Push, pull, push, pull, use even strokes and stay within the lines. Now circles, spiral after spiral across the page; keep them even, uniform and between the lines, please.
It was called penmanship, and we all had to learn it, no excuses. As I recall, it began in second grade, continued through third and fourth, and by fifth grade it was expected that we’d all be turning in our work done in legible, reasonably neat handwriting, aka cursive writing.
“Few incoming freshmen in the Class of 2014 know how to write in cursive…” (From the “Mindset List For Class of 2014”).
That item, from a recently published article about cultural references that today’s incoming college students won’t recognize, not only shocked me, but forced me to face a generation gap that is rapidly becoming more akin to the Grand Canyon. Every time I hang out with any of our grandchildren, little things like my inability to take photos with my phone, or publish my thoughts about anything and everything on my Facebook page, make me very aware that I’m hopelessly behind in the use of today’s technology. Never mind that I see little benefit in my even having a Facebook page; that isn’t what matters these days.
Another item on the Mindset List was wristwatches. According to the article, few incoming college freshmen have ever worn a wristwatch.
I, who’ve worn a wristwatch every day of my life since I was 17, find that incredible. No wristwatch? Do they never need to know what time it is, I wondered?
Of course they do, but they look at their phone or their computer, not a watch. Whenever I remember to turn on my cell phone, there it is, date and time. Same with my computer. But it’s my wristwatch I check when I’m on my way to an appointment, or making a mental evaluation of which ferry I’ll be on when I’m heading home.
And when someone asks me if I have the time, I don’t have to find my cell phone to give them an answer.
Curious about the lack of cursive writing, I asked two recently visiting granddaughters (who never wear wristwatches) to sign their names on a sheet of paper, anxious to see what would happen. They both printed their names!
“No,” I said, “I mean show me your signature, what you would sign on checks or your bank account card, if you had one.”
Again, they carefully printed their names; neither “wrote” their name.
I didn’t push the issue, but can’t help wondering how easy it might be to copy someone’s signature if it’s printed rather than written. Is every person’s printed signature as individual as we’ve been led to believe written ones are?
The Mindset List is published every year and is meant to remind college teachers that cultural references they might make in class may draw only blank stares because referring to something from the 1970s or ’80s means nothing to kids born in 1991 or ’92.
Well, this unfortunately means that I’ll have to forget about making cultural references to the better part of my life.
It’s probably pointless to ask if anyone out there thinks hot pants or ducktail haircuts will make a comeback.
RECIPES
Food and cooking are such a part of any culture, I have to believe that, just as our cultural references become outdated and unrelated to each new generation, so do our food preferences and eating habits. But just because something is old, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not worth learning about or keeping around. Here, straight from the ’60s, is a cake recipe that was all the rage when it first hit American kitchens.
I still use it, often.
PUDDING CAKE, QUICK AND EASY
1 pkg. cake mix (see note below for type)
1 pkg. (small, not double) instant pudding mix (see note)
4 eggs
¾ cup water
½ cup salad (vegetable) oil
Beat eggs until thick and lemon yellow. Add cake mix, dry pudding mix, water and oil. Beat on low until well blended, then beat on med. speed for 10 min. Pour batter into a 10-inch tube pan with removable side. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 50 min., or until cake tests done (light tap on top springs back or tester comes out clean.) Remove from oven and allow to cool on a rack for 10 min.; then slide a sharp knife around outer edge of cake and remove sides, then carefully remove from bottom. If you’re going to put a glaze on the cake, do it while the cake is warm. Use a long-tined fork to make holes in top of cake and pour a light glaze layer on. When cake cools, you can add another layer of glaze, if desired.
NOTE: The great thing about this recipe is the variations you can make as far as the cake mix and pudding. Use lemon cake mix and lemon pudding to make a lemony cake, which you can then coat with lemon glaze. Or use a spice cake mix with vanilla or butterscotch pudding to make a delicious spice/buttery tasting cake, and frost it with buttercream frosting. Try a chocolate cake mix with chocolate pudding, with a chocolate ganache or chocolate glaze, or buttercream frosting. Strawberry cake mix with berry or cherry pudding; white cake mix with pistachio pudding, etc. etc. There are many possible combinations if you experiment, and best of all, you can come up with a delicious, different, special cake using the same recipe, varying only the cake, pudding and frosting.
Another variation of this type of cake seemed to turn up at every party for several years during the mid to late ’60s, the Harvey Wallbanger Cake, named, of course, after the equally ubiquitous drink during that period.
HARVEY WALLBANGER CAKE
1 Orange Supreme cake mix
1 pkg. (3¾ oz.) instant vanilla pudding
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup frozen orange juice concentrate mixed with ½ cup water
4 eggs
6 T. Galiano
2 T. vodka
In a large bowl, blend together the cake mix, pudding mix; add remaining ingredients and beat well for 5 min. Pour the batter into a greased and floured 10-inch tube pan. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 45 to 55 min., or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Cool in pan for 15 min., then remove from pan to a cake plate. While still warm, frost with confectioners’ sugar icing made by blending 1 cup confectioners’ sugar with 1 T. orange juice, 1½ T. Galiano and
1 T. vodka, until smooth. Spread over warm cake.
Remember tomato aspic, in any of its many forms? If you do, then you, too, are “of a certain age.” It appeared on buffet tables, bridge tables, dinner tables and in restaurants across the country for a decade or so, then seemed to disappear. It’s still a very enjoyable summertime treat, for lunch or dinner.
JIFFY TOMATO ASPIC
1 can (14 oz.) tomato juice
1 pkg. lemon or meat-flavored gelatin
1 T. vinegar
1 cup minced celery
3 T. minced green pepper
1 T. grated onion
1/2 t. salt
1/2 cup diced cucumber (peeled and seeded, or use small Persian cukes, no seeding or peeling necessary)
Bring tomato juice to boiling; remove from heat, add gelatin and stir until dissolved. Add remaining ingredients. Pour mixture into 6 oiled small molds, or into 1 large oiled mold. Refrigerate to solidify. Serve with mayonnaise (which is what the recipe calls for, but I prefer tomato aspic with a small dollop of Greek yogurt. Serves 6.
Note: You can use any mixture of celery, peppers, onion, cucumber, shrimp, tuna, etc.; as long as you keep it to about 2 cups of solids to add to the gelatin.
