School Lunchroom Recipes

[ea56]

the absolute very best rolls i ever tasted

Hans my Aunt Louise was a cafeteria cook for the Richmond, Calif. school district and she worked in on of the Junior Highs for most of her time as a cafeteria cook.  She primarily did the baking. Her rolls were out of this world!  My mom always said that her SIL Louise made the best dinner rolls she ever tasted.  They were big and fluffy and just melted in your mouth.  I think that all the cafeteria cooks may have used similar techniques for these delicious rolls.  My HS cafeteria had the same kind of wonderful rolls too.

 

One thing that I remember about Aunt Louise’s bread making is that she used Cake yeast rather than Instant  Dried yeast, even though dried yeast was readily available in the 50’s and 60’s.  I think you had to use the sponge technique when making bread dough with cake yeast and this may have contributed to the more light and fluffy texture of these cafeteria rolls.

 

What ever the secret was I have to agree with you, nothing beat those cafeteria rolls.

 

Eddie

 

[askolover]

I ate cafeteria food my kindergarten year.  I quickly grew tired of the teacher and principal trying to make us eat stuff we didn't like.  Starting in first grade, I took a lunch box all the way through eighth grade.  I hated milk.  I had sweet tea or Koolaid in my thermos.  I'd alternate between PB&J's and ham or bologna sandwiches and either some applesauce or Snackpack pudding.  Always had a thick homemade peanut butter and cracker. 

High school was a different ballgame.  We had a burger line on one side and a hot line on the other.  I couldn't eat the burgers because the "meat" hurt my stomach (a few other students had the same problem) so I got chicken burgers instead.  We had lemonade, orange, punch, or sweet tea in small cartons.  On spaghetti days, I'd get the hot line.  I can say they made a really delicious spaghetti.