Detroit's Legendary Maurice Salad Dressing

New York City has Macy's,
Chicago had Marshall Field's,
Here in Detroit, our Grand Dame of department stores was J.L. Hudson.


For over a century, the J.L. Hudson Department Store on Woodward Ave. was more than just a store--it was a Detroit icon and a world-class cultural treasure. At 25 stories, it was the world's tallest department store, and second largest (after Macy's in N.Y.C), and was at one time home to the most exceptional offerings in shopping, dining, services, and entertainment.



The store prided itself on stocking everything from grand pianos to spools of thread. In addition to departments offering fashionable clothing and home furnishings, the original Hudson's store featured an auditorium, a circulating library, a magnificent place called "Toytown", and the world's largest American Flag.
To read more about this magnificent department store, check out this book: Hudson's Detroit's Legendary Department Store.

Now this blog is not about shopping, it's about food. Hudson's downtown location housed many culinary retreats for hungry guests. The thirteenth floor was home to several restaurants, including The Pine Room, The Georgian Room, and The Early American Room, which later evolved into The Riverview Room. The store also offered a tearoom, snack bar, bakery, and fine wine shop, among other specialty food and dining venues.
Though Detroit's downtown gem closed in 1983, many of its culinary traditions have been passed on to its other Hudson's locations. Now under the Macy's name, and before that, Marshall Field's, Hudson's favorites continue to delight beyond Michigan.

One menu item from Hudson's, in particular, was the Maurice Salad. Who was Maurice? Some say he was a chef at Hudson's, where this salad made its debut, though no one knows for sure. While Maurice's identity may have faded into obscurity, his chef's salad with this lemony-mayo dressing remains the number-one seller in all of Macy's Michigan restaurants known as "The Lakeshore Grille". Bottles of this famous dressing can be purchased in all of Macy's Michigan locations, and now you can make this delicious dressing yourself!


Look for small bottles of onion juice in the spice section of many supermarkets. If it's not available, grate a piece of onion and squeeze the pulp through cheesecloth or a fine-mesh strainer.


To make this wonderfully easy and tasty dressing, you'll need:

2 teas. white vinegar
1-1/2 teas. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1-1/2 teas. onion juice
1-1/2 teas. sugar
1-1/2 teas. Dijon mustard
1/4 teas. dry mustard
1 cup of mayonnaise (homemade or store-bought)
2 Tbls. chopped, fresh parsley
1 hard-cooked egg, finally diced
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper.


Combine the vinegar, lemon juice, onion juice, sugar, Dijon & dry mustard's in a bowl and whisk well to dissolve the sugar.

Now whisk in the mayonnaise, parsley and egg. Season with salt & pepper to taste.

Use this as a salad or sandwich dressing. Keep in the refrigerator for about 5 days.

Now if you'd like to make the official Maurice Salad, as served at Hudson's, in a large bowl, combine 1 lb each of cooked ham, turkey breast, and Swiss cheese all cut into thin julienned strips and 1/2 cup minced sweet pickles. Toss lightly, add the dressing and fold together. Shred one head of iceberg lettuce and arrange a bed of shredded lettuce on 4 salad plates. Top the meat & cheese mixture onto each bed of lettuce and garnish each salad with 2 pimento stuffed green olives, and a couple hard-cooked egg slices. Serve at once!

Paczki - Such a Guilty Pleasure!

It's Fat Tuesday, and that means one thing to Metro Detroiters: Paczki!

Each year I cannot wait to sink my teeth into these caloric treats that make plain donuts look downright wimpy, and they are a part of living in Detroit that no Michigan resident or visitor should miss.

A paczki (pronounced: pawnch-kee or poonch-kee) is a deep-fried piece of dough shaped into a flattened sphere and filled with a confiture or other sweet filling. Paczki are usually covered with powdered sugar, icing or bits of dried orange zest. A small amount of grain alcohol is added to the dough before frying; as it evaporates, it prevents the absorption of oil deep into the dough.

