I was wandering through an antique show recently when I happened upon a copy of "The Nancy Drew Cookbook." Published in 1973, it's not really an antique, but it immediately transported me back to my youth — in particular the summer between fifth and sixth grades, when two friends and I had a "Nancy Drew Book Club."
We read every book we could get our hands on, which proved to be something of a challenge since our librarian rather sniffed at such low-brow reading material. But that didn't stop us. We checked out what we could, borrowed any we could find from friends and relatives and even bought a few — I think they cost $1 in those days. And, in the end, I don't suppose it ruined us — I've been a reader ever since.
And the cookbook brought it all back — names of favorite books lending their names to particular recipes.
The Nancy Drew books were originally published in the 1930s as a girl's companion to the Hardy Boys mysteries and written under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene.
In later years, the publishers tried to update and modernize teenage detective Nancy, and those books are still out there. Recently, however, they've begun to reissue some of the originals, realizing that new generations of girls can be charmed by the quaint atmosphere and somewhat innocent adventures of those earlier years. And librarians and educators have decided they are pretty good, after all.
Food was not an integral part of the stories, as it was in, say, the "Anne of Green Gables" books, where Anne was always having food-related adventures.
So, this book is designed to tempt young cooks to try their hands at creating a variety of fun dishes. "How do you become a really good cook?" asks "Carolyn Keene" in the introduction. " 'It's no mystery,' Nancy Drew reveals. 'You must do what fine cooks have always done — add your own special touch.' But how do you do this? Let Nancy show you how. . . . In this book she gives you over a hundred easy recipes and for some of them she has included her cooking secret. It may be a pinch of an herb, a secret sauce, a surprise cake. The trick can be anything that makes the food easier to prepare, tastier or more attractive-looking when served."
Or, she says, maybe you would like to add a mystery ingredient of your own.
What Nancy Drew fan could resist?
This literary connection to food can be a fun way for young cooks to gain experience in the kitchen. If not with Nancy, then with other beloved characters. (Too bad there isn't a Harry Potter cookbook yet!)
As mentioned, Anne Shirley of "Green Gables" fame was often involved with food — from the cake she made with liniment instead of flavoring, to the pudding sauce that drowned a mouse, and from the infamous raspberry cordial to the whimsical cookies the grown-up Anne made for her children.
Anne, of course, learned from one of the best cooks on Prince Edward Island: Marilla Cuthbert. "There, there, never mind your kissing nonsense," Marilla told her early on. "I'd sooner see you doing strictly as you're told. As for cooking, I mean to begin giving you lessons in that some of these days. But you're so feather-brained, Anne, I've been waiting to see if you'd sober down a little and learn to be steady before I begin. You've got to keep your wits about you in cooking and not stop in the middle of things to let your thoughts rove all over creation."
The thing I always loved about Anne was that if she could do it, maybe there was hope for the rest of us.
Another connection for young readers and young cooks is "The Little House on the Prairie" books. Over the years, I've collected a couple of cookbooks with that theme: one with recipes from the prairies of Kansas where the Ingalls family lived for a time; the other based on the recipe book compiled over a lifetime by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
You may want to visit your local library and see what other literary cooks you can find. In the meantime, we've selected some recipes from these characters that would be easy for beginning cooks to try.
And, who knows, it could lead to a lifetime of cooking — and reading.
I used to love to make cookies because I could read while one batch was cooking and the next was ready to go in. And I still do!
MONKEY FACE COOKIES
1/3 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons molasses
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cup raisins or currants
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a baking sheet.
In a large bowl, using a wooden spoon, blend together the butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Stir in the eggs and molasses.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the butter/egg mixture.
Flour your hands and pinch off bits of dough about a teaspoon in size. Roll each bit into a ball and place on baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
Using the bottom of a glass that has been greased and dipped in sugar, press each cookie until it is about 1/4-inch thick. Press raisins into each cookie to make eyes and mouth of the "monkey face."
Bake cookies for about 8 minutes or until firm. Let cookies cool on a wire rack. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.
The raisin faces provide a touch of whimsy that delighted Walter in "Anne of Ingleside." Today we have the luxury of seedless raisins, but before Anne could have used raisins, she would have had to pick out all the tiny seeds. From The Anne of Green Gables Treasury by Carolyn Strom Collins and Christina Wyss Eriksson, Penguin Books.
BLACKWOOD HALL MUFFINS
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 cup fresh blueberries
Heat over to 400 degrees F.
Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl.
Add the shortening, egg and milk. Stir with a fork until just blended.
Rinse the blueberries and drain them on paper towels. Stir them into the dough until thoroughly mixed. Grease the bottom and sides of the muffin cups and fill 2/3 full with dough.
Bake for 20 minutes. Muffins will be golden when done. Makes 12 muffins. From The Nancy Drew Cookbook by Carolyn Keene, Grosset & Dunlap.
BUNGALOW MYSTERY SALAD
2 6 3/4-ounce cans frozen orange juice
2 lemons
1 6-ounce can pineapple juice
2 bananas
1 cup ginger ale
1 cup sugar
24 paper muffin cups
Squeeze the lemons and put the juice through a strainer. Thaw frozen orange juice in a bowl. Add the strained lemon juice and the pineapple juice.
