A faded cover. A ragged spine. Well-thumbed pages. These are not flaws, but evidence of this vintage Blue Ribbon Cook Book’s untold tales. I treasure this little volume dedicated to the ‘women of Canada’ more than a century ago.
The engraved image of the Blue Ribbon Limited headquarters doesn’t set it apart. While the obscure reference to ‘entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada’ is fascinating, it’s not what makes this cookbook special.
The lofty sentiment of Lord Lytton’s poem in the foreword praising the importance of cooks for civilized man isn’t remarkable. The recipes in tiny type with instructions that assumed a baker already knew her way around the kitchen isn’t unusual either.
Its Owner Was a Dear Soul
Knowing the cookbook’s original owner distinguishes this collectible from similar hardcovers. The lady was Elizabeth Mary Monahan, a kind, white-haired Scottish widow. She lived with her brother, Tommy McGunigal, in a small home over the hill from the Calgary Stampede Grounds in Calgary.
It was only by chance that Mrs. Mon and Tommy entered our lives. One day, fate smiled and an unexpected lifetime friendship flourished between the sister and brother and my mother.
In the 1930s, Mom was taking a dressmaking and millinery course in Calgary at the Provincial Institute of Technology-Art (later the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology and now SAIT Polytechnic). Because she needed to work to earn her room and board, Mom answered an ad in The Calgary Herald. Mrs. Mon, who was recovering from an operation, was seeking a young woman to live in to help with housework, cooking and laundry.
The Scotswoman saw the young farm girl as a hardworking, honest applicant. Mom was serious, too. Mrs. Mon wouldn’t be hiring a party girl. A staunch Roman Catholic, Mrs. Mon overlooked the fact that Mom was Protestant.
Mom, who took an immediate liking to Mrs. Mon and Tommy, whose accents were similar to her stepfather’s, was happy to land the job. Over time, the relationship blossomed, first to respect, then to affection and finally to love. Although the day came when Mom left the employ of Mrs. Mon and Tommy, the three stayed friends all their lives.
To us kids, Mrs. Mon was like another grandmother. We regarded Tommy, a World War I veteran who still suffered from mustard gas exposure in the trenches of France, like a treasured great-uncle.
Although Mom didn’t go to Calgary regularly, when she did, she often arranged to see her old friends. As she made her way up their sidewalk with one or two of us kids in tow, Mom would be carrying a heavy brown paper shopping bag. Inside, wrapped in newspapers were jars of jam and pickles, plus several cartons of eggs. Always tucked in was a small jar of heavy cream from Mom’s Jersey cow, as well as portions of home-baked treats like Matrimonial Cake.
The sister and brother would welcome Mom with open arms as if she was a daughter or favored niece. With one smile, Mom could singlehandedly banish the sister’s and brother’s loneliness as they hurriedly made her a cup of tea. Then we would sit and visit.
Mrs. Mon still mourned the loss of her husband, John, who had died young. A gifted stonemason who worked on the lions on Calgary’s Centre Street Bridge, he also built the stout stone fence in front of their little wood frame home.
Mrs. Mon and Tommy sometimes shared memories of their lives in the ‘old country.’ On one such occasion, Mrs. Mon related her harrowing immigration story.
From Scotland to Calgary
Mrs. Mon and her husband emigrated from Great Britain to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada in 1907. Their ship, the SS Laurentian, was also known as ‘Rolling Poly.’ Whether caused by the constant rocking of the ship or sickness of another sort, Mrs. Mon was ill when it docked.
The Canadian immigration doctor flatly refused to allow Mrs. Mon to enter Canada. She was abruptly hustled off to an infirmary. Meanwhile, John was sent on his way, gripping his prepaid ticket to the Canadian west in his hand.
So John traveled to Calgary. Since the city was booming, he had no trouble getting a job in his trade. He told his new employer that he would need to leave the job daily to meet the passenger train from the east because his wife would be joining him anytime.
