The one thing I really noticed during my trip to Devine, is that rain is needed in that area just as it is here. The only “green” that I saw was irrigated fields, everything else was sere and brown.
This past week has been busy to the max! I was in Devine part of the week, and had bunco, appointments and the usual things. Since I hadn’t seen some of the “greats”, we met at Castroville Regional Park for lunch Friday and had lunch together; salads were the order of the day for the grown-up and bean and cheese tacos for the smaller crowd. We had a wonderful time and the children were able to burn off excess energy running around and using the swings and slides. When I left there, I headed in the general direction of home with a stop off in Pleasanton at the HEB store since I already knew that some of the family would be there for the weekend, in fact, my one daughter and I both got to the house at almost the same time! The other two daughters arrived later in the day, and, yes, we had a wonderfully relaxing weekend. They are all such hard workers and my house is clean, beds changed, laundry done, etc, etc.
The following article is from a newspaper, possible from Chicago, (according to the movies listed on the back and the names of the theatres showing them), that was in a box of “stuff” given to me some time ago. I never had time to go through it and now have finally gotten to do so. There is no date anywhere on/in the article but judging from the condition of the paper, it could be from the ’50 or ‘60s. It struck me as interesting, as I had often wondered where ‘graham crackers’ and graham flour came from. It is being copied exactly as it appeared in that paper, headlines and all!
Graham’s muffins tells it like it was
The bakers of Boston hated the Rev. Sylvester Graham because he went around the country preaching that they adulterated wheat flour with that of beans and potatoes and put injurious chemicals in it to make their bread whiter. Sound familiar?
Like many “health food” advocates of today, Graham sometimes was right and sometimes jumped to unwarranted conclusions. He was born in Connecticut at the end of the 18th century and had his greatest influence on the American public in the 1830s.
The bakers and the butchers of Boston mobbed the Rev. Mr. Graham after his book, “bread and Bread Making,” appeared in 1837. The butchers were mad because he preached against the use of meat. Graham was a vegetarian. He had a lot of influence on the daily lives o his followers, who included the Horace Greeleys. Sleep on a hard mattress, he advised. Get lots of fresh air, take daily exercise, drink no booze.
And make your bread of freshly ground wheat.
In time, the Rev. Mr. Graham’s “graham flour” was refined a bit, but it still was whole wheat. Now there’s a distinct movement back toward Sylvester Graham’s theories on bread making, in not to all of his other recommendations for healthful living. The name “graham” on the bag of flour is being replaced by “whole wheat,” and not many bakers today give a thought to the Rev. Sylvester Graham.
They like his kind of bread though. Even to those “graham gems” which grandmother made. Today we call them simply what they are: whole wheat muffins.
Whole Wheat Muffins
(One dozen)
1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons white or brown sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons oil or drippings
½ cup raisins, optional
Use wll whole wheat, if you prefer; the muffins will be more solid in texture. Sift together flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat egg, add milk and oil to it, then pour all at once into the dry mixture. Stir enough to moisten the flour. Fold in raisins and spoon into well-greased muffin pans. Bake at 425 degrees about 15 minutes. Use chopped dates instead of raisins, if you wish. Muffins may be sprinkled with cinnamon-sugar before baking.
Our old family recipe for Boston Brown Bread (to go with Boston Baked Beans, of course!) calls for thick sour milk and graham flour. Buttermilk works fine
Boston Brown Bread
(Three loaves)
2 cups graham (whole wheat) flour
1 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
1½ teaspoon soda
½ cup molasses
2 cups sour milk or buttermilk
½ cup melted shortening or oil
¾ cup raisins
Combine ingredients (sift the dry ingredients together, if you wish). Combine molasses and buttermilk and add shortening. Add liquids to dry ingredients and mix quickly, just enough to smooth the batter. Add raisins and fill three greased 1-pound coffee cans two-thirds full. Put on greased covers, or tie on wax paper or foil covers. Steam for 2 hours. You may use two one-pound coffee cans and steam for 3 hours. Remove from steamer, uncover and dry out in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Keeps well and may be resteamed to warm.
I’m glad that the days and nights are a little cooler. It makes me want to get in the kitchen and start baking or cooking soup. This morning (Monday) it was a cool 60º when I stepped outside at about 6:30, if I had been staying out longer, and was in the wind, it might have been too cool!