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Mom always said that her younger sister had been the cute and popular one when they were children. Named Gretchen Virginia, the family called her Gretchen, a solid German name that reflected my Grandfather Romberg’s ancestry. But anti-German sentiment ran high at the onset of World War I and, to avoid unwarranted prejudice, her parents decided to use her middle name instead.
Despite the family’s financial uncertainty during the Depression, Aunt Virginia graduated in Home Economics from Iowa State University, just as Mom had done. Her interest focused on textiles and design rather than cooking, and she would have been a skilled business woman except that she lived in an era when married women didn’t work outside their homes unless they had to. After a brief teaching career, she married and devoted her time to raising three daughters.
After her husband, La Monte, returned from Navy service in World War II, the family moved to northern Virginia. Our trips to see them always included sightseeing excursions to Washington, DC, but I also remember the hearty meals we enjoyed around their dining room table. Uncle Monte had the endearing habit of referring to his each of his daughters as “Love”, and that particularly impressed me.
One of Aunt Virginia’s wholesome recipes was for chili, a dish I made often when my children were young. It makes an easy and reliable meal designed to please a hungry family.
Chili (Virginia Davis)
2 pounds lean ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
1 tablespoon lard (see note)
2 cans Campbell's tomato soup
1 small can chopped tomatoes
2 14-ounce cans red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon chili powder or to taste
1 teaspoon salt
Fry beef and onion in shortening until browned. Cover mixture with water and bring to simmer. Add remaining ingredients and simmer slowly for an hour.
My Note: Contemporary cooks may prefer to use vegetable or olive oil to brown the meat and onions. The recipe calls for simmering two hours but one hour is sufficient.
Even as a child my mother didn’t like exercise and preferred to stay indoors to learn homemaking skills, an inclination that endured all her life. In contrast, high-spirited Virginia played outside all day, chasing around with the neighborhood kids, climbing trees and enjoying hard exercise. Still slim and active in her 80s when I visited her home, Aunt Virginia started to carry my heavy bag up to the second floor guest room. Only my firm insistence persuaded her to let me do it.
The value of quick breads to a busy cook can’t be denied, and the best kind can be thrown together at the last minute to add that perfect touch to a meal. Mom’s notation in her cookbook about her sister’s Orange Bread recipe states that it’s excellent, and I agree.
Virginia’s Orange Bread
2 cups flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
½ cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
½ cup milk
Pinch of salt
½ cup walnuts, if desired
Orange Syrup:
Mix together rind of two oranges, cut into strips, ½ cup sugar and ½ cup water. Cook in small pan until thick and syrupy.
Mix all ingredients except the syrup as for quick breads. Add orange syrup, including rind and chopped nuts.
Pour into a loaf pan and bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes. Bread is done when tooth pick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean.
Long before e-mails and cell phones threatened to make letter writing a dying art form, Mom and her siblings depended on letters to keep in touch. They continued this exchange of letters throughout their lives, and I always enjoyed reading them. When she knew I was coming for a visit, my mother would save Aunt Virginia and Uncle Ken’s most recent letters so I could spend some quiet moments catching up on family news.
Mom didn’t make cheesecake when I was growing up even though recipes for it can be found as far back as 17th century England. Probably that delicious dessert hadn’t caught her fancy yet but, sometime later one of Aunt Virginia’s letters contained a recipe for authentic New York-style cheesecake. Again, Mom’s cookbook notation says that it’s the best and it is. I don’t make this recipe often, because I might eat the whole thing myself!
Virginia’s Cheese Cake
Crust:
½ to ¾ package Zwieback or graham crackers
1/3 cup sugar
2 ounces melted butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Butter a 10-inch pie plate. Crumble Zwieback or graham crackers with a rolling pin and put into a bowl. Mix in sugar, butter and cinnamon. Pat along sides and bottom of pie plate.
Filling:
1 pound cream cheese, softened to room temperature
3 eggs
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Beat ingredients together. Pour into crust and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool for 20 minutes.
Topping:
1 pint sour cream
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Beat ingredients together until fluffy. Pour onto cooled cake. Bake 10 minutes at 425 degrees. Cool and store in refrigerator. Serves eight.
The three Romberg siblings gathered for one last reunion in 1995. All had survived their spouses, and Mom was 91, the other two nearing that advanced decade. Aunt Virginia’s only granddaughter and namesake, nicknamed VA, arranged the trip and flew with her grandmother to Omaha, met Uncle Ken at the airport there and drove them in a rental car to Harlan. VA took pictures and generally paved the way for a carefree time for the three. The pictures show them looking at old family photo albums; Uncle Kenneth, being the kind gentleman he was as he pushed Aunt Virginia’s chair into place at the dinner table; the two of them standing in front of their childhood home in Red Oak and at the native prairie near Harlan; Mom about to serve her 92nd birthday cake and smiling from the front car seat as she waited to leave on another drive. These photos document just some of the many priceless moments they shared throughout in their long lives together.
Recipes are from the collection of Anna May Cullison.
