Nursery Rhyme Recipes - Shortenin' Bread and Pease Porridge.

"Put on the skillet, put on the lid

Mama's gonna make a little short'nin' bread

That ain't all s Mama's gonna do

She's gonna make a little coffee, too

Mama's little baby loves short'nin', short'nin',

Mama's little baby loves short'nin' bread

Mama's little baby loves short'nin', short'nin'

Her little baby loves short'nin' bread"

James Whitcomb Riley wrote a poem, published in 1900, based upon a song that had been sung by plantation slaves.  Rewritten in 1915, it became a folk song which relayed the hardships of being a plantation slave, and, not just adults, but small children starved to death while asleep in bed.  The song became popularized in 1948 with its release on the album, The Greatest Guest, by the Andrew Sisters.

For those of you whose eyes just popped at the mention of the Andrew Sisters, Maxene, Patty and Laverne were a spectacular trio during the 1930s, 40s and 50s.  They appeared in several movies, including “Buck Privates” and “Hold That Ghost” with Abbott and Costello, and “Road to Rio” with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby.  Their most popular song is “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”, (1941), and brought back into the limelight by Bette Midler.

By the time the Andrew Sisters sang “Shortenin’ Bread”, the detrimental meanings, behind the song were lost, and it was often looked at as a simple "nursery rhyme" mothers sang to their children.

A recipe I found, for Shortenin’ Bread, reads as follows: Cream together one stick of oleo margarine with a quarter-cup of light brown sugar, then mix in 1¼ cups of flour. Roll the resulting crumbly dough out on a floured board until it’s about a half-inch thick, then use a fruit jar or jelly glass to cut it out into rounds.  Put the rounds in a greased and floured shallow pan, bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes

This recipe sounded so familiar and then I had a “Duh!” moment.  This is when it can be referred back to the San Juan Record article of December 31, 2021, and recipe from The Mormon Pioneer Cookbook for Scottish Shortbread.  Only three ingredients, but confectioners' sugar is used while shortenin' bread uses light brown sugar; measurements are the same for both recipes.  While slaves used lard, margarine is the next best substitute for butter.  Many plantations also harvested sugar cane, and workers were given rations of sugar or molasses.

So, it did make me wonder how a recipe of the 1800s was so similar between Mormon pioneers, and plantation slaves.  Coincidence, I do not believe in those; so, a bit of digging into history was called for. 

Wikipedia article, Mormonism and Slavery, Brigham Young and Joseph Smith were, initially, proslavery.  Smith began to change his views on this issue, and by 1844, his campaign, for President of the United States, ran on an anti-slavery platform. However, this was also the year that he was murdered in Illinois.  Brigham Young led the followers to Utah, and helped to make Utah a "slave state".  One of his teachings was, "inasmuch as we believe in the ordinances of God, in the Priesthood and order and decrees of God, we must believe in slavery".  This quote is taken from, The Teachings of President Brigham Young: Vol. 3 1852–1854, Fred C. Collier, Colliers Publishing Company.

Slaves worked the kitchens of their masters, and used the recipes they were taught by them.  Taking the same recipes and adapting them to provisions available to the slaves was simple enough.  They made do with what they had, or could get their hands on without getting caught.

I baked up a batch, following the recipe I found. While they were good, they were not as sweet as the Scottish type.  The texture was firmer and not as melt-in-the-mouth, so butter does make it better.  Using a ¼ measuring cup as the mold, I was able to create 10 cookies, as that is truly what they are…cookies.  A little hint, a smear of lemon curd, or prickly pear jelly, does a cookie good.

 

Flour Added

Cream Margarine and Brown Sugar

Roll Out Dough

Cut Out Circles of Dough

Before Baking

Let Cool Completely

Next nursery rhyme is Peas Porridge, later reworded as Pease Porridge.  This is going back later in time, around the Medieval Era, but the song relates to the same theme: starvation.

