Ace-High Dishes.

Today October 4^th …

Amelia Earhart is one of the world’s most famous missing persons. The female flying ace disappeared on an attempted round the world flight in July 1937, and theories abound as to the cause of her disappearance. Amelia was a staunch supporter of women’s rights, but did not feel this was a barrier to at times making her own clothes, or endorsing a line of fashionable womens’ clothing (bra-burning feminists came much later). According to a magazine article dated this day in 1936 she could also cook. The article was called “Ace-High Dishes”: here is an extract.

“At home when she has time she can set before you tempting dishes cooked by her own competent hands. …. She makes especially good fudge. Or get yourself invited to one of the Sunday night suppers she prepares. Then you will realise that honors in the kitchen as well as in the air, might be bestowed on Amelia Earhart, the comely daughter of the Middle West, who was destined to become America’s heroine of the year.

“Speaking of desserts,” Amelia’s husband interpolates, “I might say that my own infantile preference for chocolate cornstarch is responsible for the frequent appearance of that, to me, delectable dish. There’s probably been more chocolate cornstarch on our table than on any other table in the world. We like rice, too, served with cream and sugar. And baked bananas stand high in our favour, sometimes as dessert and sometimes as an accompaniment.”

The article did not give recipes for her fudge or the chocolate cornstarch, but it did give this recipe:

Sour-Cream Waffles.
If you like crisp waffles that will hold their crispness, here is a recipe which should prove satisfactory.
2 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 eggs, separated
2 cups sour, heavy cream
Mix and sift dry ingredients. Combine well-beaten egg yolks and cream; add to the flour mixture, beating until smooth. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites. Bake in hot waffle iron. Approximate yield: 5 waffles.

Tomorrow’s Story …

The Language of Ham.

Quotation for the Day …

Older women are like aging strudels—the crust may not be so lovely, but the filling has come at last into its own. Robert Farrar Capon.