS…

Mom’s original concepts for “eating out at home” and “taking the junk out of junk food” has brought so much joy to so many people who couldn’t afford eating out or indulging in junk food; either for monetary or health reasons. Since its inception in the early 1970s, Mom gained many followers with her copycat concept and influenced many other copycats.

Friday is also… National Be Someone Day!

#NationalBeSomeoneDay

Be a friend… Be a mentor… Be a light… Be something to someone… BE SOMEONE SPECIAL!

IN CLOSING…

In honor of July, being National Hot Dog Month, and Wednesday, being National Hot Dog Day, here’s Mom’s copycat recipe for “Coney Sauce, like Lafayette’s” (Detroit, MI); as seen in her self-published cookbook, The Original 200 Plus Secret Recipes© Book (Secret RecipesTM, Marysville, MI; June 1997, p. 42).

#NationalHotDogMonth

#NationalHotDogDay

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

#LearnSomethingNewEveryDay

July’s observances include: National Baked Bean Month, National Culinary Arts Month, National Grilling Month, National Horseradish Month, National Blueberry Month, National Independent Retailer Month, and National Picnic Month!

Today is, among other things… National Lottery Day, National Peach Ice Cream Day (it’s also National Ice Cream Month AND National Peach Month) and World Emoji Day! Plus, as the third Monday in July (for 2023), it’s also… National Get Out of the Dog House Day!

Tomorrow is… National Sour Candy Day and National Caviar Day!

Wednesday, July 19th is… National Daiquiri Day! 

July 20th is… National Fortune Cookie Day, National Moon Day, National Lollipop Day, and National Pennsylvania Day! Plus, as the third Thursday of the third quarter (for 2023), it’s also… Get to Know Your Customers Day!

Saturday, July 22nd is… National Penuche Fudge Day and National Hammock Day!

July 23rd is… Gorgeous Grandma Day and National Vanilla Ice Cream Day! Plus, as the fourth Sunday in July (for 2023), it’s also… National Parent’s Day!

#GorgeousGrandmaDay

#NationalParentsDay

#TGIM

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

…29 down and 23 to go!

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Mondays & Memories of My Mom – Tourist Town Treasure

Thank God Its Monday and, as such, #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

#SeeFrankenmuth

There are some places (within a couple hours’ drive or one-day-road-trip destinations) that my husband and I enjoy so much we love to visit them frequently. One such place, which was also a favorite destination of Mom and Dad’s, is Frankenmuth, Michigan!

Michigan is rich in German heritage, especially in its own little Bavarian gem, known as Frankenmuth. This little town, just southeast of the Saginaw-Bay City area, has been world-famous throughout generations, for their German-heritage and family-style, fried chicken dinners (among other things).

Michigan-based restaurants that Mom would frequent to taste-test their dishes and develop imitations of them at home included palette pleasures from Zehnder’s and the Bavarian Inn restaurants in Frankenmuth, which are the two major restaurants in Frankenmuth that serve the world-famous family-style chicken dinners.

Zehnder’s was originally the Exchange Hotel (1856). The Zehnder family purchased it in 1928 and began serving their first chicken dinners in 1929. Zehnder’s and the Bavarian Inn’s restaurants are owned by different relatives of the same Zehnder family. In 1984, the two became separate corporations, with friendly competitions between relatives.

Tourists flock to the tourist town treasure called Frankenmuth year-round, from all over the world, and stand in line for hours for the famous chicken dinners served at one of the two major establishments in town, Zehnder’s and the Bavarian Inn.

All the food is served in dishes, set in the middle of the table (family style, just like at home), from which “the family” helps themselves. The wait staff refills the serving dishes as needed. [Note: Reservations get you in more quickly than waiting in line.]

Over the years, Mom came up with almost two dozen imitations of some of Frankenmuth’s famous dishes and treats from the two major restaurants mentioned above; plus, some bread and confection imitations from the local bakeries and fudge shops. Several of Mom’s imitations from Frankenmuth can be found on the Recipes tab of this website.

Mom and Dad loved to take road trips to Frankenmuth, as do me and my husband. It’s a beautiful drive through small towns (if we stay off the expressway). Once there, you’ll find unique shopping and eating experiences among all the German culture that this small, sightseer town has to offer!

