Food ‘N Fixin’s

Yes, it’s another food blog. The impetus is not all the lovely August produce at the farmer’s market, although Saturday mornings in Davidson are a delight. This jaunt into baking is inspired by plans to host open houses in the Archives and Rare Book Room this fall — and to provide take-away snacks made from recipes found in our collections.

The potential treats tested out this time–Apple Sauce Nutbread and Pecan Praline Cake–came from the pages of the Mecklenburg Gazette.  The Gazette published its first issue on August 26, 1948. The editors were H. C. and Mabel Broyles and subscriptions ran 4 months for $1.00 or 1 year for $2.00.  Originally named the Cornelius-Davidson Gazette, with an office on Main Street in Davidson, the paper soon extended its coverage to other area towns.

A decade later, the masthead included the towns of Cornelius, Davidson, Derita, Long Creek, Huntersville, Mallard Creek, Croft, Prosperity, Gilead, and Bethel.  It also listed North High School. It isn’t unusual for a local paper to cover high school events but there is a twist here.  Beginning as early as 1938, first with Davidson High School before it consolidated with North Mecklenburg, students had been publishing a weekly newspaper that included town news. The school papers continued into the 1950s but with less town news.

The Gazette covered local news: stories about businesses, churches, fire departments, weddings, birthdays (including for a time running a column listing the upcoming birthdays of local residents), farming, and local elections. There was very little national or international news included but the paper did pick up some syndicated columns and photographs (predating the internet fascination with kittens, the Gazette favored cute shots of puppies and kittens– and Hollywood starlets in bathing suits.)  Although much of the news, especially the “society” columns for each of the towns, may seem trivial, those columns provide a more intimate history of our communities and day to day life.

The first recipes published in the Gazette appeared in a syndicated series written by Helen Hale and in advertisements. The ads were not for ingredients, instead Nescafe provide coffee cake recipes to serve alongside their coffee. These were replaced by an attributed series that featured a photograph and recipe or a photograph and home decorating tips.  The recipe for Apple Sauce Nutbread appeared in the August 4, 1955 issue.

Although it is 60 years old — from an era of “morning neighbor drop-ins”, afternoon family get-togethers and evening bridge games — it could be published today without much updating, beyond mention of a 8 oz can of applesauce. The local grocery store carries jars not cans– and probably more flavors than available in 1955.

The second recipe comes from a local column – Food ‘N Fixin’s from Community Kitchens written by Gazette feature writer Saye Sharp. The column ran from January 2, 1974 to September 17, 1975. It had replaced a Tar Heel Kitchen column written by Miss York Kiker, a marketing home-economist that the paper carried in 1973.

The Food ‘N Fixins’ column included a brief biography of a local cook, the recipes and an occasional editorial comment (such as suggesting that for a pickle recipe “these would not be hurt by processing in a hot water bath for about 10 minutes”).  For her own biography, Mrs. Sharp identified herself as being in the “rather do anything than cook club.” Happily for us, she was willing to search out local cooks and share their stories and recipes. Women (and men) whose recipes appeared in the column include Dolly Tate, Dolly Hicks, Bec Barbee, Mary Potts (of the M&M Soda Shop), Gerri Wally, Betty Donaldson, Janet Knox, Nelle McConnell, and Sonny Stutts (of the Davidson Police department).

The August 27, 1975 column featured recipes by Helen Thompson. Helen had worked at the Gazette as well as working at the Cornelius and Davidson libraries. The article notes that “though she must now use a walker, she goes to work each day in her family’s grocery store near Denver.” Perhaps it was working in the store that inspired adding an unusual ingredient– canned crushed pineapple to a pecan praline cake.

Taste tests reveal that the cake is very good, but the icing with the pineapple is on the cloying side.  Should you be visiting during an open house, the cake may be there but with a revised frosting.  There may be another cake from this column as well.  These two were chosen from August columns 40 and 60 years ago.  The January 23, 1974 column featured Nan Potts, who catered many an event for the college’s Love of Learning program.  The first woman mayor of Cornelius, Potts also taught high school and has remained active in many civic programs.