Birthday dinner with the family: Appetizer: Rinktum Ditty

With a name like Rinktum Ditty, I had to try it.

A search of the word origin doesn't bring up anything conclusive, but it appears to be a common phrase in certain areas. From the following forum, the most common explanation was from Texas and they all had the same idea of what the meaning of Rinktum was.

If you get a haircut, you better say "Rinktums" or "no rinctums, no returns" before someone notices :) Otherwise...someone else could rub the back of your head with their knuckles (to the point of pain).

Makes me think none too fondly of noogies from my childhood!

Other usages from other places:

• a gadget or simple but useful machine or tool. Aka a thingie-ma-bob
• can be used like 'rinky-dink' - something cheaply made
• can be used like 'gong-show' - a complete disorganized mess of people
• Slang form for calling someone an A-hole
• A dish consisting of cheese, tomatoes, onion, egg, and pepper, on toast

Most of the reviews I've seen on the web are favourable, but I admit that some of the images are less than appealing. The less appealing ones look like a very orange-red cheese melted over toast, the others look more like a tapenade. I'm guessing this is due to how fine the onions and tomatoes are chopped, as well as the colour of the cheese used.  Well...mine falls in to the less appealing looking category :) To me it looks a bit like ...umm ...barf ...BUT, I was actually impressed that it tastes better than it looks, and everyone had second helpings of it, so, that in my opinion means I would make it again - perhaps not for guests (because of how it looks), but for family.

The recipe is in The American Woman's Cook Book and The Culinary Arts Encyclopedic Cook Book - both edited by Ruth Berolzheimer (Director, Culinary Arts Institute).  The only difference is that in the AW Cook Book it calls for 1/2 lb of grated cheese, whereas the CAE states 1/2 lb American Cheese grated.  I'm not American - I'm a proud Canadian, so I don't know what American Cheese is...except to guess it comes from Jersey cows  ;)

I chose to use grated nacho cheese and measured it out on a scale. (8 oz = 1/2 lb = about 2 cups of grated cheese).

I set the cheese aside while I cooked the onions up in butter and cooked the tomatoes.

I wasn't sure how to just make '2 cups of cooked tomatoes', so I threw about 2.5 cups of chopped tomatoes in a pot and let them simmer until mushy.

I added the spices and onions to the tomatoes and then stirred in the cheese, stirring constantly until melted, then added in the egg - which I don't think was needed. It was odd, and I was worried that it would cook when I stirred it in, but I guess the little ditty was cool enough that it didn't. It seemed a bit liquidy when putting it on the toast, but it didn't run off to much.

For the toast, I melted butter and brushed it on both sides of some sour dough bread slices, that I then popped in the oven and baked at 350 F until somewhat brown - flipping once. (haha, I needed the oven for the Stuffed Crown Roast of Frankfurters, so I didn't want to lose the 'preheating' by changing the temperature)

It makes quite a bit too. I'd say at least 3 cups worth. As an appetizer, we only used about 1 cup of it.



Rinktum Ditty
American Woman's Cook Book - 1948 (pg 378)
Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook - 1950  (pg

INGREDIENTS

• 1 small onion, chopped finely
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 cups cooked tomatoes
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 lb cheese, grated
• 1 egg beaten

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook onion in butter until tender
2. Add tomatoes, salt, pepper, and sugar and heat
3. Add cheese and cook until melted, stirring constantly.
4. Add egg slowly, stirring constantly, and cook 1 minute longer
5. Serve on buttered toast.

Note: Serves 4 (4 hungry people eating 3/4 of a cup of it each!)

Birthday dinner with the family - First up: Strawberry and Pineapple Cocktail

 I decided to help celebrate my sisters birthday by inviting over her son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter, for an interesting 1950's recipe laden birthday dinner. 

First up was the Strawberry and Pineapple Cocktail.  I thought it odd to be called a cocktail without alcohol in it, but heck...I wasn't alive and drinking in 1948!

