Little Brown Koko's Lightbread

This recipe card really piqued my curiosity; its title had two mysteries. What is "lightbread" and who is Little Brown Koko?

Luckily we have the world wide web to provide instant answers! Little Brown Koko is a character from a 1940s series of children's books that are now considered racist, much like the Little Black Sambo books that preceded these. And according to one site, there were also gay subtexts in the books. I nor anyone I queried had ever heard of Little Brown Koko, but apparently he was a child that just messed up every task he was given by his grandmother.

"Lightbread" is not at all exotic, but simply a slightly richer-than-normal white yeast bread. I doubt this recipe actually appeared in the the books, but is probably a home cook's adaption of one that was referenced. (There's a chocolate cake on the interweb that's an adaption of one too, created by a housewife at the behest of her child.)

The bread is pretty good and, like most yeast recipes, is pretty versatile. The instructions are not the clearest.

A page from one of the books.

Begin by soaking the yeast in a bowl (or if a teacup, as specified in the recipe.)

Add in the flour.

Don't use all the flour specified -- it's way too much!

Knead the dough and let rise.

When it's had it's rise, divide in half. Make one into a regular loaf of bread and the other roll out and fill with butter, cinnamon and sugar. Roll and cut into pieces.

Place in a greased cake pan.

When it's had its second raise, bake.

Remove from pan and make a frosting of confectioner's sugar and milk.

Don't try this version -- just make a regular loaf of bread.

English Muffins

Like many other New Yorkers during yesterday's Snowzilla, I hunkered down, binge watched television (Mozart in the Jungle, at my house), and generally enjoyed the enforced "do nothing" gift of the blizzard.  But I couldn't stay away from the kitchen, and so when the DH said he'd like an English muffin, I pulled out the flour bin, opened a yeast packet, and got to work. (The toaster part would come much later; thank goodness he's the patient sort.)

This vintage recipe for English muffins, from a collection of a 1940s Wisconsin housewife, was quite successful. Homemade English muffins are very easy to make and way better than the store bought variety. You don't even need an oven -- these are "baked" in a skillet on the stove top!

To begin, scald milk and add butter, salt and sugar. Let the mixture cool a bit.

Proof yeast in a bowl. (Just mix it with warm water.) The yeast on the right (although it hadn't expired) was clearly dead. So I tossed it and tried some rapid rise yeast, which was expired (and is also supposed to be added dry to the flour) and it worked beautifully -- note the bubbles. This is one reason I love working with yeast; it is sooo forgiving.

Mix the dough and knead a bit. I cheated and used my Kitchen Aid (with the dough hook).

Cover and let rise until double.

Punch the dough down, and divide in half. Roll half out on a board or counter sprinkled with cornmeal. Cut out circles with a three-inch biscuit cutter (or a glass, or whatever you have around). This dough is extraordinarily easy to work with.

Place the muffins on a tray and cover.

Until double in size (about an hour, or two episodes of Mozart in the Jungle).

Place in a medium hot skillet.  Cover and cook about five minutes. Flip and cook the other side about five minutes. They don't stick at all, even if you don't use a non-stick pan, like I did.

These were enjoyed by my friend Judith, a Long Island resident who spent the snowy weekend with us, in order to get to her job. This is her, right after she finished her second consecutive 12-hour shift as an emergency room nurse at the local hospital.  (Letting me take her photo was the price she paid for her room-and-board.)

Here's the original recipe card, and below that is a typed, easy-to-read version.

Production notes: The original recipe said that it makes 18, but I got just 13 from the dough. There were scraps to make more, but I didn't see how to combine them and roll them with incorporating all the cornmeal. I didn't use a thermometer at all. 105 - 115 is warm-to-the-touch. If in doubt with the yeast, go colder -- too hot and it will die. I used butter instead of margerine, but otherwise followed this exactly.  Getting the right stove top temperature is critical, otherwise the muffins will be cooked on the outside and gummy inside. I did a few at first to experiment, cutting them open. If they are too gummy at the end, you can always pop them in the oven for a few minutes.

English Muffins

1 cup milk
2 TBS sugar
1 teas. salt
3 TBS butter
1 cup warm water (105 - 115 degrees)
1 pkg. dry yeast
6 cup all-purpose flour
cornmeal

Scald milk (bubbles will form around the edge of the pan). Stir in sugar, salt and butter.
Cool to 105 - 115 degrees)
Sprinkle yeast in warm water, stir to dissolve.
Combine yeast mixture and milk mixture in a large bowl.
Add flour and mix. Knead slightly (or more, if using a mechanical kneader).
Place in greased bowl, turning to grease top.
Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk.
Punch dough down, and divide in half.
On a board sprinkled with cornmeal, roll each half of dough to 1/2 inch thick.
Cut in three inch circles. Cover both sides well with cornmeal.
Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk.
Place in a medium hot skillet, cover the pan and bake until browned, about five minutes. (You'll need to do this in batches, depending on the size of your skillet.)
Flip and bake the other side.
Remove from skillet.
Enjoy!
Variation: Add 1/2 cup raisins and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon to milk.

