Date I made these recipes:
Labor Day 2014 – Back to School: College Edition
Cooking to a Degree
by Mario N. Glasserow and Lois A. Brook
Published by:
Hearthside Press Inc.
© 1972
Purchased at Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks, NYC
Recipe: Super Meat Loaf – p. 156
The College Cookbook
(Updated Version) by Geri Harrington
Published by: Storey
Books
ISBN: 0-88266-497-2'
copyright 1988
Purchased at Arc's Value
Village Thrift Stores, Richfield, MN
Recipe: Spinach Pudding submitted by Vassar College
– p. 96
Hungry: What Eighty Ravenous Guys Taught Me About
Life, Love & The Power of Good Food by Darlene Barnes
Published by:
Hyperion
ISBN:
978-1-4013-2477-3
Purchased at Strand
Bookstore, NYC
Recipe: Orange
Balsamic Dressing - p. 66
And so...just like that, summer was over and kids were
headed back to school, and as per usual, I had no idea how that happened. This
year, we have friends with kids starting college as well as friends with kids
looking at colleges and so of course, I felt the need to have a
"Back-to-School, College Edition" blog posting. And while it's heartening to know that
college cafeterias are improving their offerings, more and more students are
living off-campus and that means they should learn how to cook something beyond
"Open package, add boiling water."
I reference, of course, the (now) college staple, Ramen Noodles; back in
my day, we ordered pizza. Actually, back
in my day "Mystery Meat" was a staple for at least one dinner
offering during the week. I may not have
been the quasi-foodie that I am now, but still, I had standards.
Still, I do not kid myself in the least that any college
student will be making these in a dorm or in an apartment but that's okay. When it comes to meatloaf, you either love it
or hate it (I love it), I am pretty sure most people will run away from
spinach, particularly a recipe titled "Spinach Pudding," but the
salad dressing may actually make it into the lightning round so there's hope
for that. And while each cookbook (I found
three!) had some recipes that I might have enjoyed making, I was looking to put
together a meal and so there it is.
The first book, Cooking
to a Degree, was published in 1972 when I was in 8th grade but
by then, my dad had mapped out exactly what high school classes I needed to
take in order to get ready for college. There was no "fiddle fooling
around" where my dad was concerned.
("Fiddle fooling around" was a Lou Verme classic.) After a fashion, when it was obvious that I
was never going to follow in my dad's footsteps to become a scientist, he erased
all the chemistry and math courses he penciled in previously and replaced them
with English and history. As it is, and
this should not be a surprise, I ended up with a B.A. in English and double
minors in Spanish and History. This,
children, is called "foreshadowing!"
This cook book is intended to be broad-reaching as evidenced
by the tag line that says "Food that
tastes great, costs little, & prepares fast! If you're hungry & helpless in your own
first kitchen off campus or off-on-your-own." I could have used this book during my junior
year when I shared an apartment off campus with three other women, but then
again, we had our own arsenal of cookbooks, provided to us by our mothers and
so were pretty much set and ready to go. (By the by, please notice the correct
use of "you are" [you're] and "your." This Grammar Nazi about goes into orbit every
time I see people use "your" instead of "you are.")
The second book, The
College Cookbook, was first published in 1982 and I graduated from college
in 1980 so, as they say in horseshoes "close enough." This version was updated in 1988 and I'd love
to know what changed but alas, I do not yet own the original version.
This cookbook is a compilation of recipes submitted by
college students and/or colleges themselves but what is more interesting is the
list in the Acknowledgment section of
the schools that sent recipes that didn't make it into the book, including
Harvard and Yale. Had to chuckle—I bet
not making it into the book had to be a first for Harvard and Yale, or as I
like to say [of them] the "also ran(s)...." If you're familiar with horse racing (and who
isn't?), "also ran" is the term given to horses who did not win,
place or show in a particular horse race, or even come close. Anyway...moving on....
