Spanish Rice & Ham A La Creole, “Tuscanna’s Favorite Cooking Recipes”

These two recipes come from a cookbook put out by the “Tuscanna Chapter No. 24, Order of the Eastern Star “ in 1932. As with previous masonic cookbooks I’ve cooked from, I can’t really come up with a lot of information. Order of the Eastern Star certainly has a cool-ass logo though! Open to both men and women, the “O.E.S.” was “approved as an appendant body of the Masonic Fraternity in 1873.” (wikipedia) Chick.com declares the order a “cult” which “no Christian woman should join.”

The Tuscanna chapter was established in Baltimore sometime around 1913, and occasionally appeared in the news hosting banquets and parties, such as a 1931 “measuring party” which awarded a prize to the person with the smallest waist.

In 1921, 15 members sued the organization in Baltimore. It seems that the plaintiffs were kicked out of the Order of the Eastern Star because they also became members of the Order of the White Shrine of Jerusalem. The case appears in some legal databases but… I have no idea what any of it means.

I couldn’t find much biographical information on the members who contributed these two recipes. Margaret R. Everton was a Baltimore school teacher born around 1890. Her family lived at 3216 Auchentoroly Terrace.

Her recipe for “Ham A La Creole” is kind of bizarre. I couldn’t find anything like it in other sources. A slice of ham is layered with sweet potatoes and covered with milk. The result is that the milk curdles and turns into a cheese almost. Visually, it is a tad repulsive but flavor-wise it’s as good as whatever kind of ham you use.

Mrs. T. Albert Cassell is even more elusive, but I traced this “Spanish Rice” recipe directly to a 1914 cookbook “The Story of Crisco” by Marion Harris Neil. I thought it was weird that the recipe called for Crisco in the first place and used lard. Sorry Marion Harris Neil!

Recipes:

Spanish Rice

• .5 Cup Crisco
• .5 Cup grated cheese
• 6 Tablespoons rice
• 1 can tomatoes
• 5 small onions (I used 3 because that seems… a bit much)
• 1 Cup hot water
• Salt to taste
• Red pepper to taste
• .25 Cup chopped olives

Wash rice and put in bowl, add Crisco, seasonings, cheese, hot water, tomatoes, olives and onions cut in small pieces. Turn into a Pyrex baking dish and bake in moderate oven 1 hour or until rice is tender.

Ham A La Creole

A slice of ham, cover with sweet potatoes sliced; immerse the whole thing in milk dotted with butter. Bake in a hot oven until the potatoes are browned.

Recipes from “Tuscanna’s Favorite Cooking Recipes”, Tuscanna Chapter No. 24, Order of the Eastern Star, Baltimore, MD. 1932