The town’s German heritage exudes from its many restaurants, bakeries, fudge shops, hotels, breweries and other quaint little stores that line the mile-plus length of the main street through town – from Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland (which is all Christmas, all year) to the Frankenmuth Brewery!

Frankenmuth is a unique town that has, for decades, been renowned for their sit-down, family-style chicken dinners. It’s a hop-skip-and-a-jump from Saginaw, where one of Mom’s favorite radio shows used to air for decades. It was called “Listen to the Mrs.”, hosted by Art Lewis on WSGW-Radio.

I came across some of the show’s cookbooks recently, in a Millington antique shop near Frankenmuth. They included recipes that Mom had shared on the show, as well as those offered by others. It’s too bad that the internet has made these kind of shows obsolete. Now, AI is going to be eliminating more people and programs from radio, as well.

FROM MOM’S MEMORIES…

As seen in…

Gloria Pitzer’s Better Cookery Cookbook (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; May 1983, p. 66)

COME INTO THE KITCHEN

FAMILY RESTAURANTS and homestyle meals are returning to popularity. During the war-protesting days of Vietnam, the right to ‘be different’, the right to protest, to be individual made anything even slightly related to ‘family’ and ‘home’ forbidden or corny. People became impersonal to each other…

Now the pendulum is swinging the other way. The family and home have been reinstated…even in our restaurant industry. Today it is changing back to the personal, the warm, the family. The restaurant industry, in its urgent bid for the public’s loyal attention, is trying to make their dining experiences like your home away from home. Hospitality is becoming their badge of honor!

The kitchen… is the best place to be when we’re home! You’ll notice that current home designers are getting away from the formal dining room area… Homes are becoming more functional in design, as well. In our continuing efforts to economize, to restrict energy sources and to bring the family back to the warm, bright, openness of a country kitchen, we have rediscovered the personal advantages of the best room in the house…

The classic country kitchen is coming back, where there is one large working space close to the appliance area and also open to the informal, large, eating area… It was a warm and workable kitchen that reflected a family as a unit… Every inch of it said: ‘Welcome!’ If you were a stranger when you entered, you were a friend before you left.

L.V. Anderson’s article, The United Sweets of America (Aug. 24, 2014), claims that Michigan’s unofficial “state dessert” is fudge! Likewise, Thumbwind.com’s Top 13 Best Foods Which Made Michigan Famous, by the Thumbwind staff (Sep. 25, 2020), also alleges that Mackinac Island Fudge is the #1 favorite!

Also on Thumbwind’s list of famous Michigan-made foods, is Detroit’s Coney Island Hot Dog, at #2 (see Mom’s recipe to imitate it at the close of this blog post) and Buddy’s Detroit-Style pizza at #3. Those were followed by Traverse City’s tart cherries, the U.P.’s pasties, and Frankenmuth’s home-style chicken, to round out the top six choices.

No matter where you go across North America – from Michigan’s own Frankenmuth, to California’s See’s candy shops, to Orlando’s Walt Disney World in Florida, to Niagara Falls’ Maple Leaf Village – fudge is a tourism staple and the very making of fudge, right before our eyes, has become an art form that entertains millions of tourists every year.

#SeeFrankenmuth

Have you ever heard of the term, “Christmas in July”? Coincidentally, Frankenmuth is the perfect place to visit for “Christmas in July”, as Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland is all about Christmas (and is the largest Christmas store in the world). It’s open all year, every day (except Christmas Day).

PureWow.com’s article, The 6 Most Charming Small Towns in Michigan, by Dan Koday (May 26, 2022), lists Frankenmuth as #2, tucked between Charlevoix and Petoskey, respectively; which are much further away than a one-day-road-trip (from southeast Michigan). But they were also among Mom and Dad’s favorite Michigan vacation destinations.

TheCrazyTourist.com’s article, 15 Best Small Towns to Visit in Michigan, by Jan Meeuwesen (Jan. 26, 2020), also lists Frankenmuth as #2. However, Jan tucked it between Saugatuck (which was #5 on Dan Koday’s list) and Copper Harbor (in the U.P.).