Although they look like Bismarck's or jelly doughnuts, paczki are made from an especially rich dough containing eggs, fats, sugar and sometimes milk. They feature a variety of fruit and cream fillings and can be glazed, or covered with sugar. Stewed plum jam, prunes or wild rose hip jam are traditional fillings, but many others are used as well, including strawberry, Bavarian cream, blueberry, chocolate, custard, raspberry, lemon, and apple.

Paczki have been known in Poland at least since the Middle Ages. Jędrzej Kitowicz has described that during the reign of August III, under the influence of French cooks who came to Poland, paczki dough was improved, so that paczki became lighter, spongier, and more resilient.

In the Polish community of Hamtramck, Michigan, a small enclave located within the city limits of Detroit, there is an annual Paczki Day Parade, which has gained a devoted following. Many Hamtramck bakeries open as early as 3 AM and have people lining up, as early as the night before, for paczki on Paczki Day. The Paczki Day celebrations are even larger than many celebrations for St. Patrick's Day.

A favorite Hamtramck bakery of mine and one of the more popular places to get your paczki at is "The New Palace Bakery" located at 9833 Joseph Campau Street in Hamtramck.
"A Hamtramck staple, the New Palace Bakery has been peddling paczki for nearly 90 years. Their plum, apple, blueberry and raspberry paczki will tempt you. New palace has a dizzying selection of polish pastries, including babkas, fruit pies, dumplings, danishes and doughnuts. They make their own Moon Pies, and one can't help but stifle a giggle at their chocolate and vanilla "boy cookies," literally shaped like little boys."

Here's a look at the crowds early Tuesday morning as people lined up for hours!

It was even snowing!

The line extended all the way around the block and even more people were approaching to get their place in line!

People braved the cold temps and snow just for these tasty little buggers!

On Paczki day I also make a stop and my absolute favorite Italian bakery for more paczki, but paczki of a different kind! Tringali's Bakery in Warren MI, famous for their Italian Cannoli make their version of a Paczki filled with that rich, creamy and delicious cannoli cream! These are beyond heavenly!

For those who want amazing pie and a paczki-like experience, Michigan's own Achatz Handmade Pie Company , featured many times on The Food Network, has a special pie just for Fat Tuesday. The Paczki Pie features a crispy sugar glazed pastry shell filled with their famous vanilla cream and topped with their signature Michigan 4-Berry pie filling. This pie is just as good as the little packzi themselves!

Another unique Fat Tuesday treat comes from a local BBQ restaurant; Lazybones Smokehouse, has a created a "BBQ Pulled Pork" Paczki for today and are selling them for a $1.00 each. I haven't not tried or seen these, but curiosity may have me visit there today.

Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving is a time to be with loved ones. A time to think and a time for self growth. Everyone has something to be thankful for.

This year I am trying to put my energy into thinking about what I am thankful for.

I am thankful I am alive! I'm a simple guy, that doesn't own a whole lot but there's a ton to be thankful for.

I am thankful for the friendships I have and for the family that loves me.

I am thankful for the friendships I have made online and for knowing each and everyone of YOU!

I am thankful for the job I have, which (barely) pays my bills. I could go on but I will stop there.

Life brings meaning when you take the time to stop and think, "What do I have to be thankful for?"

Of course, my love for cooking is fully expressed during this time of the year. Though I miss the days long gone of my Grandmother cooking Thanksgiving dinner, along with my Mother and my Aunts, I truly enjoy taking on this task. Though traditional foods are there each year, I try to "jazz" things up with a new twist on old favorites.

My turkey, each year, is consistently prepared the same way. I order a FRESH Turkey from Peacock's Poultry Farm. The turkey is brined for about 18 hours and prepared using Martha Stewart's "Turkey 101" recipe. It's always perfect without fail! My sister even tried the "Turkey 101" method for the first time this year, and was also quite pleased with the results.

The sides are from the November 2009 issue of Everyday Food Magazine, and consist of Bread Stuffing with Sage, Pan Gravy, Bourbon Sweet Potatoes, Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta (from the Martha Stewart Thanksgiving Hotline Downloadable cookbook), Green Bean Casserole, Balsamic-Glazed Onions, Orange-Scented Cranberry Sauce, and finished off with my favorite Pumpkin Pie recipe!