In those olden days, cooking was done with a big kettle that always hung over a fire. Every day the fire was lit, and ingredients added, such as beans, grains, vegetables, and sometimes meat, if lucky.  This stew was for dinner, leftovers stayed in the pot, got cold overnight, and the whole process started over the next day. Nothing was thrown away, only added to.  Sometimes the stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while, hence the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old."

Cooking over an open fire, fueled by wood, coal or peat could be compared to modern cooking via crock pot.  Slow, over low heat, and taking many hours to complete.  This became the typical cooking method for those labeled as peasants; eking out a living in agriculture and/or animal husbandry.

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, in the 16th century, this stew was called "pottage", and it was not until the 17th century that the word "porridge" was created.  In 1760 the song was published as a nursery rhyme with creator's name unknown.  "Peas" was changed to "Pease" which is a generalized term for oatmeal, since this was the main ingredient for porridge or pudding.   However, in the United Kingdom, pease pudding, also known as pease porridge, is a savory pudding dish made of boiled legumes, typically split yellow peas, with water, salt and spices, and often cooked with bacon or a ham joint.

I was able to find a recipe for Pease Porridge on the food blog, The Spruce Eats, which does not include bacon or ham, but no one will complain if you add either in.  It is rather long in preparation, but you can find the recipe here:  https://www.thespruceeats.com/easy-pease-pudding-recipe-435628

There you have it, two nursery rhymes, sung even in this day and age, and both referring to starvation.  Like Grimm’s Fairy Tales, a bit of darkness can be hidden within a tale meant for children.

Mary Cokenour

Pioneer New Year Dessert - Shortbread

“Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing. We think that the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It’s just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.” ~Pema Chödrön

 

This quote describes life in general, does it not?  A day, in the life, of any individual has ups and downs; some expected, some a complete surprise.  Through most of 2021, the Cokenour household coasted through the year.  In October though, we lost our 11 year old Australian Shepherd dog, Tippy.  11 years of having our “big puppy”, and suddenly he was gone; a victim of cancer that had ravaged his body.  Where had 11 years gone?  How had we missed his getting older, when he constantly acted like a young puppy!?!   Then, in November, we lost our Maine Coon cat, Monkey; 15 years old and the last of our pets from our life in Pennsylvania.  To say the Yule and Christmas holidays were swallowed up in sadness would be an overwhelming truth. 

As good as 2021 had been for us, it had no intention of letting us get away with an almost completely happy year.  But that is life in reality, full of ups, downs and all-arounds that have your heart, mind and soul permanently strapped into a Tilt-a-World ride.

Now here it is, the New Year, 2022; and still no flying cars as depicted in the cartoon series, The Jetsons.  Hello 2022, what new adventures will you be flinging our way?  That is correct, we will be welcoming the New Year with open arms, eyes and mind.  Taking whatever lessons the past year has ingrained within us, taking this new bull by the horns, and riding till our butts are thrown upon the ground.  Give up?  You do not know us very well then.  Oh no, we dust ourselves off, look that bull in the eyes and say, “Bring it on!”  So, to all of you who have had it bad, and wonder if life is worth going on, we say, “Yes it is, so get on your own bulls and ride!”

When it comes to cooking, many households, throughout the world, welcome the New Year with a specialty menu.  It is geared towards filling the senses with happiness, and bestowing luck onto all who partake of the meal. Of course, while New Year’s Eve is geared more towards the consumption of alcohol (what better way to forget the old year?), the Day might be geared towards relieving a hangover.  You do you, right?

Back to food, and wondering how the pioneers, of Utah, celebrated the New Year.  Reading through The Mormon Pioneer Cookbook, I discovered there were two versions; one British and the other Swedish.  Since we enjoy British recipes, this is what I focused on more.  New Year was full of music, drama, dancing; celebrating the accomplishments of the past year such as building homes and good harvests.  In 1852, Social Hall was built in Salt Lake City, and was reputed to be the first theater built, west of the Missouri River.  It became the center for all social activities in the ever expanding Mormon community.  For New Year’s Eve, a late supper (British menu) was held, dancing till dawn, and then breakfast (Swedish menu) served.  The meals were buffet style, with households preparing and bringing all the dishes to share.  The late supper consisted of Irish Soda Bread, pork pies, Cornish pasties, Wassail (a hot cider drink full of citrus) and Scottish Shortbread; amongst other homemade and delicious foods of British Isle descent.

