In the Gender, Sexuality, Feminist, and Social Justice Studies (GSFS) 401 Winter 2020 semester class on Food, Gender, and Environment taught by Dr. Alex Ketchum, students are analyzing the ways that food accessibility and environmental threats are gendered, sexualized, and racialized within the global context. As part of the course, students visited McGill’s archives and special collections to have a hands on experience with historical cookbooks (more on that here: http://www.historicalcookingproject.com/2020/02/field-trip-to-mcgill-rare-books-and.html). The Special Series of Student Posts is a collection of student reflections on what information we can glean from cookbooks.
Better Homes and Gardens (BHG) Magazine published their first issue under the name Fruit Garden and Home, July of 1922 for $0.10 (Figure 1). This new magazine contained 42 articles on the various way’s homemakers can keep and cultivate their homes and gardens, with titles such as “The Art of Transplanting”, “Summer dress for All-Year Furniture”, and “Cold Storage Improves Grapefruit Flavor.”(1) In 1925 the magazine officially changed their name to Better Homes and Gardens and subsequentially grew to become a key symbol of the American home, often laying of counters and coffee tables throughout the 20th century. Today, Better Homes and Gardens continues to influence the way homes are prepared, gardens are kept, and tables are set as the magazine remains a staple of American Culture.
In 1976, BHG released New Cookbook and it was the magazine’s most popular cookbook, out of the 33 which had been previously published. It has sat in my mother’s kitchen since I can remember. It seems to come from a different universe. The emphasis on canned and pre-made ingredients seems almost dangerous, as we know today the health risks of eating such sodium, sugar and fat rich foods a topic which has been explored by scholars such as Michael Pollen, Laura Shapiro, Joshua Specht, and Andrew Smith(2). However, this cookbook was written during the height of the pre-made, ready to eat food and/or ingredients era and it was all the rage. In the note from the editor, it states,
“As we made our selection [for this new edition], we tried to reflect the growing number of new food products as well as up-to-date appliances.” (3)
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This cookbook was not only included, but promoted, a new way of preparing and eating food that is now synonymous with North American food culture.(4) Brands such as Heinz, Campbell’s Soup, and Cool Whip were quickly becoming familiar names in almost every kitchen, making dinner quick, tasty, and filling for any working family. A quote taken from the introduction states:
“These are busy days for all of us, so we’ve placed emphasis on ease in cooking. Electric cooking appliances are versatile, as well as convenient. That’s why we’ve included a superb collection of recipes for your microwave oven, crockery cooker, pressure pan, and electric skillet.” (5)
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BHG recognized the shift away from the nuclear family of the stay-at-home mother and working father. Birth control had been invented just ten years previously and women were exercising a greater freedom of not only keeping the home but also entering the work force.(6) Arlie Hochschild’s book, The Second Shift: Working Parents and the Revolution at Home, investigates and portrays the double burden experience by working mothers during the mid-late 20th century. Hochschild coined the term “second shift” as a way to describe her findings that most women continued to perform majority of the labor at home despite their entrance into the work force.(7) Even though there was still an expectation that a working wife and/or mother would still maintain the home, the food industry was responding to a decrease in time and energy that women were able to spend preparing meals.
New Cookbook is divided into eighteen tabbed categories including Appliance Cooking, Meal Planning and Nutrition, Barbecue and Easy Meals, Canning and Freezing and finally, one that I was most familiar with, Casseroles and One-Dish Meals. (8) Some of my earliest memories are of my family (close and extended) gathering around my Grandma’s 12-seater oak dining room table, adorned with proper table settings and bread rolls, and eating her hamburger casserole. This simple dish of hamburger, medium egg noodles and some secret creamy sauce with broccoli, (some variation of it like green beans or carrots) that melted in your mouth and filled your belly, especially if you were coming in from a cold day. The casserole for me and my family symbolizes gathering and sharing good moments. Not only was it delicious but it was easy to make and fed a lot of mouths. My parents share similar memories of beef-based casseroles being staples of their childhood diets. This dish would feed their whole families (five kids and two adults respectively) and would be prepared , in my mom’s case, by her after school or her mom after work so that by the time everyone was ready to eat, it could be pulled out of the oven. It was a ritual for most of the women in my family to learn and prepare variations of the same dish—Beef, condensed soup, medium noodles, a chopped vegetable and breadcrumbs on top. Once mixed and layered in the dish, it cooks for 45 minutes at 350˚ and voilà, a steaming hot delicious mush that can easily serve 8-10 people.
The Hamburger-Corn Bake is an ode to all the casseroles of my past and the casseroles of my mother’s past, and of her mother’s past. The recipe reads as follows,
Hamburger-Corn Bake
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In large skillet, cook 1-1/2 pounds ground beef and 1 cup chopped onion till meat is lightly browned and onion is tender. Stir on one 12-ounce can whole kernel corn, drained, one 10 ounce can condensed cream of chicken coup, one 10 ounce can condensed cream of mushroom soup, 1 cup dairy sour cream, ¼ cup chopped canned pimiento, ¾ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Mix well.