LAST THOUGHTS…

“Willkommen”, which is German for “welcome”, adorns the arch across Gera Road as you enter Frankenmuth, right by Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland, from the south. I must say, Frankenmuth really is one of the most welcoming small towns I’ve ever visited. For a 3-mile-square, small town, they have a lot to offer it’s tourists.

There are blacksmith demonstrations, as well as taffy and fudge making demonstrations. You can also learn how to hand roll pretzels, the traditional German way. The town hosts various festivals throughout the year, too.

Frankenmuth has multiple indoor water parks, an 18-hole putt-putt course, zip lines, and an aerial rope course. Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland is open daily, year-round. The Frankenmuth Brewery offers tours and taste testing, too.

There’s also an old, covered, wooden, traffic bridge; which crosses the Cass River, where it winds through town between the Bavarian Inn and River Place Shops – a Bavarian themed outdoor shopping mall. Aside from the shopping and food you can tour the town by horse-drawn carriage, riverboat, or a 16-person peddle trolley that also offers beer.

If you’ve never been to Frankenmuth, Michigan, it’s a tourist town treasure that’s worth adding to your bucket list!

IN CLOSING…

In honor of Saturday, being National Give Something Away Day; and July, being National Ice Cream Month; and next Sunday, being National Ice Cream Day; here’s Mom’s copycat recipe for “Fried Ice Cream Balls” and “Best Fast Hot Fudge Sauce”; as seen in her self-published cookbook, The Original 200 Plus Secret Recipes© Book (Secret RecipesTM, Marysville, MI; June 1997, p. 15).

#GiveSomethingAwayDay

#NationalIceCreamMonth

#NationalIceCreamDay

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

#LearnSomethingNewEveryDay

July’s observances include: National Baked Bean Month, National Culinary Arts Month, National Grilling Month, National Horseradish Month, National Hot Dog Month, National Independent Retailer Month, National Blueberry Month, National Picnic Month, and National Peach Month!

#NationalCulinaryArtsMonth

#GloriaPitzersCookbook

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

Today is also… National Kitten Day and National Pina Colada Day!

Tomorrow is… National Cheer Up The Lonely Day, National Rainier Cherry Day, National Blueberry Muffin Day, All American Pet Photo Day, National Mojito Day, and National 7-Eleven Day!

Wednesday, July 12th is… National Pecan Pie Day and Eat Your Jell-O Day!

Thursday, July 13th is… National French Fry Day, National Beans ‘N’ Franks Day, and National Delaware Day!

Friday, July 14th is… National Grand Marnier Day and National Mac & Cheese Day! In honor of the latter, here is a re-share of Mom’s imitation of “Macaroni And Cheese Like Woolworth’s” (our family’s favorite)!

#NationalMacAndCheeseDay

July 15th is… National Tapioca Pudding Day and National Gummi Worm Day! Plus, as the third Saturday in July (for 2023), it’s also National Strawberry Rhubarb Wine Day and Toss Away the “Could Haves” and “Should Haves” Day!

Sunday, July 16th is… National Corn Fritters Day and National Personal Chef’s Day!

#TGIM

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

…28 down and 24 to go!

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Mondays & Memories of My Mom – Workaholics

Happy Monday and happy July to everyone! I look forward to Mondays, as they’re my 52 Chances a year, in which I get to share Memories of My Mom with you!

#TheRecipeDetective

#IndependenceDay

#IndependentRetailerMonth

#NationalWorkaholicsDay

Today is Independence Day Eve! Plus, July is Independent Retailer Month. Additionally, Wednesday’s celebrations include National Workaholics Day! Most independent business owners are workaholics so naturally the two should be observed together!

Mom and Dad were classic workaholics. Their generation was brought up that way. Once their feet touched the floor, they hit the door, running. From the time they got up until they went back to bed, they made the most of every day, being as productive as possible.

FROM MOM’S MEMORIES…

As seen in…

My Cup Runneth Over and I Can’t Find My Mop (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; Dec. 1989, pp. 65-66)

WORKING FROM HOME: A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE RECIPE DETECTIVETM

AN ORDINARY DAY for us begins at 6:30 AM. Even though, I may have had a midnight or middle of the night radio show to do, the alarm still goes off at the crack of dawn. I realized some time ago that I could not roll out of bed and go directly to the stove to make the coffee and scramble the eggs and then, upon cleaning up after all of that, still go directly to my drawing board and my IBM composer for the rest of a long day.