The recipe I selected, Spinach
Pudding was submitted by Vassar College, located in Poughkeepsie, NY. For as long as I can remember, Vassar was
always pronounced in a clenched-jaw, yet breathy kind of manner – "Vaaaah-saaaah." Nobody but a rube would pronounce it Vas-SAR
with a hard "ar" on the end.
So unseemly. (And by the way, and it's too late now, and not that
there's anything wrong with Poughkeepsie,
but I just don't associate Vassar with that city. It just doesn't work. Now Boston? Sure.)
And while Vassar has been co-ed since the late 60's, I still
think of it as a women's college. I
don't know why. Perhaps because we take
note of the famous women who attended Vassar more than we do the men. Actress Meryl Streep was a Vassar graduate (in
Drama, naturally) as was Lisa Kudrow (best known for the TV show, Friends), who earned a degree in Biology
in 1993. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis spent two years at Vassar before
transferring, and Jane Fonda briefly attended before dropping out to go live in
Paris, coincidentally one of Jacqueline Kennedy's favorite stomping
grounds.
As to the recipe, it seemed to me that only a Vassar girl
would call your basic creamed spinach something like Spinach
"Pudding" as it certainly wasn't a pudding and even if it was –
ew. I just don't like the image.
Chocolate? Fine. Butterscotch? Fine.
But spinach? Noooo. But despite
the name, I did love the spinach and it
went perfectly with the meat loaf from the Cooking
to a Degree cookbook. But I can
almost guarantee you that most college students would rather die than eat this
which is fine because that means all the more for me! Spinach, creamed or otherwise, can be an
acquired taste. (But it's good for you kids, so eat it anyway!)
The third book in this college cooking extravaganza, Hungry, is the memoir of Darlene Barnes
who, upon moving with her husband to Seattle,
found a job as a cook at the Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity at the University of Washington. I found her description of frat life to be
everything I remembered about fraternities and more, which is to say, and I
know you'll be amazed – tame! (But whoa—frats in the 90's and early 2000's were
something else again). Sure, frats were
known for great keggers but I think all of us non-fraternity or sorority
college students threw pretty good parties on our own, thankyouverymuch.
What distinguished sororities and fraternities from all of
the rest of us lowly college students was the amount of foofing and poofing
that went on when sororities and fraternities held their formal parties. O.M.G.
The sorority members who lived in my dorm were just a-twitter about
these dances and spent days getting ready.
Days-as opposed to the mere hours the rest of us put into throwing
together an outfit. (We do not have time
to discuss what constituted a "going out" outfit back in the day
except it was sad, people, sad. But
sensible: after all, I went to school at
Northern Michigan University
where it snowed. A lot. You either dressed for the snow, or you didn't.
Period.)
Now here's what I want you to picture because it's a far cry
from where frats and sororities are now:
the men had long hair, wore aviator glasses (large glasses,
wire-rimmed), shirts with huge bow ties and sometimes ruffled tux shirts...or
not. Plaid pants were still all the rage
for the guys, something nobody would likely be caught dead in anymore. The women also had long hair, also wore
aviator glasses (because they were cool) and wore gowns that make me shudder
(Granny dresses, anyone?) but hey, "time it was, what a time it was, a
time of innocence..." (from Bookends
by Simon and Garfunkel). If the hair was
long, it spent hours in hot rollers and curling irons and when released, was
sprayed with Aqua Net within an inch of its life. If it was short, it still got a bit of a fluff
before going out. In my opinion, it was
all a bit much but then again, I'm more like the character, Enid, in the movie Legally Blonde who scoffed at sororities than Elle Woods who adored
them.
Interesting note: the
very cool store – Specs Optical – on 22nd and Hennepin, where I get my very
cool glasses, just emailed me about a trunk show they're having featuring a
designer who makes wire-rimmed aviators.
They're back! We were all so ahead of the curve...