Overall, I'm not sure how well the cocktail went over. The kids are doing a sugar-fast, so I didn't add any sugar to sweeten the drink...and as a drink - it's dangerous! Chunks of fruit hiding out of sight might make you wonder how well you know the heimlich maneuver!

I personally didn't mind the taste of it. It was a bit tart, but not overly so, but I probably wouldn't make it again. I don't see a need to cut up fruit and mix juices together, it was a lot of extra work for a so so drink. I'd rather just have a straight up glass of orange juice.  Guess I'm lazy that way :)

I followed the instructions as shown below, using small chunks of strawberry and pineapple in the bottom of the glass and then using a strawberry and pineapple ring for garnish.  I wish there were pictures of this drink in the book, because I don't think I garnished correctly....the pineapple ring and strawberry sunk...so, I'm glad I added the toothpick to the strawberry, plus it made it easier to eat the other fruit out of the bottom of the glass.


Strawberry and Pineapple Cocktail
The American Woman's Cook Book - 1948 (pg 163)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup orange juice
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1 cup diced pineapple
• sugar
• 1 cup strawberries

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine the orange and lemon juice sweetened to taste, keeping the mixture rather tart.
2. Chill.
3. Wash and drain the strawberries and hull them.
4. At serving time cute the berries in half (except six large ones), mix well with pineapple, place in glasses and cover with the fruit juice.
5. One large, perfect berry set on a tiny circle of pineapple may decorate the top of each cocktail.

The Sally Challenge

Appearances can be deceiving.

On the outside, they look the same. If I hadn't named the images I might not know which is which, but they are different. It's what's inside that counts.

The Sally Lunn from American Woman's Cook Book is much more of a dessert sweet cake - bread while the English Sally Lunn from the Five Roses Flour Cook Book is more of a bread type and a lot less sweet. Neither recipe has a lot of sugar, but the English Sally only has a tablsepoon compared to 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) in the AWC Sally.

The dough for both of the recipes is a bit gloppy.

Texture, when baked, doesn't appear that much different, although the FRF English Sally seems to be a bit less crumbly - more sturdy right after baking.  (Is that even proper English...more sturdy?)  Once cooled, they seem about the same.

My verdict - would I make these again?

Sally Lunn - Yes

You could make drop biscuits with this recipe, but I think the English Sally Lunn would be way to runny for this.  Probably due to the extra eggs. Neither dough can be rolled out.

• It's a simple sweet cake-bread
• It can be served alone or with Jam or Honey.
• It can be whipped up quickly with simple ingredients.
• Perfect any time of day for a snack or for serving to a friend.

English Sally Lunn - Maybe

•     I could make tea biscuits with less effort.
•     I would eat it as a snack (with butter or jam), but I dont think I'd eat it dry with nothing on it.
•     I wouldn't serve it by itself to a friend. It would be part of a meal.
•     Yes, if I wanted a tea biscuit styled bun (that would rise in a muffin tin)
•     Yes, if I wanted a quick no yeast type 'bread'.

Who are you Sally Lunn?

My Goal:

Make the Sally Lunn (again) and take pictures before eating it!

Umm...I ate some too and it was just as I remembered - simple and comforting. I feel a mix of pleasure and incredulity that something can have such simple ingredients (with only a 1/4 cup of sugar for any real flavour) and make something I want to make again and again.

Perhaps it's too plain for our modern times, but I can imagine a housewife in the 1940's being quite pleased with the outcome, and proud to place it on her table. I know I would be tickled to be invited over for tea and have this little cake-bread offered up to me.  And if she chose to accompany the cake-bread with a bit of honey or jam, I would be her new best friend.

I'm not sure, but I think this would be the type of recipe that would appeal to frugal food rationed housewives.

The ingredients are simple:  Flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, milk, shortening, and an egg.

