The Crandall Legacy

It all started with a simple suggestion, yet no one could ever have imagined the impact on our family history. In 1961, when Lella, got married, Clarence suggested she and new husband Ben come over on Saturday evenings and he would throw some hamburgers on the grill. That tradition not only lasted nearly 23 years until Clarence and Jewel retired to Thatcher, but it has become a part of family lore.

The story really doesn’t start there. When Clarence was young, he, along with his brothers Earl, Lyle and Burdette, helped their father Stanley in "The Pharmacy" in Safford. They were known as “soda jerks” - a term that always made Jewel giggle. It referred to a person behind the counter who mixed soft drinks and scooped ice cream. Picture a young George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life” pushing sundaes and sodas and there you have the Crandall boys.

Soda from a soda fountain, even today, comes as a syrup and is mixed with the soda water to order. Today it is done automatically (There is even a new machine invented and tested in Phoenix that mixes as much as 100 different flavor combinations. Just punch the right buttons and the computer mixes it for you!). Back then it was all done by hand. A couple tablespoons of Coca Cola syrup, a squirt of cherry syrup, a squirt of chocolate, add seltzer water, stir and there you have it - a cherry chocolate Coke. This is not only where Clarence gained his love of soda pop, but also where he learned to cook burgers.

One of the beautiful things about Clarence’s hamburgers was the simplicity. There was no Lipton Onion Soup mix, no secret herbs and spices, no fancy toppings. He seasoned it with just salt and pepper and he wouldn’t season them until they were on the grill. (This is important as salt will pull moisture out of the meat and dry it out.) He had a couple of classic Art Deco style tin salt and pepper shakers he would bring outside just for the occasion. It’s not known for sure, but it’s possible that’s how they cooked the burgers at the Pharmacy. He also never bought ready made-burger patties. In those days that really wasn’t an option. It was ground beef in bulk by the pound. Tupperware was a huge deal in the 50’s and 60’s and Clarence had a set of Tupperware hamburger molds. I always got a kick out of watching him press the patties.

He used only charcoal - no wood and never briquettes or gas. Later, once it became available on the market, he started using mesquite charcoal, and sometimes he would add mesquite chips soaked in water. Plenty of lighter fluid was an essential part of the equation as well.

The trimmings were simple too. There was Kraft American Singles, sliced white onion, dill pickle chips and tomatoes. Ketchup, yellow mustard, relish and mayo were all we needed. Nothing fancy. Just the classic All-American Burger for us.

He never bought anything for the evening’s get-together until that afternoon, with maybe the exception of J-ello, which he always had plenty on hand. I was once lucky enough to spend a whole Saturday with him and got to go to the grocery store - Bayless on 19^th Avenue and (I think) Osborne.

We always had J-ello, always strawberry, filled with fruit cocktail. To entertain us grandkids, Clarence would have a can of Reddi-Whip whipped cream to squirt over the J-ello. It was always canned whipped cream, never from a tub. That wouldn't have been as fun. I wouldn't have been surprised if we went through more than one can, to say the least.

You may expect fries at Burger King (Clarence would empty out his change jar and give us little envelopes of coins he called PPSPBK money - Peanuts, Popcorn, Soda Pop and Burger King), but at the Crandall’s Saturday night gathering we had potato chips. We only had two kinds - plain and BBQ. Sometimes there were Ruffles, sometimes Lays, sometimes both. Again, nothing fancy. I do recall once in awhile there would be Sour Cream and Chives.

And then there was the soda. It seems to have become the family icon. Even up to his final days there were four things you could find in the Crandall kitchen in Thatcher - chips (both potato and tortilla), salsa, ice cream and soda. If the Crandall family crest were to be modernized, I'm sure it would have a picture of Dr. Pepper on it somewhere. I once declared, much to Jewel's dismay, that since I was a Crandall, my blood was carbonated.