I could but I would not have had a good attitude. So, Paul and I go, instead, to the restaurant in the mall downtown and let THEM make the coffee and scramble the eggs for us. Then we stop by the post office and pick up the mail and, by the time we are back home, I feel like a normal working person who leaves the house every morning to go to their office.

Depending on how swamped we are with mail and subscriber contacts, book orders and government papers to be filled out and filed, we will try to take a break around noon for either a sandwich at our desks or, better yet, will run down the street to the Burger King for an orange juice and fish sandwich; or over to The Voyageur [restaurant] for half of a ‘Captain’s Salad’ or a croissant special and a view of the St. Clair River, with freighters passing up and down stream that we can feel truly inspired and refreshed when we leave there.

A break like that will renew our creative energies and also give us a chance to ‘visit’ with each other – a practice that few married couples really seem to enjoy much anymore – if they ever did at all. These breaking off periods of getting away from the house and our office within, look to others, I suppose, as if we really aren’t that busy that we can frequent the local restaurants as much as we do.

What they don’t see, however, is the kitchen where, for three or four solid hours, I was testing and trying to develop a particular recipe – making it perhaps three or four times before either giving up on it or feeling victorious and happy to print it in the next newsletter.

We take a lot of kidding about how often I am seen pushing a cart in the local supermarket and how often I am seen ‘eating out’ that you’d ever guess I cooked at all. It is, because I try to maintain and encourage a happy balance between the recipe testing and our normal life with friends and family, that we have never found the enterprise in which we are engaged, a burden to us.

So many people we know do nothing but complain about their jobs, their work and regret. My cup runneth over and over and over! I WOULDN’T GIVE IT UP FOR THE WORLD!

By five or six o’clock in the evening, we’re ready for another break; and, in between, I have probably talked to two or three radio stations, answering questions for their listeners as they call into the station; which, by the miracle of telephone, puts us in touch with each other as if the host, the listener and I were all in the same room!

The radio visits that began with [our] good friend, Bob Allison, and his very successful show [‘Ask Your Neighbor’], with nearly 30 years, opened so many interesting and helpful doors for us. All of the other radio stations since, with whom I work, became a part of our schedule after years of providing listeners with the right information, with entertaining ideas and friendship and concern for their needs.

Sometimes I have received calls from hosts of radio shows who heard me on another station than their own and asked to set up an hour with them. Some of the programs run two hours. Many of them only use 15 minutes in which to discuss a healthy menu on the latest restaurant dish to imitate at home. No two radio shows are ever exactly alike, yet in one respect they are all incredibly enthusiastic and inquisitive…

Mom and Dad loved to take a day or a weekend to just go on a scenic road trip and unwind from the workload at home. Often, however, “work” would manage to creep back in whenever they stopped somewhere for a bite to eat. Mom always managed to find something good that she wanted to analyze and duplicate when she got back home.

Some trips involved pre-planned Secret RecipesTM work too. Mom really did enjoy what she laughingly called her “work”. It was easy to incorporate a restaurant review and an imitation of a dish (or two) into any trip. Even an occasional, in-studio, radio show interview could be worked into a vacation or road trip, instead of through the phone lines, as Mom usually did.

One time, she and Dad went on a “working” road trip/vacation to Branson, Missouri with one of her favorite radio show hosts, Art Lewis, from ‘Listen To The Mrs.’, on WSGW-Radio (Saginaw, MI) and “the crew”.

MORE FROM MOM’S MEMORIES…

As seen in…

My Cup Runneth Over and I Can’t Find My Mop (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; Dec. 1989, p. 94)

EVERY DAY, IN OUR OFFICE

EVERY DAY, IN OUR OFFICE and our home, because it’s hard to separate the two, is the fact that things here are quite unpredictable! The layout of the newsletter is done – as I described it before – like a patchwork quilt, [as] are the books, at best, for there is not enough ‘quiet’ time in which to carry out a major project.

Mostly, it is 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! There are visits from the rest of the family, a phone call from my mother once in a while, when she needs somebody to talk to… and I am always a ready listener.

