Blondies(1954); Weary Willie Cake(1950); Doughgods(1913)

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BLONDIES

NEW ENGLAND COOKBOOK
by Eleanor Early
New York: Random House
1954

   OED and Merriam-Webster still don't have "blondies"?
   I really enjoyed this cookbook.  Everything from "Deacon Porter's Hat" to "Wellesley Fudge Cake" is here.


Pg. 6:  Another New Englander, Captain Joseph Bent, made a biscuit called "pilot bread."  He rolled the dough so thin that the biscuits cracked, which led to the coining of a new word, "cracker," Americanism for English biscuit.

Pg. 28:
_Fried Clams or Fannie Daddies_
(AS THEY ONCE WERE CALLED ON CAPE COD)

Pg. 50:
_Lumberjack Pie_
   In northern Maine the original filling for lumberjack pie was deermeat.

Pg. 110:
_Mendon Bannock_
   This is a Nantucket dish that goes back to the days of Peter Folger, the Island's first miller.

Pg. 112:  This recipe came from Nantucket--Wonders or Doughnuts, call them what you wish.

Pg. 114:
_Doughgods_
   The small rounds cut from the center of doughnuts are often called "doughgods."In New England they are a treat for children who love to sugar them in paper bags and serve them at dolls' tea parties.  But real doughgods were made of plain, unsweetened dough, cut into squares or twisted in strips and usually served, while warm, in little dishes of maple syrup.

Pg. 116:  Featherbeds are potato rolls, tiny and light as feathers.

Pg. 117:
_Baptist Cakes_
  These nice little things have a variety of names, among them _Baptist Cakes_ because they were immersed.  But In Connecticut they were called _Holy Pokes_; on the Maine coast _Huffjuffs_.  And some people called them _Hustlers_.  Recipes differ.

Pg. 117:
_Seventy-Fours_
   For supper on Sunday nights, the late Mrs. Henrietta Gardner of Truro used to make fried cakes called Seventy-Fours.  THey are a little like Baptist Cakes (above) except that they are made of baking powder biscuit dough instead of raised dough. (...)
   They were called Seventy-Fours, she said, because when they were cooked aboard ship in whaling days, a sailor once ate 74.

Pg. 126:  WHEN Imogene Wolcott was writing her _Yankee Cook Book_, she did considerable research on old mincemeats.  Old-timers told her that they made it "by guess and by gorry."

Pg. 132:
_Sparkin' Pie_
   This particular pie was made by a girl who wished to impress a beau who was sparkin' her.  It turned out so good that he popped the question, and they got married and lived happily ever after. (...)
_Vinegar-and-Spice Pie_
   This recipe (with a few changes) goes back to Colonial days.

Pg. 139:
_Apple Pan Dowdy_
SOMETIMES CALLED APPLE JONATHAN

Pg. 142:
_Applesauce_
NEW ENGLANDERS USED TO CALL THIS APPLE SASS

Pg. 169:
_Harwich Hermits_
   Hermits--rich with spices from the Indies, plump with fruits and nuts--originated on Cape Cod in the days of clipper ships and went to sea on every voyage, packed in tole canisters and tucked away in sea chests.
   Brownies and Blondies are lineal descendants of these fat little Hermits.

Pg. 170:
_Blondies_
   Blondies are fat little sister of Brownies.  There is nothing old-fashioned or regional about Blondies.  They just happen to be (Pg. 171--ed.) popular in New England, and that is how they found their way into this book.

Pg. 171:
_Dennis Dainties_
   This is another recipe that goes back to the time of whalers and clipper ships.  Dennis women made Dainties to nibble at quilting bees when their men were gone to sea.

Pg. 181:
_Weary Willie Cake_
   A Vermont inn called The Weathervane used to serve a simple chocolate cake with white frosting that was known as "Weary Willie."  The recipe became popular in the neighborhood and is still used by old ladies who ate it when they were little girls.  In those days the New England countryside was infested with tramps.  A tramp was often called Weary Willie, and it is quite possible that a tramp, begging one day at The Weathervane, offered in exchange for a handout, this nice easy recipe:...

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WEARY WILLIE CAKE

   For Visions of Sugar Plums Read Cookbooks at Bedtime; Chicken and Buttermilk; By Ethel M. Eaton Written for The Christian Science Monitor; Christian Science Monitor (1908-Current file), Boston, Mass.; Jan 25, 1950; pg. 6, 1 pgs
("There's many a chuckle interspersed with such delectables as Aunt Dilly's Meat Loaf and 'Weary Willie' cake, for instance.")

   Kelly, Sad Clown, Weds Circus Aerialist; His Gloom Vanishes at Joyous Ceremony; New York Times (1857-Current file), New York, N.Y.; Apr 28, 1944; pg. 21, 1 pgs
("Weary Willie" is here, but not the cake--ed.)

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DOUGHGODS


   WOMEN'S TRAIN 'ROUND UP.'; Miles City Stages a Cowboy Act to Corral Hughes Votes.; Special to The New York Times.; New York Times (1857-Current file), New York, N.Y.; Oct 11, 1916; pg. 11, 1 pgs
("Later the Spellbingers were taken to 'the big grub pile at the L. O. chuck wagon,' where the 'pie card,' or menu, read thus: Dough gods (hot biscuit), Boston bullets (beans,) roast maverick (beef,) powder yams and Murphies (sweet and white potatoes,) and Moon Creek staybys (cakes.)")

   BOOKS FOR BOYS; Increasing Numbers as the Holiday Season Draws Near; New York Times (1857-Current file), New York, N.Y.; Nov 23, 1913; pg. BR649, 1 pgs
("For supper boiled rice and milk with sugar, 'dough gods' and tea."  From THE BOY SCOUT'S HIKE BOOK.)