Cooking with Florence and Isa and Terry

When I was a kid, I was fascinated by TV cooking shows -- obsessed actually -- especially by one in particular. There were many Wednesdays when I faked being sick so I could stay home from school, blanket to my chin, cup of tea on my nightstand, to watch Florence Hanford's TV Kitchen. It was one of the nation's first cooking shows.

There was something so comfortably Philadelphia and still so otherworldly about Florence P. Hanford-- her tightly-controlled hair -- no strand ever getting into the food -- and constant fast patter, her seriousness about the perfectibility of a meal.

And the dishes she created! It wasn't that my mother was a bad cook; she was just such a predictable cook. Chicken, always broiled, on Mondays. Spaghetti and meatballs on Tuesdays, etc. Mom was also "modern" in that early 1960s sense, meaning that so many of her ingredients came out of cans and the freezer.

Not Florence! Chatting away with her viewers, Florence diced and stuffed and chopped and mixed and whipped and poured and rolled and used so many fabulous utensils that I never knew existed - lemon juicers and garlic presses and wire whisks. I practically swooned over her rubber spatula, the slurping, sloshing sound it made while moving viscous cake batter out of the metal bowl into the cake pan -- a pan that had already been buttered by Florence's confident and efficient hands.

Here's a typical menu that Florence prepared each week -- without ever burning a thing:

Rib Roast of Beef

Milk Gravy

Browned Potatoes

Peas and Carrots with herbs

Cucumber Tomato Aspic

Nippy Mayonnaise

Chive Bread

Chilled Fresh Fruit Cup

Wonderful Loaf Cake

I found this link, where there's an actual clip of Florence in action: http://broadcastpioneers.tripod.com/kyw/hanford.html

Plus, a link with actual Florence recipes, such as her All-in-One salad:http://www.ichef.com/recipe.cfm/recipe/All-In-One%20Salad%20Bowl/category/Salad%20Recipes/itemid/109991/task/display/recipeid/95255/recipecategoryid/61

There's also a tell-all interview with Florence in 2002, still living in the Philly area. She talks about the early days of cooking shows, how she had to use gelatin at 7 times the usual amount so her Jell-o mold wouldn't melt under the hot lights. I never suspected a thing!!!!www.geocities.com/bpofphila/hanford1.html

I never actually wanted to BE Florence. She was too old, too motherly. I wanted to grow up to be her assistant, the lovely young woman in wool skirt, cashmere sweater and heels, who walked the finished dish out of the kitchen and placed it on the perfectly-set table for the end-of-show presentation. Over the years of TV Kitchen, the girls changed. Invariably polite, Florence always addressed them by name. I so envied the Bev or Judy or Darleen or Barbara -- these slim-ankled, pert-breasted home ec majors -- who did the brisk walk, camera following, of taking the Skirt Steak Roll-ups to the table.

Enter ISA AND TERRY with their delighful baked goods. I am so glad to see this tradition of the womanly art of cooking continuing on the Internet. Now I want to trade places with Florence's tattooed, kick-ass spiritual granddaughters -- Isa Moskowitz and Terry Romero --the two culinary stars of Post Punk Kitchen, which can be seen on Brooklyn cable and right here on the Internet.

Thanks to my friend Susie who shares my love of all things domestic (except bathroom cleaning) for sending me this link. http://www.theppk.com/ These vegetarian, guitar-playing, fun-loving girls can really whip up a cupcake (and sushi and matzo ball soup sans the chicken).

Check out their show and recipes. Whip up something wonderful and then invite me for dinner. I'll even help walk the dishes from the kitchen to the table.