Ralph Fahnestock and Amy Pettengill
1-1/2 cups boiling water
1 cup quick-cooking oatmeal (uncooked)
1 stick margarine.
2 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
Topping
6 tablespoons soft margarine or butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup coconut
1 cup chopped nuts
1/4 cup cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Put oatmeal and margarine in mixing bowl. Pour boiling water over them. Cover and let stand for twenty minutes. Add the two eggs and beat well. Add the remaining ingredients and beat together thoroughly. Pour batter into a greased and floured 9-1/2-by-13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until done. Note: This cake does not rise.
*While the topping is good, it is just as easy to put way too much of your favorite frosting on top, or even (gasp!) store-bought frosting (cream cheese is nice). There are those who would argue that the cake is perfectly fine with no frosting at all, but why would we have such a thing as frosting if not to slather it on a cake?
This is just about the first thing I remember my mom making when I was little, so I have been eating it for at least fifty years, and making it for about forty.
Recipes are not only a tradition, but a window into culture.
To share those slices of history with the greater community, the private Bethlehem Children’s School is putting together a cookbook made up of local family favorites. The book will be categorized and professionally bound, and will be sold as a fundraiser for the school.
“At the beginning of the school year we sat down to think of something new that hadn’t been done to death,” said Director of Programming, Outreach and Development Ralph Fahnestock. “Other organizations have done something like this, but to my knowledge no one has done a full-length book.”
Anyone who has ever had a relationship with the school is being asked to submit a recipe or two to contribute to the book. The school is looking for family favorites, old Delmar recipes or specialized recipes for those with dietary restrictions.
“We’re also trying to get some history on the recipes for background purposes,” said Fundraising Coordinator Heather Leveille. “We’re looking for some recipes with stories so they can be put in an historical context.”
Leveille said an Indian family who recently moved to the area submitted a number of recipes that included great stories. With so many new families making Bethlehem home, the thought is to include older, traditional recipes and transition into food from a “new Bethlehem.”
The book will be separated into different sections for appetizers, entrees, deserts and sides, with another section for those tailored to special dietary restrictions.
The school is looking to collect 250 recipes and so far they have about half of that number. Recipes submitted range from apple crumb pie, monkey bread, spinach pesto and eggless cupcakes.
Those looking to submit recipes have until March 15 to do so. The book should then be printed and ready for sale by April. Fahnestock said the book could make a good Mother’s Day gift. All of the money earned will go into the school’s general fund.
“This sale is going to help us enormously,” he said. “Most independent schools are increasing the level of fundraising they do given the current economic situation. Last year, we did a dinner theater. We might do something like that again, but we’re trying to change things up so we’re not holding a dozen bake sales each year.”
The school is also looking for local businesses that might be willing to sell the book in their shops, along with asking parents to help out.
Recipes can be emailed to Fahnestock at [email protected] or mailed to 12 Fisher Boulevard, Slingerlands, NY 12159.