You are here:   Home > Articles

Page Two of Margaret Cullison's More Recipes from Relatives

After her husband died when she was in her 60’s, Nadine moved to southern California to be near her two children. When I moved to northern California, I began to see my aunt and cousins more often. The first time I traveled to Orange County where Aunt Nadine lived, we met my cousin David in Los Angeles for dinner and a play. Nadine sent me into a building where David had a business meeting to find him, while she waited in the car outside. I assumed I’d recognize him but almost didn’t, because we hadn’t seen each other since our early teens, 20 years before.

Some years later, Marcia invited my sons and me to Thanksgiving dinner since three of them worked or attended college in southern California. I stayed with Aunt Nadine in her little apartment. My eighty-something aunt was up early Thanksgiving morning preparing mince meat and pumpkin pies to take to the feast. I stood by watching this seasoned cook work, without pause, while she kept up a steady narrative of family stories.

Later in the day, we feasted bounteously on Nadine and Marcia’s good food. My boys ate so much that they had to lie down on Marcia’s living room floor after dinner to rest their stuffed bellies, a practice they’d learned from my brother Ben. This behavior amused Marcia, and she told the story to her friends whenever we were together. But what better compliment could a cook receive from her guests?

Mom served Aunt Nadine’s date pudding, really a cake similar to English sticky pudding, most often at luncheons or bridge parties with her “girl” friends. My mother liked sweets and inclusion of this rich dessert in her cookbook proves that preference.


Nadine’s Date Pudding
1 cup dates, chopped
1 cup saltine crackers, finely crumbled
2 cups sugar
6 egg whites, beaten
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla

Beat egg whites until stiff, add sugar gradually and then blend in remaining ingredients. Pour batter into a 9 by 9- inch pan and place the batter pan into a larger pan filled with one inch of water. Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes. Cut into squares and serve with whipped cream.

Marcia collects recipes and generously shares them. Because she’s active in church functions, she excels at desserts and brunch or luncheon dishes. Every time I go to see her, she’s involved in some event where she and her friends must prepare food for a large group. Or she might be providing dinner for a sick friend or grieving family. My altruistic cousin tells me she’d feel guilty if she didn’t help out, but I suspect she likes to share food with others as a fundamental way to promote good will among her fellow humans.

Her recipe for marshmallow frosting makes a perfect substitute for seven-minute frosting, for me an exceedingly difficult recipe to conquer. I’d tried my mother’s recipe for seven-minute frosting and ended up with a surgery, non-voluminous mess. Once I sampled Marcia’s version, it became the standard frosting I used for all my children’s birthday cakes. Mom agreed that this quick frosting came close to her authentic seven-minute frosting.

In her cookbook, she attributed the recipe to me, but I correct that error now by saying that credit belongs entirely to Marcia.


Marcia’s No-Cook Marshmallow Frosting
2 egg whites
¾ cup Karo syrup
¼ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ teaspoons vanilla
Beat egg whites and salt until soft peaks are formed. Add sugar gradually, one tablespoon at a time. Beat until smooth and glossy. Continue beating, adding syrup a little at a time until frosting forms stiff peaks. Fold in vanilla. Recipe makes enough frosting for a three-layer cake.

My Note: Pasteurized egg whites may be substituted for raw fresh egg whites.

Shortly after my second marriage broke up, Aunts Nadine and Gatsie came to visit. Although nothing was said about my marital woes, they made the trip to northern California specifically to see me. My father had died a few years earlier, and I think they felt responsible of looking after their brother’s only daughter. That being a particularly low point in my life, I welcomed the diversion of their company. I showed them around the area just as they’d taken me on sight seeing trips in Chicago and Baltimore in my youth. After having lunch in the old town of Danville, Gatsie saw an ice cream store and said, “Let’s have an ice cream cone.” It seemed so like something three small-town girls would do.


Recipes are from the collection of Anna May Cullison

Return to Page One of More Recipes from Relatives<<