Newsgathering where they feed you

Now that's the kind of newsgathering I like to do - going to the places where they feed you.
On Tuesday night, I took some time to attend a Tecumseh District Library presentation "Elbow Grease and Wood Smoke: Michigan's Culinary History." It was presented by historians Larry and Priscilla Massie. The Massie's also have written an award-winning cookbook, "Walnut Pickles and Watermelon Cake: A Century of Michigan Cookery," which is also available at the library. I was surprised and delighted to see a recipe for Tomato Soup Cake in there, a cake my mother always made for me when I planned to visit. Many in the midwest have not heard of the concoction and go, "Ew. Tomato soup in a cake?" It turns the batter orange, but it is essentially a spice cake.
The Massie's both had pleasant demeanors and a good sense of humor as Larry held up mysterious tools from the couple's culinary collection, asking if the audience knew what they were used for. He got the audience to laughing when he showed how women used to determine the temperature of the oven before oven thermometers and sensors (by holding an arm in the oven and counting), telling how they could, chase the pain with a swig of solution for medicinal purposes that sat on the stove in a glass bottle, with the concoction made of 40 percent alcohol and a touch of cocaine.
As Larry talked, Priscilla cooked aebelskiver,a Danish recipe from 1890, which smelled so good. At the end of the presentation came the best part: the audience got to sample the soft little puffs rolled in confectionary sugar. DEEE-LI-CIOUS! Sometimes she adds blueberries or apples to them, Priscilla said.
The event will be described more fully in a feature story for Homefront Magazine next Fall.