I spent plenty of childhood afternoons dangling my legs beneath
the barstools at Gilroy Bowl in downtown Gilroy.
I spent plenty of childhood afternoons dangling my legs beneath the barstools at Gilroy Bowl in downtown Gilroy. Because my mom worked all week, Saturdays were errand day, the day we’d walk between J.C. Penney’s and Ford’s department stores, looking for dresses for an event, pants for everyday or “unmentionables” that always seemed to disappear. If we were lucky and it was hot, Mom would take us to the bowling alley for a shake and some fries, or maybe a BLT on a splurge day.
Soda fountains appeal to the kid in all of us. Last summer and this one, we spent a week in Sunriver, Oregon, living in a house among a forest of pines, swimming and biking and barbequing. No day was complete without a visit to Goody’s, the soda fountain just down the road with the swivel barstools and 15 kinds of homemade ice cream each day. In the afternoons, the place would be filled with young children and parents. At night, it was a teen hangout, though we showed up, too, to join the throng.
The teenagers who worked there could sling ice cream, though not too quickly. When we did wait for a shake or a double-chocolate malt, it was worth it. All the barstools would be filled with customers, watching the “soda jerks” fill orders.
In the 1800s, they were called “soda dispensers.” Because the fountains were busy places and they didn’t want to bother with writing down orders, they developed code words that were easy to remember. According to the history chapter of sodafountain.com, the calls came to be known throughout the industry and soda dispensers could easily find jobs at a new fountain and immediately communicate with their fellow workers.
If a dispenser shouted out, “Jerk a bridge through Georgia,” it meant he wanted four chocolate sodas. “Jerk” was the term for an ice cream soda, “bridge” was four, and “through Georgia” told the dispenser to add chocolate syrup.
Chocolate ice cream was known as “burn,” so the call “Burn it and let it swim,” meant a chocolate ice cream float. “Burn a crowd,” meant three chocolate shakes. And “One all the way” meant a chocolate soda with chocolate ice cream, the ultimate pleasure.
Of course, the calls went beyond ice cream. Some referred to customers, such as a “Ninety-five,” a customer who left without paying their bill, and “Saturday night special,” an easily dated girl.
Here are a few more I thought you’d enjoy:
“Chewed fine with a breath,” a hamburger with onion.
“Ground hog,” hot dog on a bun.
“Hounds on an island,” hot dogs and beans.
“Bellywash,” soup.
“Whistle berries,” beans.
“Shake one in the hay,” strawberry shake.
“Twelve alive in the shell,” a dozen oysters.
“Shoot one,” a small glass of Coca Cola.
“Shoot one and stretch it,” a large glass of Coca Cola.
“Fish eggs,” tapioca.
“Nervous pudding,” Jell-O.
The soda fountains must have been fun places, then, with customers trying to figure out what their neighbors were ordering. Some customers would ask for a “Mary Garden,” so others wouldn’t know they were ordering a laxative.
I found out that my grandfather wasn’t alone in calling lettuce “rabbit food.” And I discovered one option I would never, ever order: An “eye opener” which is short for castor oil in sarsaparilla. Hmmmm. Anyone for “chewed fine with a breath” followed by “fish eggs”?
• Farmers’ special: This recipe comes from “The Farmhouse Cookbook,” by Susan Hermann Loomis. These vegetables are ready now, fresh and perfect at local farmers’ markets. Go get some and make this fresh, easy combination. Make sure you have a loaf of crusty bread to sop up the juice.
Herbed Summer Vegetables
1/4 cup loosely packed mixed fresh herbs, such as oregano, basil or chives
8 oz. feta cheese
3 T. extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb. yellow patty-pan squash, trimmed and cut vertically into 1/4-inch
thick slices
8 oz. green beans, trimmed and cut diagonally into 1/2-inch pieces
1 lb. ripe tomatoes, cored and coarsely chopped
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh dill
Mince the mixed herbs, except dill. Crumble the feta cheese into a small bowl. Drizzle it with 2 T. of olive oil and stir in the minced herbs until thoroughly incorporated. Set aside.