On Saturday, Clarence would fill two large Coleman ice chests full of all kinds of sodas. He always called it "pop". There was something to satisfy everyone - Dr. Pepper (of course!), Pepsi, Coke, Root Beer (A&W, Hires, Mug, Dads, Shasta - you name it), 7UP, Sprite, Hawaiian Punch for the kids, Shastas of all flavors (lemon lime, ginger ale, grape, orange), Canada Dry (and sometimes a treat - Schwepps!), Mountain Dew and Fresca, which Granny (Clarence's mother Elizabeth) always called "Frisky". I also remember him stocking a little known soda that's no longer on the market called Rondo. It was a cross between Mountain Dew and Mellow Yellow. We always drank at least two cans or sometimes three (I did anyway - more if there was Scwepps!)

No Saturday night was complete without a bowl of ice cream. Clarence's favorite was Neopolitan. Of course, there was vanilla and chocolate. Once in awhile there would be chocolate chip, chocolate chip mint or Rocky Road. I don't remember if we added toppings like chocolate sauce, strawberry sauce or whipped cream, but it wouldn't have surprised me if we had. There was, of course, whipped cream!

It wasn't all fat and sugar. We did try to eat somewhat healthy. Clarence would always put out a salad. No Potato or Macaroni salad and no colesalw (unless there was a "Trip to the Colonel's" which I'll mention later). It was always a simple salad of torn Iceburg lettuce with shredded carrots, chopped celery and sliced radishes. Sometimes he'd throw some cherry tomatoes in there. He would put out three or four different kinds of dressings like Ranch, Thousand Island, Bleu and Italian. Sometimes there was a French, Catalina or Russian.

Once in a blue moon Clarence would be either too busy to cook or just not feeling up to it or sometimes the weather wouldn't be agreeable for firing up the grill, which didn't happen often. I don't ever remember not being able to play in the back yard. Whatever the case, it would never stop us.

Sometimes Clarence would make a "Trip to the Colonel's". Three or four buckets of fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy, coleslaw and biscuits. Even then he'd still manage to stock up on the usual two ice chests of soda.

Sometimes we would have Taco Night. Jewel would put out a spread of taco seasoned ground beef, shredded cheese and lettuce, chopped onions and tomatoes and bottled salsa. Melody and Lella would bring enchiladas. Clarence would make "Pioneer Beans" which is just slow cooked pinto beans with bacon. Nothing fancy but great with a dash of Tobasco sauce!

Clarence was a well known quail hunter. He and his brothers would go every year. Sometimes they would bag quite a few. I vaguely recall on a couple of occasions having roast quail on Saturday evenings. Not sure if he had any particular method or recipe, but I would love to know. Maybe the quail should be on the family crest?

Speaking of mysteries, the biggest family culinary mystery actually concerned Granny. She was well known for her Christmas fruitcakes flavored with "homemade" peach brandy. She had several peach trees in her back yard on Main Street in Safford, so it's plausible. But it's not known if she shared her peach brandy recipe with anyone and any questioning of Clarence or his brothers and sisters would just result in answering the question without giving a definitive answer. They all either didn't know for sure, denied it was possible or they knew she used it but knew nothing else about it. My mother, Lella, told me that when asked about the fruitcake, Granny herself had said the secret was her homemade peach brandy, but nothing more came of it. Still no recipe.

Another family culinary legacy isn't as mysterious. The lunch counter at the Pharmacy was actually better known for it's chili than burgers. The original recipe is still in the family's possession according to Burdette's son Lincoln. It is nothing more than your run-of-the-mill chili with ground beef, beans, onions, chili powder, etc, but with a nice AZ/NM Sonoran touch - Hominy. I'll have to bug Linc about the exact recipe. Our distant Crandall cousins in Springville, UT are well known for their "Crandall Beef". This is a chili they could be proud of.

We Crandalls have a deep connection with the American Southwest both in Arizona and New Mexico. Because of that, Sonoran style Mexican food is considered throughout the family as the ultimate comfort food. Those two states have the best Mexican food in the U.S., bar none! In fact, it's been pointed out that if it's not Sonoran style, it's not right. One thing Clarence was known for was his Santa Fe Enchiladas. Sonoran/Santa Fe style enchiladas are a cross between an enchilada and tostada with a fried egg on top.

