Potluck dinner revives recipes from early years of last century

Erica Koenig wasn't sure about the rice spoon bread she brought Friday to a potluck at Oregon State University's Valley Library.

"I'm hoping my recipe turned out," she said.

The 29-year-old Corvallis resident loves to cook and often tries dishes from 1950s-era cookbooks, but her latest creation dates back a bit further.

University Archives was holding an event featuring recipes from the World War I era and the Great Depression, a time when food rationing helped conserve resources for troops and families. Peanut butter and cheese, for example, became substitutes for meat in many dishes.

"My parents were in their 30s during the Depression. I was raised with that attitude," said Virginia Johnson, an occasional food columnist for the Albany Democrat-Herald. "We were very frugal," she said, sampling the cheese pudding.

Linda Hunn, a program assistant in the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, said the potluck had parallels to today, because many people were concerned about stretching their dollars, and food was becoming more expensive. Nowadays, she said, people are trying to grow their own food or purchase local produce.

Chris Holdridge, a budget accountant in the College of Agricultural Sciences, said the potluck dishes were a bit on the bland side.

"They don't have as sweet or as salty a taste as I'm used to," she said.

Being short on cash doesn't necessarily mean short on flavor at the dinner table, though, Johnson said. She added that many people had forgotten what basic food really tastes like.

The recipes from the early 20th century were originally published by Oregon Agricultural College (now OSU) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, largely for homemakers and youth clubs.

The potluck, held for the second time this year, was in honor of October being American Archives Month. Karl McCreary, an OSU archivist, said that the first year, the event was publicized only within the library.

"It turned out to be a great success," McCreary said.

So did Koenig's dish on Friday, at least according to Kim Deininger, an administrative assistant in the College of Agricultural Sciences.

"The spoon bread was so good," Deininger said. "So far, I think that's my favorite."

Rice spoon bread

½ cup corn meal

1½ teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 cups sweet milk

2 eggs

1 cup cooked rice

1 tablespoon butter or other fat

Sift the meal, salt, sugar and baking powder together, then add the milk, the yolks of the eggs (well beaten), rice and melted fat. Fold in the well-beaten whites of eggs. Pour the mixture into a hot well bread baking dish and bake for 40 minutes. Serve the spoon bread hot. This will make for eight or 10 servings.

More recipes are available on the OSU Archives blog, at http://blogs.library.oregonstate.edu/osu_archives.

Kyle Odegard covers Oregon State University. He can be contacted at kyle.odegard@lee.net or 758-9523.