After reading about Mrs. Janie Grice’s oft-requested dish called “More” (described in the Winter 2008 issue of “Mustang Memories”) we wondered if we could find the recipe.
Mrs. Grice’s daughter Bettie told us she remembered it had olives and hamburger in it, but couldn’t find the recipe anywhere. None of her family members could find a copy of it, either.
We then looked for someone else who might know the recipe, specifically, retired members of Mrs. Grice’s cafeteria staff, and that’s when we found Mrs. Edna Palmer.
Mrs. Grice hired and trained Mrs. Palmer to work in the cafeteria and then later to take over as manager when she retired in 1961. Mrs. Palmer retired herself in the early ’70s after cooking thousands of breakfasts and lunches for double sessions at SDHS.
We asked her if she had a recipe for “More” but sadly, she does not. She did, however, have a recipe for Tamale Pie, another popular dish Mrs. Grice’s daughter says she still hears about at reunions.
Mrs. Palmer very kindly shared it with us and we now present it here for you:
Tamale Pie
From the recipe files of Mrs. Edna Palmer, former manager of the San Dieguito High School cafeteria1 cup yellow corn meal
6 cups boiling water
1 teaspoon salt
1 medium-sized onion
2 tablespoons of fat (butter or oleo)
2 cups of chopped beef
2 cups of tomatoes
2 pimentos
Cayenne pepperCook the corn meal, water and salt as for mush for about 30 minutes.
Chop the onion and fry it in fat until brown. Add the meat and fry it until the red color disappears. Add the tomatoes and the pimentos and the pepper.
Line an oiled casserole with the mush. Put meat mixture in the center and cover with mush and bake in a moderate oven 350 degrees for 2 to 2.5 hours.