There are the discussions over how to handle a particular problem with a shipping order, or how a dish should be coming out that doesn’t! Countless things occur in this office (and/or home) that contribute to the overall picture.

This is what I tried to describe… to Julie Greenwalt of People magazine, when she called and asked me to think about those typical things that happen, here, which could be photographed to accompany the story she was writing about us.

It will be interesting to see how it comes out, as this book [cited above] will be ‘going to press’ before People does with their story [which was in their May 7, 1990, issue].

I love the attitude of George Burns, who was always an inspiration to everyone, of every age! Doing what we like best, whether we succeed or not, is what keeps us going and keeps us happy. I cannot imagine doing something badly that I enjoy doing.

So, of course, we do our best at something we enjoy, because that is part of the satisfaction of doing it – seeing the good that results from our efforts.

[Paul and I,] both, take time during the week to enjoy something completely unrelated to our work and even our family. I bowl on a wonderful women’s league every Wednesday morning and Paul bowls with the men’s league on Friday nights.

For the past four or five years, I’ve driven to Algonac, about 40 miles round-trip, to participate in one of the nicest groups I’ve had the privilege of belonging to; and while I have yet to have that 200-game, whether I bowl badly or splendidly, I drive home all smiles, happy that I went!

Paul, on the other hand, bowls just down the street from us here in town. He bowled so much when we were dating, I tell people we were married by an ordained pin setter!

Friday is the 42-year anniversary of Mom’s FIRST appearance on the Phil Donahue Show (July 7th, 1981), from which a workaholic’s be-careful-what-you-wish-for nightmare arose. We received over a million letters from that episode, as it played and re-played world-wide! It was both, overwhelming and a godsend.

#GloriaPitzersCookbook

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

LAST THOUGHTS…

#LearnSomethingNewEveryDay

July 3rd – Aug. 11th is considered The Dog Days of Summer. “The dog days” is a term we often hear, and many of us assume it refers to how dogs lie around, lazily, on these extremely hot days. However, “the dog” is actually an ancient celestial reference.

According to History.com’s “Why Are They Called ‘The Dog Days of Summer’?”, by Christopher Klein (no date), “… it’s a throwback to the time when ancient civilizations tracked the seasons by looking to the sky. The ancient Greeks noticed that summer’s most intense heat occurred during the approximate 40-day period in the summertime when Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, rose and set with the sun…”

Ancient Greeks believed that Sirius (aka: “the dog star”), which is also part of the Canis Major (aka: Greater Dog) constellation, gave off heat like the sun because it was so bright. Thus, they supposed that it’s daytime appearance, along with the sun, contributed to the extreme daytime heat.

When Sirius breaks its sync with the sun, returning to the night sky, it’s considered to be a sign of the end of “the dog days”. FarmersAlmanac.com’s, “Why Are They Called ‘Dog Days Of Summer’?” (by Farmer’s Almanac Staff; updated July 11, 2022) claims that the exact dates of “the dog days” vary by latitude.

Currently, in the U.S., it’s around July 3rd through Aug. 11th; but Farmer’sAlmanac.com also reports that, in ten thousand years or so, Sirius’ coordination with the rising and setting sun “will fall back so late on the calendar that future civilizations in the northern hemisphere will experience ‘the dog days’ of winter.”

IN CLOSING…

In honor of Wednesday, being National Hawaii Day, here’s Mom’s copycat recipe for “Aunt Jenny’s Pineapple Bars”; as seen in her self-published cookbook, The Original 200 Plus Secret Recipes© Book (Secret RecipesTM, Marysville, MI; June 1997, p. 5).

#NationalHawaiiDay

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

#LearnSomethingNewEveryDay

July’s observances include: National Baked Bean Month, National Culinary Arts Month, National Grilling Month, National Horseradish Month, National Hot Dog Month, National Ice Cream Month, National Blueberry Month, National Picnic Month, and National Peach Month!

Today is also… National Fried Clam Day, National Eat Your Beans Day, and National Chocolate Wafer Day!

Tomorrow is… National Barbecued Spareribs Day and National Caesar Salad Day!

Wednesday, July 5th, is… National Apple Turnover Day and National Graham Cracker Day!

Thursday, July 6th, is… National Hand Roll Day and National Fried Chicken Day!