At any rate, although this book is mostly a memoir, she
still included a few recipes and so I decided to make a salad to go with my
meatloaf and spinach pudding and it turned out great. Since the dressing had orange juice and
orange peel, I made a salad of mixed lettuce, fresh raspberries and diced apple
and it was yummy. Be warned: I cut the
dressing recipe in half and still ended up with too much dressing so feel free
to cut it down even more.
All of this talk of college has certainly brought up a ton
of memories and I could certainly bore you with hours and hours of stories but
I won't. I will say though, that college
life then was pretty tame and uneventful.
The Vietnam War had ended and with it the protests on college campuses
all across the U.S.
We were still living with dial phones, TV antennas (with the requisite tin
foil) and vinyl records (which, of course, are back in popularity now that I've
given all mine away.) The other day, a
Facebook page that I belong to posted an old ad for Boone's Farm wine and almost every posting, including mine, talked
about how horrible that stuff was and how the hangovers were unbelievable. Also included in the conversation was Annie Green Spring swill...I mean wine,
and MD (Mad Dog) 20/20. The very
thought of Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill
and any flavor of Annie Green Springs
makes me ill. But it was cheap stuff and
so we drank it. Our off-campus dining
choices were pizza, more pizza, sub sandwiches and our choice of McDonalds,
Burger Chef or Sandy's (local chain).
Our favorite winter activity was to steal trays from the cafeteria and
go "traying" (sliding) on local hills. At the end of the year, our university held
an "Amnesty Week" during which students could return all items
kleptoed from the cafeteria like
silverware, dishware, and trays, no questions asked.
And since it was the age of disco, I'll mention that our
number one activity was to go dancing at the Alibi Rock Theater. To this day, I can picture the entire layout
– the bar, the disco floor that lit up in different colors, the pinball games,
the disco ball, and how everyone lined up along the walls until asked to
dance. The place is still there and it
cracks me up to no end to think about how going there was the highlight of our
week. Well, when you're in school in the
middle of no where and today's technology is still decades away, you do what
you have to do. "Do bi do bi do. "
(A joke about Frank Sinatra for all you youngsters out there).
Now, trust me when I say that the meatloaf is really good,
the spinach is something you should acquaint yourself with and you can't beat a
good salad dressing. And most
importantly, best of luck, students!
Super Meat Loaf –
serves 5-6. Involvement: 8 min; non-involved: 1 hour
1 ½ lbs ground meat (2 parts beef to 1 part veal and 1 part
pork is best)
3 sprigs fresh parsley, chopped
½ c. Flavored Bread Crumbs (Ann's Note; I used Progresso's Italian bread crumbs)
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 T. catsup
¼ c. milk
Salt, pepper
1 egg
1 white onion, grated
Preheat oven to 350F.
Mix all ingredients with your hands.
(It's the easiest way). Thorough
mixing is essential to make the loaf firm enough to slice; overhandling it
makes it too hard.
Shape and place into a shallow 1 qt baking dish. Bake 1 hour at 350. Baste once, after 40 minutes, with its own
juices. This will give it a nice crust.
Spinach Pudding –
serves: 6
2 10-ounce packages frozen chopped spinach
2 tablespoons butter
¼ cup all-purpose
flour
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon pepper
¼-1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3 eggs, beaten
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Cook spinach as directed on package but without adding water. Drain thoroughly. Melt butter in a heavy pan; add flour,
stirring constantly. Stir in milk
gradually; add seasonings and spinach.
Stir in beaten egg. Spinach
should be well-mixed and well-coated with everything. Turn into a greased 1 ½ quart casserole. Place in pan of hot water and bake for 30
minutes. Serve right from casserole or
unmold and serve on warm plate with hot heavy cream (optional).
Orange Balsamic
Dressing (serving size not given but likely 2 cups)
½ cup balsamic vinegar
Zest of 1 orange
½ cup fresh orange juice
2 T. Dijon
mustard
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and black pepper
Combine the vinegar, orange zest, orange juice, and mustard
in a food processor. Drizzle in the
olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste.
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