Oatmeal Raisin Bread

Still on your New Year's diet? Then this oatmeal raisin bread, with its low fat and sugar content, is perfect. Though the name evokes the sweetened yeast-risen bread, it is instead a health loaf, albeit one from the 1940s.  The recipe is from the collection of an ambitious cook from Suring, Wisconsin, whose recipe cards were sent to me by her daughter-in-law.

It tastes better than one might think (at least it disappeared when I put it out for my day job colleagues). It is a dense and wholesome bread guaranteed not to induce guilt, unless you're on a strict no-carb diet.

I chose to make this because it was late at night, it seemed really easy (it is) and I had all the ingredients, even the evaporated milk! Adding vinegar to evaporated milk creates a buttermilk, so I'm pretty sure that buttermilk can be substituted if you haven't evaporated milk in the pantry.

Pour the milk over the oatmeal.

Although coating raisins with flour is supposed to keep them from sinking to the bottom of baked goods, this step didn't work. Still, it didn't detract from the finished product.

Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan. I'd suggest using a nonstick pan if you have one.

Let the bread cool slightly before turning it out.

Even using a greased, nonstick pan the loaf was a bit of a challenge to release from the pan, but a butter knife around the edges and some firm smacks on the bottom proved successful.

Production notes: I followed this almost exactly, using butter for the melted fat. I found it was done before 50 minutes, so begin checking at about 30. I've typed the recipe below, as the vintage card is a bit difficult to read.

Oatmeal Raisin Bread

2 TBS vinegar
1 Cup evaporated milk
1 Cup uncooked oatmeal (regular or quick)
1/2 Cup brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 Cup all-purpose flour
1 Tsp. salt
1 Tsp. baking soda
1 Cup raisins
2 TBS melted butter

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a loaf pan.

Stir vinegar into milk and pour over oatmeal.
Add sugar to egg and beat until fluffy.
Add oat mixture and mix well.
Sift together flour, salt and soda.
Stir in raisins and mix well.
Add to oat mixture and mix.
Add in melted butter and mix.
Pour into prepared pan.
Bake about 35 minutes.

Ginger Snaps

Just in time for Christmas comes this delightful vintage gingersnap recipe, so easy that it can be made after a long day of work. And this recipe is special -- I rarely know the genesis of the recipes I collect, but a very generous reader, Carol Suring of  Suring,Wisconsin, send me a wonderful collection of her mother-in-law's recipes. (Plus a handwritten recipe-filled notebook that belonged to her grandmother!)  The recipes were inherited by Carol when her mother-in-law, who spent her whole life in Oconto County in northeast Wisconsin, passed away. "She was a good cook and was always looking for new and different things to cook," writes Carol. This is certainly true, for the collection was filled with confections I've never before encountered, things like coconut washboards, for example. I know I'll be baking from this lovely gift for months to come.

Now, on the the gingersnaps. Combine the butter, sugar, egg and molasses (in that order) and mix well.

While that's beating, put all the dry ingredients in another bowl, and whisk to combine.

Roll into balls. I did them all at once, then placed them on cookie sheets.

Bake and enjoy. The crinkled tops on some of the cookies resulted on single pans of cookies in the oven. But in the interest of time, I mostly baked two sheets simultaneously.

Like many recipe cards in this collection, it was typed on the back of a card soliciting subscriptions to the Wisconsin Cancer Bulletin.  The recipe method is not included (because doesn't everyone know how to put together a cookie dough?), so I've rewritten the recipe as I made it, with detailed instructions, below.

Production notes: The dough was a bit sticky, so I briefly refrigerated it before rolling. I didn't notice any difference when I added drops of water to some of them, so you can skip that step. These are rather mildly spiced, so you can increase the amount of ginger if you like a spicier cookie.

Ginger Snaps

Preheat oven to 350F

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened
1 c brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 c molasses
1 1/2 t. baking soda
1 t ground ginger
1/2 t salt
1/2 t cloves
1 t cinnamon

Beat butter and add sugar. Beat until light and fluffy.
Add egg and molasses and beat well.
Mix dry ingredients together in a separate bowl and add to mixture.
Combine well, but don't over-beat.
Refrigerate dough if it's too sticky.
Roll dough into balls about one-inch diameter
Roll one side in white sugar.
Place on cookie sheet (lined with parchment) about two inches apart.
Bake seven to 10 minutes.