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| Tiger Lilies |
May flowers, wedding showers, baby showers, communions, confirmations, Bar and Bat Mitzvah's, graduations, barbeque, and a multitude of other activites including "High Tea." My mother came from an era when women, especially wives were expected to be good in the kitchen. It really was a rite of passage with recipes being passed down from generation to generation.There were even classes in “home economics.” Mostly girls took this class and they were taught how to run a home, including how to cook.
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| Ribbon Sandwich Loaf, aka. Pirates Treasure |
You’re probably wondering what this has to do with mom and High Tea. This was, in a way, the way it was when my Mom was a young wife. She actually took some art and cooking classes so that she could improve her home skills. She was, in my opinion always trying something new in her younger years. What you may or may not know is that Mom was also an artist. What some of you might not also know is that she actually worked sometimes.
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| My Dad colorized |
Color photography was not invented yet, so they would add color to black and white prints. Mom was skilled at this technique and that is really how she met my Dad. She had a job coloring prints of soldiers returning home from WWII. She fell in love with my Dad's picture, while she was colorizing it, much like they do with old black and white movies today.
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| Loaf of bread |
While writing this cookbook I discovered that when it came to cooking, mom was amazing for her time. I think that a lot of it has to do with the fact that when she was growing up and living with her grandmother and mother's house she learned from them.
When mom gave me her tattered cookbook it had no front or back cover, and the spine was missing. While going through the pages I came across a picture of something called a “Pirates Treasure Sandwich Loaf.” I did not find a recipe in the book for it. The picture sparked a memory of Mom making a similar, if not the same loaf. I immediately called her and described the picture and the layers of the sandwich. Much to my amazement she immediately knew what I was talking about. She said that she was often asked to make one of these for a wedding, or baby shower.
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| Bread sliced horizontally |
You’re probably wondering by now exactly what a “Pirates Treasure Sandwich Loaf” is. So did I. Mom said that you get a unsliced loaf of bread from the bakery. She would cut the loaf lengthwise into layers. The fillings or the "Pirates Treasure Sandwich Loaf” can be almost anything that you can think of. The consistency of the fillings has to be such that it will stay in place when you slice it. The filling can be Egg salad, Tuna salad, Chicken salad, or any other thing that you can think of. You can’t use tomato slices! They will slip out when you try and cut it. There are many recipes on the Internet called sandwich loaf, ribbon sandwich loaf, pirates treasure and many other names. What ever you call it and however you make it, it is serious retro-comfort-food. My Mom used chicken salad, egg salad, and ham salad for hers. The frosting was made from cream cheese and a little bit of milk. You don't have to make it in a loaf shape. Thin sliced "Pepperidge Farm Very Thin Wheat, or white bread works well for this. http://www.pepperidgefarm.com/ProductDetail.aspx?catID=755
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| Add butter and egg salad layer |
When you create the “Pirates Treasure Sandwich Loaf,” You build the layers carefully by taste and the number of layers is really dependent on how old the bread is (day old works best), the actual density of the bread and how good you are at cutting the layers. It is very similar to making a torte cake (see recipe in desserts). I just had to try it.
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| Wrap and refrigerate until firm |
So if you’re like me, I just had to try it. Armed with the basic concept, off to the retro kitchen I went recreate a classic. It really is worth the effort. I would wager a guess that none of your friends or family have ever heard of it, or tasted it.
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| Remove crust from loaf (snacks for the cook) |
Once the crust is removed it's time to frost the loaf. It is a simple mixture of softened cream cheese and milk. The cold sandwich will make it easier to frost the loaf using an offset spatula. If you can frost a cake you've got an advantage over me.
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| Cream cheese frosting |
Next you have to decorate your sandwich loaf. They didn't have ultrasound and people generally did not know what kind of baby they were having. My mom stuck with yellow and other colors. Today you could use pink for girls, or blue for boys. People would ask my Mom to make this loaf because she was so good at decorating it.
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| Decorated sandwich loaf |
When you are finished and before you cut it into finger sandwich slices or squares, it will look just like a frosted cake. My kids opened the refrigerator and asked “what kind of cake is this?” The payoff is when you slice into the loaf and discover the treasure.
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| Side view sliced loaf |
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If you prefer to make tiny finger sandwiches try making the loaf using the thin sliced Pepperidge Farm white or wheat bread. Enjoy!
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| Tiny finger sandwiches |
© TMelle 1998-2012
1 comment:
This one I think shoulda been left in the retro cookbook where you found it! ;)
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