All-Around Aunt Jemima

The Pearl Milling Company introduced the Aunt Jemima brand in 1889. Aunt Jemima Pancake Flour was another early convenience mix available to consumers. All that was needed was the addition of water (or milk) to the prepackaged mix.

When Quaker Oats purchased Aunt Jemima in 1926, the product line consisted of Aunt Jemima Pancake Flour and Aunt Jemima Prepared Buckwheat Flour.

Forty-three years later, by the time the Morning to Midnight Cook Book (1969, 124 pages) was published by Follett Publishing, the Aunt Jemima product line had increased significantly. This cookbook featured many Aunt Jemima products: Buckwheat Pancake and Waffle Mix, Buttermilk Pancake & Waffle Mix, Coffee Cake Easy Mix, Corn Bread Easy Mix, Deluxe Easy Pour Pancake Mix, Pancake & Waffle Mix, Syrup, Frozen Corn Sticks, Frozen Country Waffles and Frozen Waffles.

It also included Flako products, a line of baking mixes first introduced in 1921, which Quaker Oats had purchased in 1959: Flako Corn Muffin Mix, Flako Cup Cake Mix, Flako Pie Crust Mix and Flako Popover Mix.

Quaker didn't loose the opportunity to include their other products, either: Old Fashioned Quaker Oats and Instant Quaker Oatmeal, Quaker Enriched White Corn Meal, Quaker Enriched Whit Hominy Grits, Quaker Enriched White Hominy Quick Grits, Quaker Enriched Yellow Corn Meal, Quaker White or Yellow Corn Meal Mix and Quick Quaker Oats are used in many of the recipes too.

Some of you make think it tedious that I frequently list the products individually like this. I do it because, oftentimes, when I'm researching a product, the very information I'm seeking comes from a post like this. These are small details that are usually left out of the overall picture as time goes on. Aunt Jemima has a nice brand history on their website, but it leaves out many of the details that sometimes come in handy when you're trying to place a date on something. Perhaps this information will help someone else someday.

This is another one of those "brown" cookbooks. The cover is predominantly brown, the photos inside are dark and contain many shades of brown and even the illustrations are brown and orange.

Interestingly, the Aunt Jemima logo is nowhere to be found in this book, nor are any illustrations of the product packaging.

This cookbook contains 340 recipes using the easy shortcut method of prepared mixes as part of the ingredients.

How useful this book would be today would depend on which recipe you wanted to prepare, as many of the mixes no longer exist. The Flako mixes are no longer being produced nor are some of the Aunt Jemima mixes.

Besides recipes, the cookbook also contains menu suggestions.

The Table of Contents is divided into Appetizers and Snacks, Breakfasts and Brunches, Lunches and Meals on the Go, Suppers and Simple Buffets, Dinners for Family and Friends and Best Breads and Desserts.

I like how the Index is divided into two sections. One section lists all of the recipes by name and category and the second section lists all of the recipes by product. If you were looking to make something with your Aunt Jemima Coffee Cake Mix, you could look in the back and see that there are thirteen recipes that call for the use of that particular mix.

I chose this recipe because the Pancake Mix still exists and I thought that the use of pancake mix in the dumplings instead of flour was interesting. I've never tried using that method for dumplings before.


MIDWEST CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS

Stew:
1 plump stewing chicken, cut up
1/2 cup Aunt Jemima Buttermilk Pancake Mix
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons chicken fat, or 1/4 lb. salt pork, drawn out
4 cups water
1 stalk celery, diced
1 onion, stuck with 2 cloves
1 tablespoon minced parsley

Dumplings:
2 cups Aunt Jemima Buttermilk Pancake Mix
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon instant minced onion
1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Stew: Dredge pieces of chicken in mixture of pancake mix, salt and pepper. In 2-quart casserole sauté chicken in chicken fat or salt pork until well-browned on all sides. Add water, celery, onion and parsley. Cover. Simmer until chicken is tender, about 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

Dumplings: Combine all ingredients, stir lightly. When stew is ready, drop dumplings over pieces of chicken, cook, covered, 12 to 15 minuets without lifting cover. Serve immediately.

Makes 4-6 servings.
*********************

Not all of the recipes contain the convenience mixes. The California-Style Shrimp Salad recipe contains no mix, but the suggested accompaniments on the menu do--Orange Nut Bread and Maple Nut Sundae.

THE PACIFIC INFLUENCE
California Style Shrimp Salad with Green Goddess Dressing
Orange Nut Bread
Maple Nut Sundae (Vanilla ice cream topped with Aunt Jemima Syrup and chopped nuts.)


The Yorkshire Pudding served with this Thyme-Flavored Roast Beef is made with a Flako Popover Mix.


Here's something they're calling a Turkey Divan Open Sandwich. It uses frozen waffles instead of bread.


Shown in this photo are the Cocoa Cake Roll (made with Buttermilk Pancake Mix), Cherry Cobbler and Baked Alaska Pie (both made with Flako Pie Crust Mix).



Nearly every manufacturer comes up with innovative recipes in which to use their products. This cookbook certainly shows that pancake mix, syrup and oatmeal could be used in a lot of creative ways besides breakfast.