Stir in 6 ounce (3cups) medium noodles, cooked and drained. Turn mixture into 2-1/2 quart casserole. Combine 1 cup soft breadcrumbs and 2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine; sprinkle atop. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, or till hot. Makes 8 to 10 servings.
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Cooking the casserole felt like a struggle against my instincts. It has been many years since I’ve eaten a dish that needed so much dairy and meat-based ingredients and not to mention the only recommend spices being salt and pepper. I felt strange to be pouring in one cream of soup after the other followed by a cup of sour cream. As it started to bubble in my large stainless-steel soup pot, I poured the generally grey-beige mixture of beer, corn, and other things into the casserole dish. Once the breadcrumbs were sprinkled on top, I had a feeling that I had somehow managed to mess up a dish specifically designed for its perfect ratio of minimal effort to maximum taste. But as it baked, the familiar smell of my grandmother’s kitchen, of a warm creamy casserole, filled my own. I had the opportunity to feed my home in the same way my grandmother and mother had fed theirs.
Endnotes
[1]Taken from https://archive.bhg.com/issue/1922/7/
[2]Specht, Joshua. Red Meat Republic: A Hoof-To-Table History of How Beef Changed America. Princeton University Press, 2019.; Shapiro, Laura. Something from the Oven: Reinventing Dinner in 1950's America. Viking, 2004.; Smith, Andrew F. Eating History: 30 Turning Points in the Making of American Cuisine. Columbia University Press, 2009.; Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. Penguin Press, 2006.
[3]Better Homes and Gardens (Firm). New Cookbook.“Dear Reader”. Meredith Corporation, 1976. Pg. 8.
[4]Read this NPR article discussing the findings of a new study of the effect of processed foods on cellular metabolism here https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/05/16/723693839/its-not-just-salt-sugar-fat-study-finds-ultra-processed-foods-drive-weight-gain. It provides an up to date iteration of key findings that further proves the detrimental short- and long-term effects of eating a primarily high processed diet and how it has becoming a defining factor of the American diet.
[5]Better Homes. Pg. 8.
[6]Find source of the effect of birth control of female social liberties and lifestyles
[7]Hochschild, Arlie Russell, and Anne Machung. The Second Shift. Penguin Books, 2003.
[8]Better Homes and Gardens (Firm). New Cookbook. “Dear Reader”. Meredith Corporation, 1976.
The Hamburger Corn Bake: An Ode to the Beef Casserole
by Elise Weber
Better Homes and Gardens (BHG) Magazine published their first issue under the name Fruit Garden and Home, July of 1922 for $0.10 (Figure 1). This new magazine contained 42 articles on the various way’s homemakers can keep and cultivate their homes and gardens, with titles such as “The Art of Transplanting”, “Summer dress for All-Year Furniture”, and “Cold Storage Improves Grapefruit Flavor.”(1) In 1925 the magazine officially changed their name to Better Homes and Gardens and subsequentially grew to become a key symbol of the American home, often laying of counters and coffee tables throughout the 20th century. Today, Better Homes and Gardens continues to influence the way homes are prepared, gardens are kept, and tables are set as the magazine remains a staple of American Culture.
 |
| https://archive.bhg.com/ |
In 1976, BHG released New Cookbook and it was the magazine’s most popular cookbook, out of the 33 which had been previously published. It has sat in my mother’s kitchen since I can remember. It seems to come from a different universe. The emphasis on canned and pre-made ingredients seems almost dangerous, as we know today the health risks of eating such sodium, sugar and fat rich foods a topic which has been explored by scholars such as Michael Pollen, Laura Shapiro, Joshua Specht, and Andrew Smith(2). However, this cookbook was written during the height of the pre-made, ready to eat food and/or ingredients era and it was all the rage. In the note from the editor, it states,
“As we made our selection [for this new edition], we tried to reflect the growing number of new food products as well as up-to-date appliances.” (3)
This cookbook was not only included, but promoted, a new way of preparing and eating food that is now synonymous with North American food culture.(4) Brands such as Heinz, Campbell’s Soup, and Cool Whip were quickly becoming familiar names in almost every kitchen, making dinner quick, tasty, and filling for any working family. A quote taken from the introduction states:
“These are busy days for all of us, so we’ve placed emphasis on ease in cooking. Electric cooking appliances are versatile, as well as convenient. That’s why we’ve included a superb collection of recipes for your microwave oven, crockery cooker, pressure pan, and electric skillet.” (5)
BHG recognized the shift away from the nuclear family of the stay-at-home mother and working father. Birth control had been invented just ten years previously and women were exercising a greater freedom of not only keeping the home but also entering the work force.(6) Arlie Hochschild’s book, The Second Shift: Working Parents and the Revolution at Home, investigates and portrays the double burden experience by working mothers during the mid-late 20th century. Hochschild coined the term “second shift” as a way to describe her findings that most women continued to perform majority of the labor at home despite their entrance into the work force.(7) Even though there was still an expectation that a working wife and/or mother would still maintain the home, the food industry was responding to a decrease in time and energy that women were able to spend preparing meals.
