‘For the ladies’
North Dakota Living is recognizing history this month, with stories about women in agriculture and the beginnings of the Bank of North Dakota. In that vein, we thought it appropriate to look back on our own history, as the magazine of North Dakota’s electric cooperatives since 1954.
The North Dakota Living magazine, as it has been called since 2002, has changed throughout the years to meet the needs of its cooperative membership. Yet, there are portions of this publication that have become as institutional as the magazine itself. As the saying goes, “Why change a good thing?”
In May 1957, the popular “Recipe Roundup” was born. An excerpt from that issue of the North Dakota Rural Electric Magazine reads:
Starting with next month’s issue of the North Dakota Rural Electric Magazine, a new department for the ladies will be instituted.
Called “Recipe Roundup,” it will feature recipes by subscribers to this magazine – and all of you are invited to send your favorite recipes in.
Here’s how it will work. We will pay $2 to each person who sends in a recipe which we can use. Any kind of a dish from stew to Crepes Suzette are welcome. We suggest that if you have any special nationality dishes that they might be more than welcome. People today are becoming more and more aware of foods and fine cooking and the trend toward nationality dishes which are a taste-delight is getting stronger all the time.
The recipes themselves will be printed on special card-file-size squares so that you can cut them out and file them in your recipe file easily and efficiently.
Inflation has since bumped up that $2 payout, and recipes can be found online, no longer shaped to fit on those “special card-file-size squares.” But through the decades, Recipe Roundup has remained a reader favorite, and North Dakota Living still welcomes our members and subscribers to send us their best recipes. The only difference, we hope, is that it’s no longer just “for the ladies.” Rather, as is everything we do in North Dakota Living, it’s for the members.
This was one of the first recipes featured in Recipe Roundup. It appeared in the September 1957 issue of the magazine. Mrs. Frank G. Schaff of Solen, a member of Mor-Gran-Sou Electric Cooperative at the time, submitted the recipe.
DOUGH:
1 ¾ cups flour
1 tsp. salt
¼ cup butter
2 tsp. baking powder
1 egg
3 T. milk
FILLING:
2 T. butter
1 egg yolk, beaten
1 ½ cups strawberries
½ cup sugar
1 T. milk
1 tsp. sugar
Sift flour, salt and baking powder and cut in butter. Add milk to well-beaten egg, then combine with flour mixture to form a soft dough. Roll out on a floured board to a thin sheet about 12 inches square.
Spread with softened butter and then spread berries over the dough. If the berries are large, cut them in half. Sprinkle with sugar, roll like a jelly roll and cut in slices, about 2 inches thick. Add milk to beaten egg yolk and pour over the rolls. Sprinkle sugar over top. Bake in moderate oven 30 minutes. Cool slightly and serve with sweetened whipped cream.
CAKE BATTER:
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
1 ½ cups sifted flour
½ tsp. salt
¼ cup shortening
½ cup milk
2 tsp. baking powder
STREUSEL MIXTURE:
½ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 T. melted butter
2 cups finely diced apples
2 T. flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
½ cup chopped walnuts
Heat oven. Mix shortening with sugar and egg. Stir in milk. Add dry ingredients. Spread half of batter in greased 9-inch square pan. Sprinkle with half of streusel mixture. Add remaining batter and sprinkle the rest of the streusel on top. Bake in 375-degree oven 25 to 35 minutes.
Cally Peterson is editor of North Dakota Living. She can be reached at cpeterson@ndarec.com.