Friday, July 7th, is… National Strawberry Sundae Day and National Macaroni Day!

July 8th is… National Freezer Pop Day and National Chocolate with Almonds Day!

Sunday, July 9th, is… National Sugar Cookie Day!

#TGIM

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

…27 down and 25 to go!

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Mondays & Memories of My Mom – Fair Food Fever

Thank God Its Monday and, as such, #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

There’s always something special to see and do in Michigan! Summers (and fall) are especially jam-packed with carnivals, fairs, and festivals of all kinds. For me and many others, the food is always the best part of these special events. In fact, food truck fairs and rallies have even become quite popular – especially in the past few years, it seems.

Other fun summer events include air shows and hot air balloon rides, yard sale trails, farmers’ markets, mud bogs, classic car shows and cruises, outdoor concerts, fireworks displays, and so on. But the best events are all the carnivals, fairs, and festivals found throughout this beautiful state. Michigan is rich in county fairs – as many as 86, in all.

Marshall, Michigan’s Calhoun County Fair, is the oldest, continuous running, county fair in the state – except for 2020, of course. The Calhoun County Fair was first held in 1839. Marshall is also famous for being home to the world famous [Win] Schuler’s restaurant, since 1909.

Parade.com featured a wonderfully informative article, along with 29 recipes, to ‘…Recreate the Best State Fair Food at Home…’ that was written by Megan Porta (August 25, 2021). She listed “10 of the most popular state fair foods…”, as follows:

    1. Deep Fried Oreos
    2. Fried Chicken in a Waffle Cone
    3. Deep Fried Snickers
    4. Pizza Cone
    5. Cannoli Dessert Nachos
    6. Deep Fried PB&J
    7. Corn in a Cup
    8. Turkey Legs
    9. Deep Fried Cheese Curds
    10. Cookie Fries

I’ve seen many of these favorite fair foods featured on Noah Cappe’s hit show, Carnival Eats. I love that show – it always makes me want to go to a carnival or fair. I call it “Fair Food Fever”. Incidentally, Megan’s article also offers 29 recipes for imitating fair foods at home!

Here’s a bonus for you… Mom’s copycat recipe for “Batter-Fried Cheese Balls” like Cedar Point (Sandusky, OH), as seen in her last book… Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – The Best of the Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p. 134). [A revised reprint of Gloria Pitzer’s Better Cookery Cookbook (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; May 1983, 3rd Edition)].

#CarnivalEats

#GloriaPitzersCookbook

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

Carnival and fair foods are often equated with junk foods. Critics of the junk food and fast food industries thought that Mom’s type of copycat cookery was a fad that wouldn’t last long. But it was only the beginning of a revolutionary movement in the food industry – one that Mom called “Taking The Junk Out Of Junk Food” and “Eating Out At Home”!

In contrast to those critics who condemned “junk food” as being bad for us, Mom’s definition for real “junk food” was simply “poorly prepared food”. People know what they want and they like the so-called “junk” food that’s purportedly so bad for them.

However, along with the “everything in moderation” theory, Mom found a way to – forgive the pun – “have her cake and eat it too”, by “taking the junk out of junk food” through making copycat versions at home, where she controlled the ingredients.

FROM MOM’S MEMORIES…

As seen in…

The Second Helping Of Secret Recipes (National Homemakers Newsletter, Pearl Beach, MI; July 1977, p. 1)

DE-BUNKING THE JUNK

WHAT IS THE TRUTH ABOUT JUNK FOODS? Food experts have been referring to many snack foods and fast foods as ‘junk’, in an attempt to disqualify their value when compared to foods containing high amounts of protein and vitamins.

No one has confirmed a definition of the expression ‘junk food’, yet the public has been conditioned to accept any snack food, sweets, candies, confections, baked goods, and many beverages as junk food when, in reality, these are not without nutritional value.

All by itself, a raw carrot could hardly support the human system substantially, neither could a cup of yogurt. Yet, a candy bar or a small piece of cake or a hamburger on a bun is considered by some of the food industry’s most prestigious experts as having little or no food value in our daily diets.

The junk food paradox has caused school systems and other public institutions to ban the sale of any foods we would consider snack items, making it illegal…in the state of Michigan and some others if such items are sold to children through vending machines on the premises.