You soften your corn tortillas like you were making enchiladas but instead of stuffing them and rolling them, you stack them - first some refried beans (refried black beans, maybe?), hominy, ground taco seasoned beef, then shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes and onions, shredded cheese and topped with a fried egg (always over easy!), salsa and sour cream. I guess you could call it a kind of Huevos Ranchero without the chorizo.

Both Clarence and Jewel had their favorite dishes and not surprisingly, both are Germanic/Slavic/Scandinavian. Well, Eastern European. Clarence loved his “stinky cheese” which is what Jewel called it. She allowed it once a year as a Christmas treat. It's better known as Liptauer Cheese and it's great on rye with Braunschweiger (liverwurst) or with sardines (aka “stinky fish”) as Clarence preferred. Jewel's favorite dish was red cabbage which we have come to love in our family. Here are the recipes:

Spiced Red Cabbage

Serves 8

2 pounds red cabbage shredded

1 pound Granny Smith apples. chopped

1 onion diced

1 cup orange juice

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed

1 teaspoon minced garlic

2 tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped fine

dash nutmeg

dash cinnamon

dash cardamom

In a 4 qt. saucepan or Dutch oven saute the cabbage, apples and onions until the cabbage is wilted. Add the remaining ingredients, mix well and cover, simmering on medium for 10 minutes or until the juices are reduced. Stir occasionally. This is great with Kielbasa or Bratwursts.

Liptauer Cheese Pot

8 oz cream cheese, softened

½ medium green pepper, minced

1 small onion, minced

¾ oz can anchovies

1 large cove garlic, minced (or 1 tsp)

2 Tbsp caraway seed

2 Tbsp paprika

1 Tbsp olive oil

¼ tsp dry mustard

Let the cream cheese sit at room temperature until soft. In a food processor, mince the onions, pepper, anchovies and garlic. Add the remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. Spoon into an earthenware dish, cover and chill.

Just for kicks, here is a favorite recipe of Clarence's that always gave him a laugh because it reminded him of his FBI days -

A Bureaucrat's Guide to Chocolate Chip Cookies

by Susan E. Russ (reprinted with permission of the Washington Post)

For those government employees and bureaucrats who have problems with standard recipes, here's one that should make the Grade-A classic version of the chocolate chip cookie translated for easy reading.

1 C packed brown sugar

½ C granulated sugar

½ C softened butter

½ C shortening

2 eggs

1 ½ tsp vanilla

2 ½ C all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

12 oz package semi-sweet chocolate pieces

1 C chopped walnuts or pecans

Guidance:

After procurement actions, de-containerize inputs. Perform measurement tasks on a case-by-case basis. In a mixing type bowl, impact heavily on brown sugar, granulated sugar, softened butter and shortening. Coordinate the interface of eggs and vanilla, avoiding an overrun scenario to the best of your skills and abilities.

At this point in time, leverage flour, baking soda and salt into a bowl and aggregate. Equalize with prior mixture and develop intense and continuous liaison among inputs until well-coordinated. Associate key chocolate and nut subsystems and execute stirring operations.

Withing this time frame, take action to prepare the heating environment for throughput by manually setting the oven baking unit by hand to a temperature of 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius). Drop mixture in an ongoing fashion from a teaspoon implement onto an un-greased cookie sheet at intervals sufficient enough apart to permit total and permanent separation of throughputs to the maximum extent practable under operating conditions.

Position cookie sheet in bake situation and surveil for 8 to 10 minutes or until cooking action terminates. Initiate coordination of outputs within the cooling rack function. Containerize, wrap in red tape and disseminate to authorized staff personnel on a timely and expeditious basis.

Output:

Six dozen official government cookie units

So there you have it, the world of Crandall cuisine in a nutshell. If there is anything I might have forgotten or anyone wants to add, please let me know!