Comfort Food

Green corn tamales, succotash chowder, and date pudding are just a few dishes that the women of Yuma whipped up for their families 100 years ago.

“We're trying to cut down our cholesterol today, these ladies were not,” said Tina Clark, historian and archaeologist for the City of Yuma.

Clark is in the process of reproducing a historic Yuma cookbook that was put together by pioneer women of the Yuma area. The book was published in 1930s by the Delta Club, which later became the Yuma Women's Club.

She noted that there are only two pages of vegetable related recipes in the cookbook, which contains about 100 recipes in total, and it includes a large number of beef and desert recipes.

The cookbook was given to Clark by longtime Yuman Mary Brock, who received the treasured book of recipes from her mother-in-law Eva Brock, who was also known as Mrs. A.J.

“The recipes are just traditional family recipes that they probably got from their mothers,” she said.

Clark explained that the cookbook “Serving up the Harvest: Yuma, Arizona 1912 - 2012” is being republished through a Yuma Visitors Bureau Agri-Experience grant, and will include a section of new recipes featuring local produce, plus history of Yuma's agriculture and the food that Yumans ate at the time of statehood.

The cookbooks will be for sale for $20 at the Yuma Territorial Prison, 1 North Prison Hill Road, starting mid-February.

Table of measures and equivalents:

3 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon

16 tablespoons = 1 cup

2 cups = 1 pint

2 pints = 1 quart

4 cups = 1 quart

2 tablespoons liquid = 1 ounce

2 cups granulated sugar = 1 pound

4 cups flour = 1 pound

4 tablespoons flour = 1 ounce

3 1/4 cups graham flour = 1 pound

2 cups butter = 1 pound

1 square unsweetened chocolate = 1 ounce

3 tablespoons baking powder = 1 ounce

2 2/3 cups raisins = 1 pound

3 cups figs (chopped) = 1 pound

3 1/2 cups walnuts (chopped) = 1 pound

10 whole eggs = 1 pint

18 egg whites = 1 pint

24 egg yolks = 1 pint

Oven temperatures:

Hot = 475 to 500 degrees

Medium Hot = 400 to 425 degrees

Moderate = 350 to 375 degrees

Slow = 325 degrees

Meat & Entrees:

Green Corn Tamales

Ingredients:

2 doz. ears of corn

1/2 lb. pork

1 lb. yellow cheese

1/2 lb. beef

(have meat ground together)

3 tbsps. crisco

pinch of cayanne black pepper and salt to taste

Directions:

Grind corn fine (save milk from corn). Grind cheese and add to corn - work in the crisco, add seasoning, corn milk and meat. Put a tbsp. of mixture in husks - fold.

Save all husks - put the ones which are left in the bottom of your container, lay the tamales on top - put water enough in to steam them about 3 hours.

-Mrs. Clarissa Winsor

Little Porcupines

Ingredients:

1 1/4 lbs. ground lean beef

1/4 lb. sausage in bulk

1/4 rice, uncooked

1 large (or 2 small) eggs

1 can tomatoes

Directions:

Season beef, then mix with sausage. Through this mix the rice which has been washed and drained. Add egg and mix well. Press firmly into shapes about 3 inches long and as thick as a large walnut. Grease the baking pan with butter, place the “little porcupines” in it and cover with tomatoes. Cook in moderately slow oven, 325 degrees for 2 1/2 hours to give rice time to cook. It should come through and stand out like quills.

-Mrs. W.B. Allen

Beef Birds

Ingredients:

1 lb. roundsteak (thin)

1 medium onion

2 slices bacon

salt and pepper

Directions:

Trim all fat and bone from stake and divide into 4 equal parts. On each piece of steak place 1/2 slice of bacon and some finely diced onion, salt and pepper. Roll each piece and secure with toothpicks. Dredge in flour and brown in skillet to which 2 tbsp. of fat has been added. When well browned add 1 cup of water, cover and simmer about 1 hour.

-Mrs. W.D. Nighswonger

Stuffed Breast of Veal

Directions:

Buy a 4 lb. breast of veal; have butcher bone it out for you. Lay veal out flat, and salt and pepper. Make your family's favorite dressing and spread over meat on boned side, roll carefully, like a jelly roll, securing firmly with string or skewers, or both. Remaining dressing may be tucked in at the ends after rolling. Rub outside with fat, and back uncovered in a slow oven at 300 degrees until tenter, basting occasionally. Serves 8 amply.

Suggested dressing:

Chopped celery and onion, with two eggs and 1 tbsp. water to hold it together.

-Mrs. A.C. Westerbeek

Recipes with Vegetables:

Baked Celery Loaf

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups celery

1/4 bunch parsley

3/4 cup California walnut meats

1 large white onion

1/2 green pepper

1 cup fine, whole-wheat bread crumbs

2 slightly beaten eggs

3 tbsp. melted butter

1 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups milk

Directions:

Put celery, parsley, nut meats, onion, and green pepper through food chopper, using coarse blade. Combine with remaining ingredients. Let stand in greased baking dish 20 minutes and back in moderate oven at 350 degrees until set, about 1 hour. Slice and serve with sauce of hot, condensed tomato soup. Serves 6.

Mrs. Calvin A. Eaton

Succotash Chowder

Ingredients:

1 can succotash

2 cans mushroom soup, diluted with water according to directions of manufacturer

1 minced onion

2 or 3 slices diced bacon, crisped

Directions:

Simmer all ingredients together for about 15 minutes.

-Mrs. D.E. Ingham

Desserts:

Booze Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup raisins

1 tsp. soda

1 egg

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 tsp. of nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and all-spice

2 tbsp. whiskey

1 tsp. vanilla if preferred

1 cup nuts

1 tsp. baking powder

flour to make stiff

Directions:

Wash raisins; stew 20 minutes; save 1/2 cup juice; add tsp. soda to juice; break egg in bowl; add sugar and butter; cream; then add juices, nuts and spices; then raisins, flour and baking powder and flavoring.

Icing: 1 whole egg well beaten, 1/2 cup butter, 2 tbsp. whiskey, 2 heaping cups of powdered sugar beaten until smooth

-Mrs. Norman Hindle

Jelly Roll

Ingredients:

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

4 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup flour

1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

Put baking powder and salt in bowl. Break eggs over top. Place over bowl of hot water and beat with rotary egg beater until mixture fluffs up. Add sugar gradually beating until thick and light. Remove from water and fold in flour with wire beater, add vanilla. Line baking sheet with oiled paper and bake in hot oven, 400 degrees for 7 minutes. Turn from pan on cloth sprinkled with powdered sugar and quickly remove paper. Spread with jelly and roll. Wrap in cloth and let cool.

-Mrs. C.H. Trigg

Date Pudding

Directions:

Sprinkle 1 tsp. soda over 1 cup chopped dates. Add 1 cup boiling water in which 2 tbsp. of butter has been melted. Mix 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of sugar and add to above mixture with 1 tsp. vanilla and 1 cup of chopped nuts. Bake in moderate oven. Serve with whipped cream.

-Mrs. C.W. Ingham

Yuma Fruit Salad

Ingredients:

Peel and seed 2 grapefruit. Peel 2 apples and cut in small pieces. Peel 2 bananas and cut in small pieces. 1 bunch of Tompson seedless grapes. 1/2 cup chopped nuts.

Directions:

Mix all together. Pour off a little of the juice and add French dressing. Set aside to get very cold before serving.

-Joy Welter

Sarah Womer can be reached at swomer@yumasun.com or 539-6858. Find her on Facebook at Facebook.com/YSSarahWomer or on Twitter at @YSSarahWomer.