This is infuriating to the good cooks and the more intelligent food chemists among us who know that junk food is actually any food which is poorly prepared. All food has nutritional value. Some just seem to have more than others but, in the final analysis, it is purely personal taste which will determine the popularity of one food over another.

The fast food industry has been the most successful of any phase in the business. Their success depending largely on the fact that their recipes are all closely guarded secrets! I say, ‘Baloney!’

THERE REALLY ARE VERY FEW RECIPE SECRETS.

In many of Mom’s self-published cookbooks and summertime newsletters, she imitated some fair food favorites, herself – “Carnival Cotton Candy”, “…Circus Elephant Ears”, “Candy Apples” like Cedar Point (OH), and “Fudge” like Disneyland (CA) just to name a few.

Going to Cedar Point, in Sandusky (OH), was always one of the highlights of my summers, when I was young. It was full of unforgettable family fun; going on all the rides and eating ridiculous amounts of junk food. Sometimes we’d also spend the night at The Breakers hotel, next door, right on the beach of Lake Erie.

KRCGTV.com features ‘Beyond the Trivia – State Fairs’, by Dick Preston (July 29, 2021); another great informative article about state fairs, as well as county fairs. Did you know there are only two states in the U.S. that don’t sponsor a state fair? Some states have more than one. Some states also have many county fairs and others have none at all.

Michigan has two State Fairs (one in the “mitten” and one in the U.P.). Detroit’s started in 1849 and ran until 2009, when the governor, at that time, halted funding for it, due to state budgeting issues. The very first lower Michigan State Fair was originally held in Ann Arbor in 1839 but it was so poorly attended that it wasn’t continued.

However, a decade later, it was successfully revived in Detroit. The official State Fair Grounds were established in 1905, on Woodward Avenue. By 1966, attendance of the Michigan State Fair peaked at about 1.2 million attendees. Unfortunately, by 2009, the fair’s attendance had declined more than 80%, to about 217,000 visitors.

Nevertheless, in 2012, the State Fair was revived, once again, as well as relocated, again; moving from Detroit to Novi’s Suburban Collection Showplace, where it’s been ever since. The U.P. State Fair has been held in Escanaba since 1928. It’s the oldest state fair in Michigan.

MORE FROM MOM’S MEMORIES…

As seen in…

The Second Helping Of Secret Recipes, Revised (National Home News, St. Clair, MI; Nov. 1978, 4th Printing; p. 1)

DEAR JUNK FOOD JUNKIE, YOUR FIX HAS ARRIVED

BEING A HOPELESSLY INCURABLE junk food addict has its drawbacks in a world that today cries out for a better balanced diet.

When famous recording star, Larry Groce, first coined the title ‘Junk Food Junkie’ in his best-selling album of the same name, those of us who had been hooked on hamburgers, Hostess Twinkies, haute cuisine of the other snack foods, could breathe a sigh of relief – somebody understood. But nobody seemed to be doing anything about it…

Of course, the cookbooks published weren’t doing anything to help us cure the chronic case of junk food addiction because they were feeling the pressures of the need for nutritional education, cancelling out the credibility of snack foods as having any value at all.

Well, my friends, only half of the story was being told and so I began the publication of recipes for fast food imitations you could prepare at home and enjoy as if you were eating out.

It seems that there’s always something to celebrate, every day of every year – even if it’s not an “official” holiday. And almost everything that is celebrated or observed, usually involves food. Many of us find happiness in food. Food is comforting. Food is rejoicing. Food is fun. Food is love!

Nothing attracts and gathers people together more than food. These days, almost every holiday, special event, and the like are, in some fashion, marketed in the food industry!

‘Any reason to celebrate, is a reason to celebrate with food!’ – Laura Emerich (Feb. 24, 2020)

That should be somebody’s slogan – and remember, I coined it, here, first!

I remember when my family and I first moved to St. Clair from Algonac – one of our new neighbors came over with food for our dinner that evening so Mom didn’t have to worry about doing that amidst all the unpacking. That made such a wonderful, lasting impression on us.

LAST THOUGHTS…

Every summer that I can remember, while growing up in Michigan, there was usually a couple of family trips and some special one-day-events like a festival, the beach, a park picnic, and backyard barbeque – food was always in the mix. Our summers were filled with a lot of fun memories and fun food.

