Obituary Symmetry

....or, I Love When this Kind of Stuff Happens.

The two obituaries in today's New York Times couldn't have been better planned.
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/obituaries/index.html (Best appreciated, at least by this "Lackluster Veteran", in the print format. See http://www.pewinternet.org/press_release.asp?r=140 for what I learned at WLA last week.)

Peg Bracken, "I Hate to Cook" Author, Dies at 89.

Vincent DeDomenico, 92, an Inventor of Rice-A-Roni.

According to his obituary, DeDomenico and his brothers invented "the San Francisco treat" in 1958. The inspiration occurred as he watched his sister-in-law mix a can of Swanson's chicken broth with rice and vermicelli. And the rest, as they say, is history -- though not in the household in which I grew up. My mother took great pride in her cooking and baking abilities. Not a single box of Rice-A-Roni ever made it to our kitchen cupboards. And I'd guess that this ban, not consciously made, has remained in place since I left for college in September of 1968. (Mom's 87 and will be cooking up a big feast when JoAnna and the boys and I make our first Thanksgiving trip to Warren, Pennsylvania, in at least 10 years. And everyone's favorite homemade cookies will have been freshly baked. )

Baby boomers all remember the jingle, of course, sung by a chorus of voices and punctuated by the clang of a cable car.
Rice-A-Roni, the San Francisco Treat.
Rice-A-Roni, the flavor can’t be beat.
One pan of boiling cooking ease
For flavor that is sure to please.
Rice-A-Roni, the San Francisco Treat.

(Spoken by a male announcer with a deep, mellifluous voice) Rice-A-Roni, the delicious break from potatoes, now in 6 fabulous flavors.

In case you've forgotten it -- hardly likely -- you can revive those brain cells at.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1-TdlaxQmQ
Beware! It will continue to play on a continuous loop inside your head for days.

And you know you still want to know more.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/07/16/MNGTUK06P31.DTL

For a brief history of Rice-A-Roni, go here (http://www.ricearoni.com/rar_aboutUs/history/index.cfm)

Andrew Purvis posts a brief, satiric tribute to Edith Pilaf, who allegedly sang the first Rice-A-Roni jingle. (Yeah, right, and I have a bridge for sale. Or maybe you'd prefer to read The Glass Castle.)
http://caveatventer.blogspot.com/2005/09/rice-roni-jingle-singer-dies.html

And as for Peg....
The I Hate to Cook Book was published in 1960. Her obituary notes that it was the perfect accompaniment to the Rice-A-Roni era. In spite of the era's quest for conveninece, her book, though popular, didn't end up on the list of top ten nonfiction books for the year (http://www.caderbooks.com/best60.html); Betty Crocker still ruled the cookbook category with a ruthless efficiency.

Peg's breakthrough book has long been weeded from the collections of LINK libraries. Wisconsin Dells has a later edition, published in 1986: The Compleat I Hate to Cook Book. Since 1994, it has circulation 47 times. Not too shabby. 22 amazon reviewers give it an average of 5 stars.
http://www.amazon.com/Compleat-I-Hate-Cook-Book/dp/0883657945

Somebody should take care of the following YouTube search result: No Videos found for 'Peg Bracken'. As a spokesperson for Birdseye frozen foods, she became a regular fixture on TV.
http://www.birdseyefoods.com/birdseye/about/history.aspx (but nothing about Peg)

I did learn the following tidbit, though
On March 6 in Springfield, Massachusetts, General Foods, via Birds Eye, conducts what is now called "the Springfield Experiment" in 18 retail stores to see how consumers will react to frozen foods; today, the experiment is considered the birth of retail frozen foods. The initial Birds Eye line features 26 items, including 18 cuts of frozen meat, spinach and peas, a variety of fruits and berries, blue point oysters and fish fillets. By May, sales increase dramatically.
Mom was 10 years old at the time, living on Hartford Terrace in Springfield with her parents and 3 sisters. I'll have to ask her if she remembers frozen foods becoming a dinner staple at that time.