The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree

May 1930

1. Save all your bits of bread, the heels, crusts, etc. Use them for bread pudding, in stuffing, and to bread catfish. With the right care and attention, you will never run out of bread crumbs. (Lizzy Lacy) 2. Don’t throw away old feather beds or feather pillows. You can wash the feathers and they’ll be good as new. Take out the feathers and wash in a tub of real hot suds. Then spread them in the attic to dry, in a single layer. Do not dry in the wind, or you will have feathers all over the place. (Bessie Bloodworth) 3. If you have old woolen coats that have already been cut up for children’s wear and will no longer serve as garments, cut the fabric into strips and braid for doormats and rugs. Children love to help with this. Worn-out tablecloths can be hemmed and made into nice napkins. (Ophelia Snow) 4. After you’ve done your laundry, throw the soapy water on your bushes and young plants. They will appreciate the suds, but the bugs won’t. Also, pour the soapy water into a bucket and wash your brooms. A clean broom sweeps better! (Mildred Kilgore) 5. Keep moths away from your woolens by packing them in a tight box with pepper, cedar chips, tobacco, santolina, wormwood, or lavender—or a mix. In fact, almost anything with a strong, spicy smell will work. Camphor is good, too, but some people object to the way it smells—and you can’t grow it. (Miss Dorothy Rogers) 6. Save old letters and envelopes and use the backs for notes and lists. But be careful not to use a letter you don’t want someone else to read. (Myra May Mosswell) 7. Do not turn up your nose at hand-me-downs. Give an item to someone else if you can’t use it. (Aunt Hetty Little) 8. You can have a supply of horseradish all winter. When you dig the roots, grate them, put the gratings into a bottle with a good lid, and cover with strong vinegar and a tight-fitting lid. Do the grating outdoors—you’ll know why if you’ve ever tried it. (Earlynne Biddle) 9. Don’t spend money on expensive hair-setting lotions. Simmer 1 cup flaxseed in 3 cups water for a few minutes. Strain the flaxseeds and add back enough water to give the desired consistency. Comb through your hair and roll in rags or curlers as usual. (Beulah Trivette) 10. Be a string saver! Wind it into a ball and you’ll always have some handy. Buttons, too: keep them in bag or a box, so you’ll know where to go when you want one. (Mrs. George E. Pickett Johnson) 11. If you have cockroaches, don’t spend money on expensive bait. Boil up some poke-root and mix it with molasses, then set it out in the kitchen and the pantry in saucers. Be sure and keep the cats and the kids out of it. (Alice Ann Walker) 12. Keep a soup pot going on the back of the stove. That’s where you should put all the bits of food left from the day’s dinner. By supper time, you’ll have a thick, rich soup. Add some of those saved bread crumbs to thicken it up some more. (Verna Tidwell)





The Dahlias’ Favorite Recipe





Verna Tidwell’s Molasses Cookies


Morasses is a by-product of the sugarcane refining process. The cane is crushed to remove the juice, which is then boiled and the sugar. crystals extracted, The syrup become molasses. Its flavor and color depends on whether it is extracted early or late in the process. Until the 1880s, it was the most popular sweetener in the United States, because it was cheaper than refined sugar. Now it its more expensive.





? cup butter or lard, melted

1? cup white sugar, divided

1 egg

? cup molasses

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

? teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

? teaspoon nutmeg



In a medium bowl, mix together the melted butter, 1 cup sugar, and egg until smooth. Stir in the molasses. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg; blend into the molasses mixture. Cover, and chill dough for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Roll dough into walnut-sized balls, and roll them in the remaining white sugar. Place cookies 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until tops are cracked. Cool on wire racks.





Euphoria’s peanut Butter Meringue Pie


The peanut (not a nut, but a legume) came to America from Africa, via the Caribbean, It became an important crop in the South after the boll weevils devastated the cotton fields. Peanut butter was a locally produced food until the 1920s, when it began to appear on grocery stole shelves.



CRUST

? cup peanut butter (modern cooks may use crunchy)

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 9-inch pie shell, baked



FILLING

? cup brown sugar

? cup cornstarch

? teaspoon cinnamon

? teaspoon nutmeg

? teaspoon salt

2 cups milk, scalded

3 egg yolks, beaten

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 teaspoon vanilla



MERINGUE

3 eggwhites

3 tablespoons sugar

? teaspoon cream of tartar