New blog posts have been rolling in very slowly since I’ve been busy promoting “Festive Maryland Recipes.” Sometimes I get nervous about letting my research fall by the wayside.
But I’ve been tending to an aspect of Old Line Plate that has become every bit as important to me: connecting with people.
The pandemic made me realize how much this blog experience has changed me as a person. I am, yes, much more cheesy than I used to be, but also less insecure, and less drawn to the negative. My knowledge of how lucky I am to have this has helped me to hold it together when life gets confusing.
What I’d never have guessed is the myriad ways that Old Line Plate has helped me cross paths with kindness. I receive emails from people who find their family recipes on my website. But I’ve also met friendly eBay sellers, librarians, cookbook collectors, generous church groups, and other bloggers and writers.
Having to swallow my shyness and encourage bookstores to carry “Festive Maryland Recipes” was not the easiest thing for me to do. I didn’t know that the process would actually put me in touch with even more nice people.
Some of my favorite stories in “Festive Maryland Recipes” are from Western Maryland. I’ve been eager to spread the word on Frostburg’s Cornish Saffron Bread for years. It so happens that that very town has a long-standing independent bookstore. I reached out to Fred Powell from Main Street Books and he kindly supported us by stocking the book.
Fred established Main Street Books in 1989. He was new to the bookselling business and was simply trying to fill a need in Frostburg. He involved himself heavily in the local community by volunteering, sponsoring sports teams, and connecting with readers who would become his customers.
Like me, Fred Powell sometimes does things “the old-fashioned way.” Unlike me, he eschews computers and a website. He manages his store inventory by hand.
On the store’s 30th anniversary in 2018, Downtown Frostburg wrote a feature about Main Street Books.
According to Fred, his favorite part about owning a business is talking to people. “Product comes and goes, but the people are constant.” From locals to people half an hour away, to customers across the country, MSB has created a community that can gather in an intimate place to buy books, to peruse the store, and to build a relationship with the booksellers, including Fred. Many of the relationships Fred has created are long-lasting, some lasting the entire 30 years of the bookstore’s existence.
FrostburgFirst Fall 2018 Intern Sidney Beeman
After a little email back-and-forth about my various Frostburg-area cookbooks, Fred generously offered me a copy of “Women’s Ministries Cookbook,” published in 2003 by the Trinity Assembly of God in Midlothian. “Got to love any cookbook that uses Ritz crackers in the recipes!,” he quipped. I could not agree more. Doubly so if the recipe in question happens to be a dessert.
I flagged a lot of recipes in the “W.M. Cookbook.” A fruit salad with macaroni in it. Peaches and Cream Pie. A linguini pasta salad that would make a good weeknight dinner.
It was the recipe for “Ritz Dessert” that inspired me to grab the ingredients and get baking.
The recipe was contributed by Maude Schell. She was born in 1928 in Frostburg. Both of her parents, Henry & Viola Atkinson, were from Maryland, and their parents were as well, except for Maude’s mother’s mother who was from Scotland. Henry Atkinson’s parents worked in a laundry facility of some kind, washing and ironing. Henry himself was working as a coal miner by age 15. Later in life, he would work in a mill.
Researching Maude Atkinson’s family introduced me to a new type of genealogy record: logs of mining accidents. Maude’s father, Henry Atkinson was in a non-fatal mine accident in 1926.
Maude’s husband, Eugene Schell, was from Frederick and worked in a brush factory. They married in Frederick. In the 1950 census, they were separated, and Maude was back in the Frostburg area working as a seamstress. Maude Schell’s 2006 obituary states that she was a seamstress at the Berkowitz & Flushing Shirt Factory.
Maude was a lifelong member of Trinity Assembly of God, and a member of the choir in 1961. Her other contribution to the 2003 “W.M. Cookbook” is for Creamed Spinach.
Ritz Dessert sometimes appeared in newspapers in the 1980s and 90s, often called “Ritz Cracker Cake.” It’s more of a pie than a cake. With a meringue crust (fortified with Ritz Crackers and nuts), the effect is similar to Angel Pie.
I served this for friends after dinner and it generated conversation and second helpings.
I am not sure I will make it out west before camping season, but when I do, a trip to Frostburg is in order. I want to stand before the church where Welsh miners celebrated Saint David’s Day; to see the post office that used to smell like saffron around Christmastime. And of course, I want to visit Main Street Books, a legendary local institution in its own right.
Recipe:
- 40 Ritz crackers
- 1 Cup chopped nuts
- 1.25 Cup sugar
- 4 egg whites
Beat egg whites until they start to stiffen. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until stiff. Crush Ritz crackers. Add to mixture with nuts. Mix together with egg whites and pour into greased pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
Topping
- 8 oz container Cool Whip (N.B. The original recipe calls for 9oz. container. Shrinkflation!)
- 1 can crushed pineapple, drained (She didn’t specify size, I used a large can)
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
Mix together and spread over cooled cake. Refrigerate.
Recipe adapted from “Women’s Ministries Cook Book,” Trinity Assembly of God, Midlothian, 2003. Contributed by Maude Schell