Heat the remaining 1 T. olive oil in a wok or a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot but not smoking, add the squash and cook, stirring constantly, until it begins to soften, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the beans and toss to mix. Cook, stirring constantly, until they begin to turn a vivid green, 3 to 5 minutes.
Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring constantly, until the squash is translucent, the beans are crisp-tender, and the tomatoes have softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat.
Mince the dill and add to the vegetables, mixing well so it is evenly distributed. Transfer the vegetables to a warmed serving platter, distribute the seasoned feta cheese on top, and serve immediately.
• Summer may be over … But some of our local produce is at its peak. Please use the fall to eat fresh veggies that just do not taste the same the rest of the year. Head to the Morgan Hill Farmers Market on Saturday mornings or LJB Farms or Fukigawa’s fruit stand, anywhere there are fresh finds. This recipe is from Iron Horse Vineyards in Sebastopol.
Iron Horse Cucumber Salad
2 large cucumbers, peeled, seeded and diced
1 large onion, peeled and sliced paper thin
1 large bunch radishes, trimmed and sliced into rounds
1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded and cut into thin strips
1 small bunch fresh cilantro, rinsed and dried, stems removed
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 T. fresh minced ginger
Salt and pepper
Place cucumbers, onion, radishes and bell pepper in a large bowl and toss well. If they are not prechilled, cover and refrigerate for an hour. Mince the cilantro leaves.
Drizzle the rice vinegar over the vegetables, sprinkle the cilantro and the ginger over them, and toss thoroughly to combine. Season to taste and serve immediately.
• Relaxing roast: This is for a sleepy Sunday. The recipe is from Naples and is best with firm, waxy potatoes. If they’re small, keep them whole.
Roast Pork with Sage and Potatoes
2 T. minced garlic
2 T. minced fresh sage leaves or 2 tsp. dried sage
Salt and pepper to taste
About 2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes (or left whole, as above)
2 T. olive oil, plus more if needed
1 (3 to 4-lb.) pork loin roast, bone-in or 1 (2 to 3-lb.) boneless roast, or
a similar size portion of fresh ham
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Mix together the garlic, sage, salt and pepper. Put the potatoes in a roasting pan that is also large enough to hold the pork, and toss them with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and about 1 teaspoon of the garlic-sage mixture. Place the roasting pan in the oven while you prepare the pork.
Using a thin-bladed knife and your fingers, make slits all over the pork and insert most of the remaining garlic-sage mixture. Spread the rest of it all over the outside of the roast, and nestle it among the potatoes. Pour a little more olive oil over the meat and place it in the oven.
Roast, undisturbed, for 30 minutes. Remove it from the oven, stir the potatoes, and baste the pork with a little of the pan juices. Lower the heat to 325 degrees and continue to cook, stirring the potatoes every 15 minutes or so. After 1 1/4 hours of total cooking time, begin to check the meat.
When an instant-read thermometer registers 150 degrees, remove the meat to a warm platter.
While the meat rests for 10 to 15 minutes, turn the oven heat up to 450 degrees to make sure the potatoes are done and crisp. Carve the meat and serve with the potatoes.
Tip of the Week:
Did you put too much garlic into your soup? Just swirl a few sprigs of parsley around in the soup. The garlic will be trapped in the leaves and you can then discard the parsley.
Notes from Jenny’s Kitchen
• Making a quick soup dinner? Liven it up with toppers such as croutons, crisp bacon, diced hard-boiled egg, shredded cheese, crispy onions, parsley or Parmesan cheese.
• A fun story about New England clam chowder from gumbopages.com: New England clam chowder was first prepared by colonists who watched wild pigs dig up clams for food. They realized that the clams were a good food source and started making soup from them. Some made the “chowder” with milk and some with tomatoes and neither agreed on which recipe was the best. The one thing they agreed on was that the chowder had to have a very strong clam flavor with lots of clams and potatoes. And what clam was prefered: Quahogs, of course, named after the wild pigs.
• Next time you prepare stock, put a pasta strainer in the pot. When you are ready, ingredients that need to be discarded can easily be lifted out.
End notes: “Luck affects everything. Let your hook always be cast; in the stream where you least expect it there will be a fish.” ~ Ovid