I measured everything out and realized I was a tiny bit shy on shortening, but I didn't think it would matter that much. On cooking shows, they never scrape everything clean, and they always say it tastes amazing! A missing teaspoon or so of shortening to make a 1/2 cup shouldn't matter - and my taste buds agreed once the finish product hit my hips ;)

 

Add the beaten egg to the milk and give it another stir for good measure.

 

The recipe calls for sifting the flour with the baking powder and salt, but I'm kind of lazy that way. I measured by spooning the flour into the cup and then leveling it off with the back of a knife. Then just added the baking powder and salt and stirred it in fairly well.

Blend the shortening and the sugar together. I could of used my KitchenAid, but that just seemed like overkill, it only took a minute to blend everything together using a spatula.

Alternate adding the flour mixture to the shortening with the milk/egg mixture.

At first it seemed like there was too much milk, but as I mooshed it...that's my technical cooking talk for pushing down on the flour with the back of the spatula... it came together. 

The end result was a thick pancake like batter.  Like gummy mashed potatoes.

Since most of my kitchen is packed up - my choices for baking dishes are severely limited. My ONLY choice was the angel food cake tin. The recipe says a loaf pan or a muffin tin.

I greased up the lucky winner with a bit of butter and dropped the batter in by the heaping spoonful.

I didn't bother with smoothing it down. Just make sure it's the same thickness around so it will bake evenly.

375 F and 30 minutes later. Yay!

At this point it's really important to let it cool before removing from the pan or trying to eat it.

On the first cake, I tried to cut in to it when it first came out of the oven and it was a fully-baked crumbly mess that I had to use a spoon to eat. *blush* I was a bit worried about the texture, but the more it cooled, the more it stuck together.  So, I left this baby alone to cool in the pan.

When it was finally cool enough that I could handle the cake without burning my hands, I tipped it out onto the rack.

I really like the rustic simple look.

Goal: Accomplished!

Sally Lunn Recipe
American Woman's Cook Book 1948 (pg 120)

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups sifted flour
• 3 tsps baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/4 cup sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. Sift flour with baking powder and salt. 
2. Combine egg and milk.
3. Cream shortening and sugar.
4. Add flour alternatively with egg/milk mixture
5. Place in greased loaf pan or muffin pans and bake in a moderate oven (375 F) - 30 minutes

Makes 1 loaf or 12 muffins.

Sally Lunn Cake Bread fondly remembered

I was hungry, I was bored, and I wanted to bake something easy! And truth be told, I really wanted to try something from one of my cookbooks.

Since I'm moving, most of my kitchen is packed and sitting in storage, not to mention I'm literally eating myself out of house and home! So, what to make? Tea biscuits, perhaps, although I'm down to only cake flour now and debating on purchasing more all-purpose flour...maybe just a small bag!...before I move.

Currently my 'pantry' is the lower shelf of a table in my living room. It was my entry table, near my front door, but I needed the room for moving things out. Alas, the shelves I had for baking supplies are resting inside a storage crate 2 km away.

psSSssst Aren't juice box type wine containers the best! (left of middle in the picture) Sorry, I don't like wine, so this makes an excellent option for needing wine for cooking but not wanting to waste an entire bottle. I've seen smaller 1 cup sizes before too!

Ummm... Did I mention I was hungry?...I chose a Sally Lunn recipe. It's described as not a cake and not bread.. hrmmm. So, I quickly baked a 'not a cake' and then promptly ate most of it before thinking about taking any pictures! *sigh*  My tummy and taste buds were happy campers, though.

I did figure a way to rectify the situation and alleviate the guilt. I will make not one, but two Sally Lunn cake things! One from from the American Woman's cook book...this was the one that caused my shame...and another from the 1938 Five Roses Flour Cook book. The Five Roses one has differing amounts of flour and things and they call it English Sally Lunn, instead of just plain old Sally Lunn, but I'm sure it will be just as good perhaps just a bit different in texture.

I'll have to do a bit of googling on Sally to see who she is and why she has cake bread named after her.