Adventures in Good Eating

Many thanks to Gourmet Magazine for mentioning the New York Public Library's menu and cookbook collection in Kristin Ohlson's piece "A Culinary Card Catalog." It was wonderful to read about other libraries' culinary collections, and Ohlson rightly points to the Kentucky Library & Museum for their wonderful collection of Duncan Hines memorabilia.

I've been fascinated with Duncan Hines for a while now, ever since I learned that he was more than just a name on a brownie mix.

Duncan Hines was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky in 1880. For the first part of his life Hines worked in public relations and in the production and editing of corporate brochures. These jobs demanded a good deal of traveling and the long road trips -- with very few decent food options -- made Hines (always a food enthusiast) into a discerning road food diner.

In order to find the best places to eat on the road, Hines spent months researching, not only the best tasting spots, but also the cleanest and most affordable restaurants. He filled notebooks with his findings and soon, according to Oxford's American National Biography (ANB), other salesmen began to consult Hines' expert opinion on where to go to eat.

In 1935, in order to satisfy the increasing appetite of salesmen looking for a good meal, Hines published a listing of his favorite spots in thirty states and sent it off as a Christmas greeting. The popularity of that list kept the requests for food recommendations coming in, so Hines published a small brochure called Adventures in Good Eating for $1.50, adding more restaurants to the original list and with short descriptions of the food and ambiance.

Hines' favorite spots tended to be small, family-owned, roadside restaurants where cleanliness was of utmost importance. According to ANB, Hines often entered the restaurant through the back, making sure that the entire kitchen was tidy. If a restaurant was clean, affordable and tasty, it was deemed worthy of being included in Adventures of Good Eating, which was published yearly. Those recommendations then allowed restaurants to post a sign in their window reading "Recommended by Duncan Hines." However, if Hines felt that the restaurant's quality had fallen, he would demand that the sign be taken down.

One restaurant that did meet Hines' approval was Sanders Court and Cafe in Corbin, Kentucky. In the 1939 issue of Adventures... Hines wrote, "A very good place to stop en route to Cumberland Falls and the Great Smokies." Hines lists the sizzling steaks, fried chicken, country ham and hot biscuits as the highlights of the 24-hour cafe.

It's been said that the review and endorsement of Sanders Court and Cafe by Duncan Hines helped the restaurant gain notoriety and led to its subsequent success. I'm sure Colonel Sanders himself was most pleased.

Happy Birthday, Mr. President...

While I don't have President Obama's birthday menu in our collection (yet), all the talk about his birthday got me thinking about the Presidential memorabilia in our collection. The menu above is from President John F. Kennedy's 46th birthday party, held at the Waldorf-Astoria on May 23rd, 1963. (His actual birthday is May 29th.) You can read his remarks online through the extraordinarily informative American Presidency Project.

It is not the same birthday dinner where Marilyn Monroe seductively sang "Happy Birthday, Mr. President." That was the year before in May, 1962. She died just a few months later.

Belting the Borscht

My father buys his borscht in screw-top jars, usually Streit's or Gold's, and keeps them in the fridge. Since my mother doesn't eat beets, my father doesn't bother cooking up a batch of the homemade stuff just for himself.

Unlike the creamed herring, and U-Bet syrups -- other foods my mother won't touch but that my father loves and keeps in the house -- I never had any desire to taste this jarred borscht. The color was off-putting and it seemed weird to eat soup out of a jar.

That was then, as they say.

My conversion happened a few years ago. I was on a date at Veselka. We sat outside and drank our Pilsners, and then my date surprised me by ordering a bowl of borscht (and he wasn't even Jewish!), while I ordered my chicken soup.

I was intrigued and curious about his soup choice, so I tried a spoonful. It was tangy, refreshing, sweet and salty (like me!), with a deep, purple-red color that was simply beautiful.

Yesterday, as I woke to a dreary, wet, and humid day, I had an intense craving for borscht. But rather than follow family tradition, I broke open James Peterson's Splendid Soups, and followed his easy instructions for a simple borscht. I made a couple of changes: I used one red beet and the rest golden, so the color is a bit less saturated, but is still a deep, penetrating ruby. Peterson also calls for beef broth, but I used homemade vegetable broth instead. I like my borscht without any meat -- it makes for a much cleaner taste that I prefer.

I'm pleased to report that the borscht came out perfectly. We served it Russian-style, with sides of hard boiled eggs, boiled new potatoes, sour cream (or crème fraîche), black bread, radishes, butter, and lots of dill.

I had two bowls for dinner last night and finished another for lunch today. I think I'll save the rest for my Dad.