Edith's Letter to Grace


Torey found this letter while she was going through things with Grace. "Dad" is Carl Fritz Klotz, my Grampy.


Dear Grace –

Here is the recipe you asked for. I can’t really remember how many it served – but I did save notes on how I adapted the original as a casserole (who says I’m not organized? I was surprised myself to find this!)

Italian Broiled Shrimp

Wash and shell shrimp. Remove veins. Wash again in cold water. Dry. Dust with flour. Put olive oil and butter in flat baking dish and heat under low broiler until butter is melted. Place shrimp in baking dish, broil under low heat for 8 minutes. Add garlic and parsley to drawn butter sauce. Pour over shrimp and stir until all shrimp are coated. Return and broil under high heat for 2–3 minutes. Serve with rice.

Drawn Butter Sauce

Melt 2 tablespoons butter, add 2 tablespoons flour, ½ teaspoon pepper, 1 teaspoon lemon juice and 1 cup hot water. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and cook for 5 minutes. Add another 2 tablespoons butter and stir until melted.

What I did to use as a casserole dish:

I used 2 packages raw, cleaned frozen shrimp (Carnation brand, I think) and cut them up before broiling. Broil and make sauce as above, and then combine with 1 cup rice, (cooked, but measured before cooking, which means about 2 ½ cups cooked rice (I use Uncle Ben’s converted rice) and then the whole thing reheated at serving time.

The original, made with fresh shrimp is really a gem of a recipe (I got it from Life magazine about 15 or 20 years ago). It is important to follow directions, especially broiling time, precisely. But it’s worth it! However, my casserole version is good, too, and much simpler when you have company, because you don’t have so much to concentrate on in the last few minutes before serving. Now that I think of it, I believe it is supposed to serve 4 (the original, not the casserole) but Dad and I used eat most of it ourselves! Make it and enjoy it—I’d dearly love to go through the trouble of cleaning raw shrimp every day if Dad could only eat something with the old enjoyment and zest he used to have.

By the way, would you like the recipe for my famous (or infamous) Frustration Pudding? Surely you remember it.

Strawberry Tapioca Cream [Frustration Pudding]

Combine the beaten yolk and milk in top of a double boiler. Add tapioca, 12 tablespoons sugar and salt, and cool for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and chill. Add vanilla and crushed berries and stir well.

Beat egg whites stiff but not dry. Gradually beat in remaining 4 tablespoons sugar, then fold in tapioca mixture with whipped cream.

If what you achieve is a soupy mess, do not be frustrated! Soak a package of Knox gelatine in 1/4 cup cold water, then add a little hot water and mix into the glop and let it chill until firm.

Happy Cooking —
Love, Mom

(I could have typed this, but it’s much warmer here in the living room than it is in the store!)