What Had Happened to His Wife?
Every day for three weeks, he stood waiting on the platform for her. Then he turned and walked back to work.
John began to fear the worst but had no means of checking on his beloved Mary.
Meanwhile, in Halifax, Mrs. Mon gradually recuperated and finally was allowed to enter Canada. Clutching her ticket and a valise, she had no idea how to contact her husband in far away Calgary. So she got on the train and settled in for the long, monotonous, uncomfortable trip.
This was downtown Calgary in the era when Mrs. Mon stepped off the train alone.
On the day John was running late to get to the station, his prayers were answered.
When he spied his bewildered wife slowly walking toward him on 8th avenue, he wept with relief. When she recognized her husband rushing toward her with outstretched arms, Mrs. Mon said she wept, too.
Never again was the couple separated until John’s death.
Another Vintage Cookbook Tale
On a blank page in the back of the little cookbook, Mrs. Mon wrote a recipe for Matrimonial Cake that a friend had passed along to her. This scrumptious date and oatmeal square always reminds me of Mrs. Mon and my mother’s cake box where sweet treats like it were stored.
Here’s a version of the recipe with simple directions on how to prepare it.
Matrimonial Cake
Crumb Layers:
1¼ C flour 1½ C rolled oats
1 C packed brown sugar 1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt 1 C butter
Measure flour, oats, sugar, baking soda, salt and butter into a large bowl. Cut butter into the ingredients until crumbly. Press more than half of the crumbs into a greased 9×9-inch pan. Set the rest of the crumbs aside for the topping.
Filling:
½ lb. dates, cut up ½ C granulated sugar
⅔ C water (or more)
In a saucepan, combine dates, sugar and water. Bring to a boil and simmer until the dates are mushy and the water has boiled away. (If the mixture becomes dry before the dates are cooked, add more water.) Spread dates over the bottom crumb layer and sprinkle the remaining crumbs over the top.
Press down with your hand. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 30 minutes until it turns a rich, golden brown color.
Have you ever tasted Matrimonial Cake? If not, why don’t you bake one and let me know if you agree it’s good old-fashioned comfort food.
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What a great story, Elaine! I so appreciate your sharing of memories about people who lived not so long ago, really. And thanks for the recipe, too!
Thank you, Elinor. After Mrs. Mon’s death, Mom still kept in touch with Tommy, although we didn’t have a phone. One day, a letter addressed to “Mrs. Taylor, Midnapore” arrived in our rural mailbox. Tommy wrote, “I’m in the Belcher (Hospital).” Although by then that wasn’t our mailing address, somehow the letter found Mom because Tommy needed her. He died not long afterward.
Thanks, Elaine, for your wonderful story! I have several old cookbooks similar to yours, as well as one that belonged to my great-grandmother. It’s completely handwritten – some recipes in German and some in English. The edges of the pages that are bound together with string were obviously eaten by mice, probably a century ago. Having something written and used by my great-grandmother is a wonderful treasure – a tangible connection to my ancestral heritage. When I was a child, I had the privilege of enjoying some of her recipes that were prepared in her kitchen by her daughter, my great-aunt, who cooked on the same wood cook stove that her mother used. Those memories are forever imprinted in my mind.
Carolyn, what wonderful keepsakes those old family cookbooks are, all the more treasured because of their history. I love that some of the recipes were in German. Before tapes of all types were available, string was used for so many purposes and remember the old glue – a little flour and a little water? I’ve found when I try to replicate a taste from my childhood by using the same recipe, it never tastes quite as good as it does in my memory. I think there’s something to the notion that foods are better when they’re made with love.
I love my old cookbooks-and especially the ones with my relatives notes in them. They bring back such wonderful memories
You’re so right, Jan. Those handwritten recipes take us back in time. I also marvel at the handwriting. So many of the women had an elegant style that we rarely, if ever, see anymore. Good memories!
