Star in My Kitchen
In October 1938, the Salem Times-Register sponsored a “talking motion picture cooking school” at the Salem Theatre. Star in My Kitchen was a full length sponsored silent or early talking motion picture that was shown in local theaters across the United States. This was a promotional cooking school movie and not a commercial film release.
The movie was designed to blend a romantic plot about homemaking with practical cooking demonstrations and recipes sponsored by local businesses and newspapers. Its main purpose was to promote modern kitchen appliances and food products and to teach homemaking skills, often through tie-ins with local newspapers and grocery stores. The film was designed to show close-up, detailed, and accurate cooking methods, allowing attendees to see the preparation of food in a way that was difficult to view in live demonstrations. The movie included recipes, tips on preparing leftovers, methods for entertaining graciously and advice on how to be thrifty in the kitchen.
The narrative centered on a young woman, Dedee Abot, trying to learn cooking to win the heart of the man she loves, reinforcing the old saying “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”.
The movie played to packed houses all three days of its showing. Admission was free and those attending were eligible for a number of prizes including baskets of groceries, kitchenware, cookie tins, and house frocks, all from local sponsors. Remember this was during the Depression, so it was a big deal. The prizes were displayed in the front window of the Salem Times-Register office at 217 College Avenue, a block from the theatre. Everyone received a program with the recipes featured in the movie, and each recipe promoted products from the national sponsors. For example, there was asparagus with Velveeta sauce, Quaker Oats oatmeal cookies, banana tea bread with Pilsbury’s Best Flour, and more. There were tips on laundering clothes with Rinso and washing dishes with Lux so dishpan hands would disappear.
Looking back at the vintage paper and its articles for the movie showings prove that homemaking was the primary job of the time for women. Only women and girls got the recipes and the chance to win prizes. Men were excluded from those, if any actually went to the midday showings. Local home economics classes left school to see the movie and included groups of women from Roanoke County, Salem and Roanoke City. Each movie goer received a copy of the Salem Times-Register as they left the theatre.
I could not find any clips of the movie online at all. Most of the information we have comes from historical newspaper archives such as the Virginia Chronicle, which is the online branch of the Library of Virginia.
Here are some of the recipes from that movie. Most are still found on the packages of the products today.
Crisp Oatmeal Cookies
3 cups Quaker Oats
1 cup brown sugar
¼ cup boiling water
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup Pillsbury’s Best Flour
1 cup Spry shortening, melted
1 teaspoon baking soda
Mix the Quaker Oats with the sugar and flour; add melted Spry and mix well. Dissolve baking soda in boiling water and add mixture. Form the dough into a roll and chill thoroughly. Slice thin and bake in moderate oven (350°F) 5 to 10 minutes.
Banana Tea Bread
1¾ cups sifted Pillsbury’s Best Flour
¾ teaspoon soda
1¼ teaspoons cream of tartar
½ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup Spry shortening
⅔ cup sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
1 cup mashed banana (2 to 3 bananas)
Sift the flour, soda, cream of tartar and salt together 3 times. Rub the shortening to a creamy consistency with the back of a spoon. Stir the sugar, a few tablespoons at a time, into the Spry and continue stirring after each addition until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat well. Add flour mixture, alternately with banana, a small amount at a time. Beat after each addition until smooth. Pour into a well-greased loaf pan and bake in a moderate oven (350° F.) about 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Asparagus with Velveeta Sauce
½ lb. block of Velveeta
1/3 cup milk
Hot cooked asparagus
Slowly heat the Velveeta and milk on the top of a double boiler, stirring occasionally until the Velveeta is melted. Serve a generous amount of this hot sauce over each portion of asparagus. Broccoli works great too!
Here are three of the recipes for tea sandwiches for gracious entertaining.
Sardine Sandwich
Place on a slice of whole wheat bread, a lettuce leaf, cover with a layer of sardines, thin slices of tomatoes and a little mayonnaise.
Baked Bean Sandwich
Mash canned baked beans, season with chili sauce and enough mayonnaise to make a good spreading consistency. Place between slice of Boston brown bread.
Shortcake Sandwich
Baking powder biscuit dough is rolled thin and cut with a large round cutter. Two rounds are baked together with a little butter between them. Separate the biscuits and fill with creamed ham or asparagus tips and cheese sauce.
Ham Hashed Peppers
6 green peppers
1 ½ cups minced cooked ham
1 ½ cups cold cooked potatoes
1 peeled onion minced
1 ½ tablespoons minced parsley
2 strips bacon
1 ½ teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
6 tablespoons water
Pepper
Cut seed, and boil the peppers for 3 minutes. Mix the ham with the potatoes and onion. Add the minced parsley and sauté until well heated but not browned in the bacon fat left after cooking the bacon. Add the remaining ingredients. Stuff the pepper shells generously and bake in an oven 450 degrees for 15 minutes. A little melted butter on top of the hash will aid the browning. I also add a sprinkling of cheese to the top.
