Recovered family correspondence — September 2013. Original memories from Jo Zeimet and Peter Zeimet about AraBelle Fuller Zeimet’s cooking and food traditions.
Jo Zeimet — Ara Belle Food
I have pondered the question. It wasn’t so much that Mom had signature dishes as signature presentation.
When Lani was in the 5th grade or so, she asked Daddy what nationality she was, because they had to report the next day in school. Daddy told her she was Hungarian Goulash (which was what we were eating) and she told the teacher. When she asked Mom about it, we heard, “Peter!!!” in that command tone, doncha know.
She was limited in the availability of ingredients — the 2 little grocery stores in Edgemont didn’t carry anything that didn’t come off a SureFine truck, frozen vegetables, white bread. But we did have egg foo yung for breakfast, or stir fry for dinner, and I assure you no one else did.
When Lani would come home to visit, she would always fry up a pound or two of chicken livers, just for Lani, because Lani loved them. No onions, just fried livers.
Mom thought sugar and butter (read that margarine, of course) made everything better, was skimpy with the salt, and served vegetables and salads when no one else did. We all loved spinach, brocc, brussel sprouts. Because of the ranch, there was a lot of beef, but very little pork.
One of my favorites was sautéed squash. Folks who gardened in the Dakotas let zukes and yellow squashes grow really, really big. She liked a (free) large crookneck, which got cut into fairly thick slices, dipped in egg, then crushed saltines and sunflower sides, then fry the hell out of it. They were crunchy and delish. It’s funny that she loved a little contribution from somebody’s vegetable garden, but did not grow veggies herself.
But to the presentation — she had more dishes than anyone in the world, which you may recall from her death. There would be chicken/burger/steak whatever, probably some kind of potato on the plate. Then a little Japanese dish for a pickle or pickled beet, another for a small salad and pretty radish rose, another with perhaps a few nuts, and some kind of small dessert in yet another dish — usually with a little cool whip and a cherry?
She would send Daddy off to work with beautiful lunches, and I’m not ever sure it registered with him. No slab of baloney between 2 pieces of white bread, he. Nice rye or WW, mayonnaise and mustard, shaved turkey or beef, slices of avocado, and lettuce, sliced into 2 sandwiches and a decorative toothpick. A side veg of some kind, and a small dessert.
I hope that’s useful info for you —
xjo
Peter Zeimet — Porcupines and the Way AraBelle Cooked
Actually, I do cook much the same as your grandmother did. Basically, that means NO recipe books. The thing I cannot remember about porcupines is if the rice is precooked or just absorbs while cooking. It would make a massive difference of how much liquid to put in. I am not a fan of tomato paste and generally use whole peeled tomatoes in most things…… and mucho onion. I sort of wish there were old cast iron skillets with glass tops like we had in Edgemont. I have several sets of expensive cookware that could probably do the job, but that old iron job was amazing.
One thing I do have is an old wooden handled pot. masher from the 20’s that even has the peeling paint on the wooden handle. I have not used a mixer to mash even once. I make stuffing for turkeys just like Ara. B. did, too. You probably did not have that not being there for Thanksgiving or Christmas. I also use reds more than any other kind……. and actually prefer mashed with the skins on. I make the same chili, too.
I have not made date bars or cuckoo cookies in a long time, though. Was there a particular dish you were remembering? – pz
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