Contributed by:
Linda LaRoque
(lindalaroque.com)
Contemporary Western and Time Travel Romance
Story behind the recipe – In rural communities around Mt. Calm, Texas, folks loved Martha’s Fruit Salad. When the church or community gathered, it was always a hit. She made a butter churn full. Martha, my grandmother, hailed from Gizzards Cove, Tennessee. A WAY BACK, set in the 1930s oil fields of Texas, is a time and area very similar to where Grandma Riley settled in Hill County.
What you’ll need
- 6 apples – peeled and cut finely
- 6 bananas – peeled and sliced
- 1 lb. raisins – soaked overnight – I’m assuming in water.
- nuts – probably pecans – cut finely
Dressing
- 4 eggs, well beaten
- 2 T flour.
- 1 cup boiled vinegar
- 1 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 T dry mustard
- Pinch of salt
- Butter (about the size of a walnut)
Steps to the process
- Soak raisins overnight. Drain before combining with other fruit.
- Slice apples and bananas. Chop pecans.
- Mix dry ingredients and add beaten eggs.
- Add mixture to the boiling vinegar, stirring quickly, and continue to boil until thick.
- Cool before pouring over fruit and stir. Store leftover salad in the ice box.
Comments – This is a very old recipe. My grandmother was an excellent cook but money was tight and fruit was a treat they had only at Christmas. You can imagine what a delicacy this was for them.
Blurb from A WAY BACK – Amber Mathis, a Wall Street investment banker, returns to her office after burying her mother. Distraught, tired of the rat race, she’s determined to make a career change. In the elevator, she falls and rises to find herself in a vintage lift. The date is February 25, 1930, and a man stands on the window ledge in her office ready to jump. Wellman Hathaway, owner and CEO of Hathaway Bank in New York struggles to pay his depositors half their losses. A woman claiming to be from the future appears in his office and involves him in a scheme that forces them into marriage. With Amber’s knowledge of the financial history of the 1930s, they travel to the oil fields of Texas to recoup Wellman’s funds.