This Saturday we’ll be halfway through 2023, as July begins. One of July’s fabulous month-long celebrations is National Picnic Month, about which I recently wrote in my blog post, Summer Road Trips And Picnics. Why not imitate your favorite, fun, fair foods to take on your next road trip picnic?

IN CLOSING…

In honor of June, being National Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Month, and TODAY, being National Coconut Day, here’s Mom’s copycat recipe for a delicious dessert, called “Dayton Summer Fruit Pudding”; as seen in her self-published cookbook, The Original 200 Plus Secret Recipes© Book (Secret RecipesTM, Marysville, MI; June 1997, p. 53).

#FreshFruitAndVegetablesMonth

#NationalCoconutDay

#LearnSomethingNewEveryDay

The month of June observes, among other things… National Candy Month, National Camping Month, National Caribbean American Month, National Country Cooking Month, National Dairy Month, National Great Outdoors Month, National Iced Tea Month, National Papaya Month, National Soul Food Month, National Rose Month, and National Turkey Lovers Month!

Today is also… National Beautician’s Day and National Chocolate Pudding Day!

Tomorrow is… National Onion Day, National Ice Cream Cake Day, and National Orange Blossom Day!

Wednesday, June 28th, is… National Paul Bunyan Day and National Alaska Day!

June 29th, is… National Camera Day, National Waffle Iron Day, and National Almond Buttercrunch Day! Plus, as the last Thursday in June (for 2023), it’s also National Bomb Pop Day!

Friday, June 30th, is… National Meteor Watch Day and National Social Media Day!

Saturday begins the month of July, which observes, among other things… World Watercolor Month, National Baked Bean Month, National Culinary Arts Month, National Grilling Month, National Horseradish Month, National Hot Dog Month, National Ice Cream Month, Independent Retailer Month, National Blueberry Month, and National Peach Month!

July 1st is also… National Creative Ice Cream Flavors Day, National Gingersnap Day, National Postal Worker Day and National U.S. Postage Stamp Day! Plus, as the first Saturday in July (for 2023), it’s Hop-a-Park Day and National Play Outside Day (which is the 1st Saturday of EVERY month)!

Sunday, July 2nd, is… National Anisette Day!

#TGIM

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

…26 down and 26 to go!

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Sanders’ 3-Layer (Pecan) Bar Cookies

Sanders’ 3-Layer (Pecan) Bar Cookies

By Gloria Pitzer, as seen in… The Original 200 Plus Secret Recipes© Book (Secret RecipesTM, Marysville, MI; June 1997, p. 48).

INGREDIENTS:

¼-lb [1 stick] butter

4 TB sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

2 cups dry, quick rolled oats

½ cup flour

½ cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)

1-lb powdered sugar

3 TB hot milk

¼ cup [additional] butter, melted

Dash salt

¼ tsp vanilla

2 cups crushed peanut [or pecan] brittle

1 cup [6-oz] chocolate chips

1 cup [6-oz] butterscotch chips

2 TB water

2 TB [additional] butter

1-oz solid, unsweetened, baking chocolate

2 TB melted paraffin

INSTRUCTIONS:

1st LAYER: Melt butter in medium saucepan… [Meanwhile, combine the next 5 ingredients, as listed, in large mixing bowl. Add the melted butter to this] and mix well. Press warm mixture into bottom of a Pam-sprayed, 13-inch baking pan. Make…

2nd LAYER: Combine powdered sugar, hot milk, melted butter, salt, vanilla, and peanut [or pecan] brittle. Spread evenly over 1st layer. Prepare 3rd layer next.

3rd LAYER: In top of double boiler, over simmering water, melt the chocolate and butterscotch chips with the water, [last] 2 tablespoons of butter, baking chocolate, and paraffin. [Stir until smooth.] Pour this mixture over the 2nd layer and refrigerate 24 hours, before cutting into bars or squares.

Keep refrigerated to use in a week or so or freeze to use in a few months. Makes 3 dozen 1-inch pieces.

#GloriaPitzersCookbook

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

See also…

Mondays & Memories of My Mom – Cleaning Consumes Calories