This touches my heart in so many ways. Similar family friends that should be blood related as we love each other that much. The recipe must be special all over the world. The heart of the whole story. Thank you…love you my friend.
Thank you, my friend, Gesine. Isn’t it wonderful when strong personal connections create feelings of love and respect? It’s then that we tie heartstrings! We need more of that in the world.
Elaine, I absolutely love this story and the pictures just add to it! I have a two volume cookbook that my mom and dad got for their wedding back in 1948. I still to this day on holidays make the dressing that my mom made from it. This Sunday is our class’s day to bring a breakfast item to share between church and Sunday school. If I can find dates, I am going to try and make your Matrimonial Cake. Thanks for making my morning with this touching story. I would have loved to have met Mrs. Mon and her brother Tommy.
How wonderful that you have a treasured cookbook from your folks when they got married. I bet it’s filled with some heritage recipes that are simple, yet truly delicious. You can find dried dates near the raisins in the grocery store. Let me know if you bake a Matrimonial Cake. If you do, think of Mom, Mrs. Mon and Tommy when it comes out of the love!
Thank you for sharing your story of this special family friend. I am so glad you have her cookbook as a remembrance. My mama made a similar date and pecan cake. Sometimes, she made it by cooking dried apricots instead of dates. I don’t think she called it matrimonial cake, but it was delicious. I have made it many times, though not recently. Now, my mouth is watering, and I think I have to try Mrs. Mon’s matrimonial cake recipe!
Glad you enjoyed the story of Mrs. Mon and Tommy. Your mama’s date and pecan cake sounds delicious, too. Hadn’t thought of using dried apricots, but I bet I’d love that taste! Let me know if you like Matrimonial Cake. It freezes well. I think the reason it was so popular back in the days before big fridges and home freezers was because it would keep indefinitely in a cake box.
What a wonderful story, Elaine. I have a stained, tattered, taped up and repaired copy of the same cookbook, filled with a variety of handwritten notes, with a few additional recipes slipped into the pages or written in the back: Peanut Brittle, Old Time Potato Loaves, (from 1966), Mrs. Rutherford’s White Fruit Cake — I do not know a Mrs. Rutherford and feel sad that I cannot ask my grandmother or aunt who she was; Three Day Buns, Sour Cream Cookies, Rocks, Lemon Soufflé, Hermit Cake (“keeps nicely”), Salad Dressing — two versions, and Rhubarbade — “chill and add one part of the juice to two parts of water. Colour as desired.” Revised Edition, 1932 and it still has a coupon, price 25c to send a cookbook to a friend! I use this cookbook for the basics: custard, for example, when I make Trifle. It is a keeper!
And my sister says she has a copy that was her mother-in-law’s. The Blue Ribbon Cook Book must have been very popular, perhaps because it was so practical. The recipes in the back of yours sound enticing. I love that ‘Hermit Cake kept nicely.’ That was certainly a sign of those times. It’s interesting that you have lots of other cookbook choices, but still pull out the oldest you have for certain foods. Sorry to say, though, that Mrs. Mon’s book doesn’t have the coupon. Perhaps she redeemed it by sending a copy to a friend?
Maybe she redeemed it…or she received a copy as a gift from a friend. It is a very practical book. I found that she is buried in the St. Mary’s Cemetery in Calgary. I will add the link to your story to her page. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/135190321/elizabeth-mary-monaghan
Anne, how can I thank you? Early this morning, Mrs. Mon and Tommy were anonymous and by this evening, their photo is on Find-A-Grave with a link to their story. It’s really touching. Mom would have been so touched that they will be remembered.
I will try to make time to try the Matrimonial Cake later, BUT the Pound Cake recipe (minus the lemon juice) is exactly my mother-in-law’s recipe and I have made it many times as she did. Freemon loved it toasted for breakfast!
Brenda
Pound cake toasted for breakfast sounds delicious! Sounds like favorite recipes and where you got them would be an excellent topic for a future column. Bet you have some treasures!