Mash bananas and add them to the mixture. Pour in the ginger ale and sugar. Stir well.
Put paper muffin cups in the muffin pans. Ladle mixture into the cups. Place salads in the freezer and leave until frozen.
An extra touch: Stir some crushed pineapple and chopped dates into whipped cream cheese and use as topping. From The Nancy Drew Cookbook by Carolyn Keene, Grosset & Dunlap.
FIRE DRAGON SPICED FRUIT
2 cups peach halves
2 cups pear halves
1 small jar maraschino cherries
2 1/2 cups pineapple chunks
1/3 cup butter or margarine
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon curry powder
Heat the over to 325 degrees F.
Drain peaches, pears, cherries and pineapple. Dry them on paper towels. Arrange the fruit in a 2-quart casserole, mixing the pieces.
Melt butter in a skillet over low heat. Add brown sugar and curry powder and stir until smooth. Pour over the fruit.
Bake uncovered for 1 hour.
Serve with meat or as a salad.
Nancy's helpful tip: This fruit dish becomes even tastier if it is left covered in the refrigerator overnight. Before serving, reheat it for 20 minutes at 350 degrees F. From The Nancy Drew Cookbook by Carolyn Keene, Grosset & Dunlap.
THE CORNINGS' CARAMEL COOKIES
3 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter
1 6-ounce can evaporated milk
1 4-ounce package instant butterscotch pudding mix
3 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
Place the sugar, butter and evaporated milk in a large saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring several times.
Take the saucepan off the heat. Add the pudding and the oats. Stir well. Let the mixture cool for 15 minutes.
Line a tray with wax paper. Drop the cookie mixture on the wax paper a teaspoon at a time. Cookies will become firm when completely cooled. From The Nancy Drew Cookbook by Carolyn Keene, Grosset & Dunlap.
CHOCOLATE CARAMELS
1 cup unsalted butter
3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
1 1/4 cups sweetened condensed milk
4 tablespoons corn syrup
2 1/4 cups (firmly packed) brown sugar
Grease the inside of an 8X8-inch baking pan.
Put the butter, chocolate, sweetened condensed milk, corn syrup and brown sugar into a large, heavy saucepan. Mix with a wooden spoon.
Place the saucepan over medium heat and let the mixture come to a boil. Let the chocolate melt completely.
Turn the heat down to medium low and cook the mixture for 30 minutes, stirring constantly as it gently boils.
When it's cooked, the candy will be very thick. Pour it into the baking pan and let cool on a rack for about 1 1/2 hours. Then cut into squares.
(Note: This recipe requires lots of patience during the cooking time, but it's well worth it. As Anne said: "I had one chocolate caramel once two years ago and it was simply delicious. I've often dreamed since then that I had a lot of chocolate caramels, but I always wake up just when I'm going to eat them.") From The Anne of Green Gables Cookbook by Kate Macdonald, Oxford University Press.
CHICKEN SALAD SANDWICHES
1 cup finely chopped cooked chicken
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
1 hard boiled egg, peeled and finely chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped sweet pickle or sweet pickle relish
1 teaspoon finely chopped green onion
2 to 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
Salt and pepper to taste
In a bowl, mix together the chicken, celery, egg, pickle and green onion. Stir in the mayonnaise until you have a nice moist mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste. Keep the mixture in the refrigerator, covered, until you are ready to make sandwiches. Makes 3 sandwiches.
(Note: Chicken salad was considered especially elegant in Anne's day — it was served at nearly every wedding reception, including Anne's.) From The Anne of Green Gables Treasury by Carolyn Strom Collins and Christina Wyss Eriksson, Penguin Books.
SLOPPY JOE SANDWICHES
3 pounds lean ground beef
2 medium onions, chopped
1 chopped green pepper
2 teaspoons salt
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 cup catsup
1 cup tomato juice
1 tablespoon Worchestershire sauce
Brown hamburger and onions. Add other ingredients. Put in large baking pan and bake in 350 degree oven 30-45 minutes or until done. If mixture needs to be thickened, stir in a few cornflakes. Serve on buns. From Prairie Recipes and Kitchen Antiques by Wilma Kurtis and Anita Gold, Wallace-Homestead Book Co.
SAUCEPAN COCOA BROWNIES
1/2 cup butter
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
3/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup coarsely chopped nuts
Grease an 8x8-inch pan and line with wax paper. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Combine butter and cocoa in medium saucepan. Heat over low heat, stirring, until butter is melted. Set aside to cool.
When cocoa is lukewarm, beat in sugar and vanilla. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add the flour and salt and beat just until combined. Stir in nuts.
Pour into prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes or until top is dull. Turn out on rack; remove wax paper and cut into squares. From The Laura Ingalls Wilder Country Cookbook compiled by Laura Ingalls Wilder, with commentary by William Anderson, Harper Collins Publishers.
E-MAIL: carma@desnews.com