Scottish Shortbread is a simple recipe containing three ingredients: sugar, butter and flour.  Traditionally it is baked in a rectangle shape, and then cut into rectangular “fingers”.  It is considered to be a biscuit, but has been described as a cookie, due to its shape being changed by manufacturers.  Think of shortbread as Scotland’s version of Italian biscotti.  Sometimes a simple design would be pressed into the shortbread, before baking, with a cookie stamp; or holes indented with the tines of a fork.  Eaten by itself, or smeared with a fruit jelly or curd, and the New Year will start off being very happy indeed!

 

Scotch Shortbread

(The Mormon Pioneer Cookbook by Daughters of Utah Pioneers, page 62)

Ingredients:

½ cup unsalted butter

¼ cup confectioners’ sugar

1 and ¼ cups sifted all-purpose flour

Preparation:

Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Gradually blend in flour, mix well.  Chill.

Divide dough in half.  Press into two 6-inch rounds on a lightly greased baking sheet.  Prick tops with tines of fork.  If desired, flute edges.

Bake in a 300F oven about 30 minutes or until delicately browned.

Cut each into 8 segments while hot.

Yield: 16 pieces

So, for 2022, I have been thinking to start the New Year with a bit o’ beef, Yorkshire pudding, gravy, new potatoes baked in butter, and, of course, Scottish shortbread for dessert.

From the Cokenour family to you and yours, Happy New Year!!!

Mary Cokenour

Candy in my Cheesecake.

Usually I put off making cheesecakes until the holiday season, but I had promised to make one as a thank you gift; and I keep my promises, especially when it comes to food. I knew exactly which one I was going to make, my Toffee Shortbread Cheesecake; a bottom layer of crushed shortbread cookies; a creamy layer of cream cheese mixed with mascarpone.

The candy bits are usually found in the baking aisle, crushed Skor candy pieces, or Heath Bar bits. Now both contain chocolate as they're the actual candy bars crushed (you can do the same if you can't find the packages in the baking aisle). I noticed that Heath Bar has a package called "Bits o' Brickel" which is only the toffee part of the candy bar broken up; no chocolate. I also noticed a big change in package weight; I used to buy 10 ounce packages and now they have been reduced to 8 ounces. May not sound like a big difference to you, but it is to a person who uses the product for baking; I will live with it though.

Anyway, lets cut to the chase and get to that luscious cake. I use one trick when making cheesecakes, baking the cake in a bain marie (French term meaning "water bath"). The cake pan, wrapped in aluminum foil, rests inside a glass baking dish. Water is poured halfway up the outside of the cake pan; as the cake bakes, the water and batter equalize in temperature inside their respective dishes; the cake bakes evenly and does not crack.

By the way, that crack you see in the above photo; that is what happens when you don't use the correct utensils when moving an entire cheesecake from the springform pan bottom to a serving plate...it cracks!

Toffee Shortbread Cheesecake

Ingredients:

1 (12 oz) package shortbread cookies, crushed
½ cup melted butter
2 (8 oz) packages mascarpone cheese
2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
½ cup brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 (8 oz) bag Heathbar or Skor candy bits

Preparation:

In a small bowl, mix together the crushed cookies and butter until crumbly, but still moist. Cut out circle of parchment paper that will line the bottom of a 9” spring form pan. Use nonstick baking spray on bottom and sides of pan, press parchment circle to bottom; spray paper with nonstick spray. Press mixture onto bottom and quarter way up the sides of the pan; place in refrigerator to set for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a large bowl, cream together mascarpone, cream cheese, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Stir in candy bits, but do not over mix. Pour mixture into pan; wrap aluminum foil tightly around the exterior of the pan. Place pan in center of a 3 quart baking dish; pour water halfway up side of pan being careful not to get any water inside the pan or foil; bake for one hour. Partially open oven door; let cake cool for half hour before removing pan from baking dish and placing in refrigerator overnight. Carefully remove spring form pan before slicing and serving.

