ANNABRI. COHEN

Sraff photo by Kriga Husa

Special to the Jewish News

here was food before
portabella mushrooms.
lrecently had an
insatiable urge for
pineapple upside-down cake --
the real, old-fashioned homemade
kind with maraschino cherries in
the centers of the canned pineap-
ple rings.
Another day I had to have
blintzes — cheesy, fried in real
butter and served with sweetened
blueberries no less.
At just about the same time, a
fellow I know showed me his
mother's favorite cookbook, writ-
ten in 1948, complete with
Scotch-taped binding and all. In
those days, trendy cookbook
names with gimmicky recipes
weren't necessary. And shelves full
of the latest lowfat and fusion
tomes were inconceivable.
I could be wrong, but it seems
to me that in America, just feed-
ing a family three-squares a day
was every mother's duty. Of
course nothing is ever that simple.
Leafing yellowed pages with
penciled check marks next to fam-
ily favorites and margin notes
advising of ways to improve or
shortcut recipes was an education
in itself.
"I do not precook crust. You
can, but you must watch it close if
you do." You can almost imagine
someone saying this Did she
know that these notes written in
the virtually lost art of longhand
would be read 50-some years
later? Page after page of recipes
revealed simple, no-nonsense
names of foods.
There was no Penne Pasta with
Wisconsin Cheddar Bichamel.
There was Macaroni and Cheese.
And the recipes were simply writ-
ten in a paragraph or two, not the
full pages we often see in today's
books. Instructions for recipes like
tuna casserole made with cream of

mushroom soup, and Welsh
Rarebit, that melted cheese mix-
ture served on sqita re vvhite bread
toast, waste no words and offer
no serving suggestions. It's
assumed you know how these
foods are eaten.
I wanted all these foods I
craved. Novv. Like when I was 10.
Forget the balsamic pesto vinai-
grette and crehme brulee. When
it comes to cravings, bring on the
French dressing made with two
parts Mayo to one part ketchup
and good or lemon squares
They're not sexy foods, but they
sure taste and feel comfy. So make
yourself a peanut butter and
grape jelly sandwich and read
through the following recipes
that'll take you on a trip down
memory lane.

WELSH RAREBIT
3 T. hatter
1 T. flour
1/2 cup milk
2 cups (packed) grated cheddar
or American cheese
2 T. Dijon mustard (optional)
6 slices toasted bread slices
of choice
Combine butter_and flour in a
medium saucepan over medium
heat and cook, stirring, for 3
minutes. Whisk in the milk and
cook, whisking until the sauce is
thick. Add the cheese and mus-
tard and cook, stirring, until the
cheese is melted. Spoon the mix-
ture over toast slices and serve.
Makes 6 servings.

Cheese blintzes with blueberry sauce

PINEAPPLE
UPSIDE DOWN CAKE
Topping:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
or margarine
1 114 cups brown sugar
12 canned pineapple rings,
drained
Maraschino cherries
Cak
I cup (2 sticks) butter
or margarine

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