New Cookbook is divided into eighteen tabbed categories including Appliance Cooking, Meal Planning and Nutrition, Barbecue and Easy Meals, Canning and Freezing and finally, one that I was most familiar with, Casseroles and One-Dish Meals. (8) Some of my earliest memories are of my family (close and extended) gathering around my Grandma’s 12-seater oak dining room table, adorned with proper table settings and bread rolls, and eating her hamburger casserole. This simple dish of hamburger, medium egg noodles and some secret creamy sauce with broccoli, (some variation of it like green beans or carrots) that melted in your mouth and filled your belly, especially if you were coming in from a cold day. The casserole for me and my family symbolizes gathering and sharing good moments. Not only was it delicious but it was easy to make and fed a lot of mouths. My parents share similar memories of beef-based casseroles being staples of their childhood diets. This dish would feed their whole families (five kids and two adults respectively) and would be prepared , in my mom’s case, by her after school or her mom after work so that by the time everyone was ready to eat, it could be pulled out of the oven. It was a ritual for most of the women in my family to learn and prepare variations of the same dish—Beef, condensed soup, medium noodles, a chopped vegetable and breadcrumbs on top. Once mixed and layered in the dish, it cooks for 45 minutes at 350˚ and voilà, a steaming hot delicious mush that can easily serve 8-10 people.
The Hamburger-Corn Bake is an ode to all the casseroles of my past and the casseroles of my mother’s past, and of her mother’s past. The recipe reads as follows,
Hamburger-Corn Bake
In large skillet, cook 1-1/2 pounds ground beef and 1 cup chopped onion till meat is lightly browned and onion is tender. Stir on one 12-ounce can whole kernel corn, drained, one 10 ounce can condensed cream of chicken coup, one 10 ounce can condensed cream of mushroom soup, 1 cup dairy sour cream, ¼ cup chopped canned pimiento, ¾ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Mix well.
Stir in 6 ounce (3cups) medium noodles, cooked and drained. Turn mixture into 2-1/2 quart casserole. Combine 1 cup soft breadcrumbs and 2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine; sprinkle atop. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, or till hot. Makes 8 to 10 servings.
Cooking the casserole felt like a struggle against my instincts. It has been many years since I’ve eaten a dish that needed so much dairy and meat-based ingredients and not to mention the only recommend spices being salt and pepper. I felt strange to be pouring in one cream of soup after the other followed by a cup of sour cream. As it started to bubble in my large stainless-steel soup pot, I poured the generally grey-beige mixture of beer, corn, and other things into the casserole dish. Once the breadcrumbs were sprinkled on top, I had a feeling that I had somehow managed to mess up a dish specifically designed for its perfect ratio of minimal effort to maximum taste. But as it baked, the familiar smell of my grandmother’s kitchen, of a warm creamy casserole, filled my own. I had the opportunity to feed my home in the same way my grandmother and mother had fed theirs.
Endnotes
[1]Taken from https://archive.bhg.com/issue/1922/7/
[2]Specht, Joshua. Red Meat Republic: A Hoof-To-Table History of How Beef Changed America. Princeton University Press, 2019.; Shapiro, Laura. Something from the Oven: Reinventing Dinner in 1950's America. Viking, 2004.; Smith, Andrew F. Eating History: 30 Turning Points in the Making of American Cuisine. Columbia University Press, 2009.; Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. Penguin Press, 2006.
[3]Better Homes and Gardens (Firm). New Cookbook.“Dear Reader”. Meredith Corporation, 1976. Pg. 8.
[4]Read this NPR article discussing the findings of a new study of the effect of processed foods on cellular metabolism here https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/05/16/723693839/its-not-just-salt-sugar-fat-study-finds-ultra-processed-foods-drive-weight-gain. It provides an up to date iteration of key findings that further proves the detrimental short- and long-term effects of eating a primarily high processed diet and how it has becoming a defining factor of the American diet.
[5]Better Homes. Pg. 8.
[6]Find source of the effect of birth control of female social liberties and lifestyles
[7]Hochschild, Arlie Russell, and Anne Machung. The Second Shift. Penguin Books, 2003.
[8]Better Homes and Gardens (Firm). New Cookbook. “Dear Reader”. Meredith Corporation, 1976.