Makes 10 servings.

Mary Cokenour

Adventures in Cheesecake.

Now while some folks consider baking a chore; I look at it more as a minor hobby. It's not something that I can say I like alot, but I can't say I dislike it, so keep trying it out. There wasn't much cooking I wanted to do over the weekend, so decided to play with cheesecake recipes. Usually I like to mix cream cheese with mascarpone cheese which I posted about on Feb 8, 2011, but not this time. Each recipe I created has two pounds of cream cheese in it, making the cakes denser, but still moist and luscious.

Now this first recipe is Lemon Curd Cheesecake, so it tastes very like eating a lemon meringue pie, but with cheesecake instead of lots of puffy meringue. When I like a little snack, I'll spoon lemon curd onto squares of shortbread, and it's a delightful treat. However, I wanted a little more snap, so used crushed ginger snap cookies for the crust.

Lemon Curd Cheesecake

Spray a 10” spring form pan with nonstick baking spray; cut out a circle of parchment paper to line bottom of pan; spray the parchment paper also.

Crust

1 (16 oz) package gingersnap cookies

6 Tbsp melted butter

Place cookies in plastic bag and crush into a semi-fine crumble.  Mix butter with crumble; press onto bottom of pan and up sides about ½ inch.  Refrigerate for half hour.

Filling

4 (8 oz) boxes cream cheese, softened

¼ cup lemon juice

2 tsp pure lemon extract

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, beaten

Beat cream cheese, lemon juice, extract and sugar together till smooth; add eggs; beat until well incorporated.  Pour into spring form pan.  Bake for one hour at 350F; turn off heat, partially open oven door and let cake rest for half hour.   

Topping

While cake is baking, make the lemon curd topping.

 1 cup lemon juice

1 cup sugar

4 large eggs

4 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces

In a large bowl, mix lemon juice, sugar and eggs together till sugar is dissolved.  Pour mixture into a large saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until temperature reaches 175F, and mixture has thickened.  Remove from heat; add butter and stir until all the butter has melted.  Pour mixture through a fine strainer into a clean bowl.  After cake has rested, and curd is still slightly warm; pour curd over filling and spread evenly.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Makes 10-12 servings.

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This second cheesecake is based on the fact that I had some coffee left over in the pot, but not enough for a full cup; throwing it out seemed such a waste.

Mocha Latte Cheesecake

Spray a 10” spring form pan with nonstick baking spray; cut out a circle of parchment paper to line bottom of pan; spray the parchment paper also.

Crust

1 (16 oz) package shortbread cookies

2 Tbsp melted butter

2 Tbsp chocolate syrup

Place cookies in plastic bag and crush into a semi-fine crumble.  Mix butter and syrup with crumble; press onto bottom of pan and up sides about ½ inch.  Refrigerate for half hour.

Filling

4 (8 oz) boxes cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup melted semi-sweet chocolate chips

¼ cup strong brewed coffee

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, beaten

2 Tbsp cocoa powder

Beat cream cheese, melted chocolate, coffee and sugar together till smooth; add eggs and cocoa; beat until well incorporated.  Pour into spring form pan.

Bake for one hour at 350F; turn off heat, partially open oven door and let cake rest for half hour.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Topping

1 Tbsp softened cream cheese

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 tsp vanilla powder

1 cup whipped cream

coffee syrup

Beat cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract and powder together till smooth; fold in whipped cream.  Spread over chilled filling; refrigerate for one hour.  Drizzle coffee syrup over top before cutting and serving.

Makes 10-12 servings.

Mary Cokenour