I found the cookbook from my grandmother’s church in Stryker, Ohio. My grandmother drew the cover illustration and contributed several recipes. I included some of the more interesting pages, including her amazing tamale pie recipe. I’m not sure when this was published, my best guess would be mid/late 50’s.
by MoxieDoll
6 Comments
My grandmother’s tamale pie recipe is hands down one of my favorite foods from my childhood. The hardest part is working the cornmeal mush to the consistency that it sticks to the sides of the pan without slowly sliding down to the bottom. I make this every fall and winter, it’s perfect for blustery cold days.
I love that it is not swimming in cheese like many casserole recipes.
I think corn meal mush is similar to what we call polenta now.
*Image Transcription: Book Pages*
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#*Kitchen Artists*
PINE GROVE MENNONITE CHURCH COOK BOOK
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Recipes Compiled by the
WOMEN’S MISSIONARY AND SERVICE AUXILIARY
Of the
GROVE MENNONITE CHURCH
STRYKER, OHIO
And Dedicated to all CHRISTIAN HOMEMAKERS
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#WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES
First Year, Paper
Second Year, Cotton
Third Year, Linen
Fourth Year, Silk
Fifth Year, Wood
Sixth Year, Iron
Seventh Year, Copper
Eighth Year, Bronze
Ninth Year, Pottery
Tenth Year, Tin
Fifteenth Year, Crystal
Twentieth Year, China
Twenty-fifth Year, Silver
Thirtieth Year, Pearl
Thirty-fifth Year, Coral
Fortieth Year, Ruby
Forty-fifth Year, Sapphire
Fiftieth Year, Gold
Fifty-fifth Year, Emerald
Seventy-fifth Year, Diamond
#MEASURES AND WEIGHTS
3 teaspoons … 1 tablespoon
4 tablespoons … ¼ cup
16 tablespoons … 1 cup
½ cup … 1 gill
4 gills … 1 pint
2 cups … 1 pint
4 cups … 1 quart
2 pints … 1 quart
4 quarts … 1 gallon
8 quarts … 1 peck
4 pecks … 1 bushel
16 ounces … 1 pound
#OVEN TEMPERATURES FOR BAKING
Slow oven … 250° to 350°
Moderate oven … 350° to 400°
Quick or hot oven … 400 to 450°
Very hot oven … 450° to 550°
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#HOUSEHOLD HINTS
A trip to the kitchen will net you all the ingredients you need for a quick patching compound for any nail holes in your plaster wall. A half teaspoon of starch and salt with enough water to form a putty-like mixture is all you need. If you are painting with water-based paint, you don’t even need to wait for the patch to dry before painting. Otherwise, let it dry before painting over it.
Left over baked potatoes may be reheated by dipping them in hot water and baking them again in a moderate oven
Place a heel of bread on top of cabbage before putting the lid on the pot and cooking it . . . there will be no odor. The bread has no effect on the cabbage and should be removed after cooking.
Vegetable oil will make a better marinade than butter for basting barbecued meats. Butter burns away too fast.
Rubbing baking soda on your arms and legs will protect you from chiggers.
Add orange juice instead of water to your favorite cake mix, for a delightful change.
Try adding a few bread crumbs to your scrambled eggs, for a pleasant change.
A used flashlight bulb makes a good bobber for your fishing line.
Store cookies by standing them on their edge and they won’t stick together.
Add one grated raw potato with each pound of ground meat for luscious, juicy hamburgers.
Try making a small roast beef and a small roast pork together. The meats pick up the taste from each other and the gravy is out of this world.
When rolling cookie dough, use powdered sugar instead of flour on your board. This will make your cookies a wee bit sweeter but they will not get tough as they sometimes do when they are rolled on a floured board.
Add ice cubes to your hot cooked starch. You can use it immediately and no scum.
Here’s a hint for mothers whose little children invariably leave the towel on the bathroom floor instead of hanging it up. Take two or three safety pins, drape one edge of the towel over the towel rack and pin the edge of the towel, leaving enough hanging down so the youngest child can reach it.
By serving pineapple with beans it will remove any “distress” feeling. Pineapple can be baked in with the beans or served as a salad.
By removing the top from an old card table and tacking plastic window screening on it, you will have a perfect drying table for sweaters and knitted wear.
Do you know that if you happen to be out of sour cream, a little buttermilk on baked potatoes is every bit as good as sour cream.
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#HAMBURGER CASSEROLE
Stir altogether. Alternate with cheese. Grease pan and bake for 1 hour at 350°.
1 Ib. hamburger fried with onions
2 cups noodles (cook half done)
1 cup cottage cheese
1 pint string beans
1 can mushroom soup
Mrs. Norman (Judy) Whitlock
#TAMALE PIE
1 medium onion, minced
1½ lbs. ground beef
2 cups tomatoes, canned
2 cups whole kernel corn, canned or frozen
2-3 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons salt
¼ cup yellow corn meal
1 can pitted ripe olives
½ cup water
Brown onion and ground beef in skillet. Add tomatoes, corn, chili powder and salt and simmer 20 minutes. Thicken with corn meal which has been mixed with water. Add olives and pour into casserole which has been lined with corn meal mush. Bake uncovered 1 hour in 350° oven.
Mrs. Skip (Marge) Kaiser
#CORN MEAL MUSH
Mix 1 cup cold water with 1 cup corn meal. Stir in 3 cups boiling water, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon chili powder. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Cover, cook over boiling water 30 minutes stirring occasionally. Cool slightly before lining casserole.
Mrs. Skip (Marge) Kaiser
Wow could you please share some of the sweets recipes and sandwiches recipes as well.
I remember my brother and I (as adults) talking to our mother about tamale pie. “I never made that” said she, “Yes you did!” said bro and me. Then we described what it was like. Her response?
“That wasn’t Tamale Pie, that was Marge Helg’s Casserole”