Everything here is done and ready to be transported to my sisters house. Thank goodness she just lives across the street!

Of course, with all the leftovers, each year I turn them into "Thanksgiving Leftovers Shepherd's Pie" and we look forward to that more than the main dinner!

For more great ideas on what to do with your leftovers click here: What To Do With Thanksgiving Leftovers.

More Comfort Food For Thought!!!

As a child, growing up, my mother used to make the best tuna cassarole; well in my opinion it is!
From my understanding, most tuna cassaroles start out with a Bechamel or white sauce, then some type of cream soup is added along with tuna and seasonings, combined with noodles, topped with bread crumbs or crushed potato chips and baked off in the oven. Mom made hers, a little "unorthodoxed" in a way, completely on the stove top, no topping, no baking! One pot, ready in minutes, and so comforting!

Try making this version of this "potluck pleaser", it's so simple! You can also leave the tuna out altogether for a great vegetarian version.

First thing is to get a large pot of boiling salted water going, and cook a pound of egg noodles, drain and return to thier pot.

Now on to making a Bechamel Sauce! This basic sauce takes about 5 minutes to make, and is then ready for the addition of flavors or enrichments.

In a sauce pan melt 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter over low heat. Blend in 6 tablespoons of flour, and cook slowly, stirring, until the butter and flour froth together for 2 minutes without coloring. This is now a white roux.

Remove roux from heat. As soon as roux has stopped bubbling, pour in 4 cups of milk, that's been heated to just below a boil, with a 1/4 teaspoon of salt added to it, all at once. Immediately beat vigorously with a whip to blend the liquid and roux, gathering in all the bits of roux from the inside edges of the pan.

Set saucepan over moderately high heat and stir with a whip until the sauce comes to a boil. Boil for 1 minute, stirring.

Remove from heat and beat in salt & pepper to taste.

The finished sauce should coat the back of a spoon and leave a "line" when you draw your finger across the back of the spoon.

To the Bechamel, you add one can of cream of mushroom soup, stirring to incorporate the soup completely.

Add one can of tuna (or canned white meat chicken for those with seafood allergies) that's been drained well. Adjust seasonings. I also like to sometimes add sliced fresh mushrooms and a cup of frozen peas, thawed.

Combine the sauce with the egg noodles and you're done! Dish it out and enjoy!!

A Classic Detroit Summer Time Treat!

If you were born and/or raised anywhere near Detroit, MI then you've probably enjoyed a Boston Cooler at least once in your life! Since Vernors is my preferred soft drink, I like to enjoy these throughout the year!

A little history of the Boston Cooler:

The origin of the Boston cooler lies in Detroit, Michigan the city in which Fred Sanders is credited with inventing the ice cream soda. The name almost certainly has no connection to Boston, Massachusetts, where the beverage is virtually unknown. One theory is that it was named after Detroit's Boston Boulevard, the main thoroughfare of what was then an upper-class neighborhood a short distance from James Vernor's drugstore.
It is known that by the 1880s the Boston cooler was being served in Detroit, made with the local Vernors, an intense golden ginger ale, unlike most modern dry ginger ales. Originally, a drink called a Vernors Cream was served as a shot or two of sweet cream poured into a glass of Vernors golden ginger ale. Later, vanilla ice cream was substituted for the cream as a Vernors float. Unlike a float however, a Boston Cooler is blended like a thick milk shake. Both Sanders' soda fountains and the Big Boy restaurant chain used their milkshake blenders to prepare the drink (it was a signature menu item at Big Boy until its change in ownership in the 1980s).
It can be found most often in the Detroit region's many Coney Island-style restaurants, which are plentiful because of Detroit's Greektown district influence. National Coney Island is one of the few restaurant chains to list the Boston cooler in their menu. It is also found at the Detroit-area Dairy Queens and at Halo Burger, a mid-Michigan fast food chain.



To make a Boston Cooler, all you need is a large mug type glass (frosted if you prefer), add about 2-3 scoops of vanilla ice cream, then add Vernors Ginger Ale (regular or diet) and enjoy!

Jeannie In A Bottle?

One of my absolute favorite TV shows, growing up, was "I Dream Of Jeannie".

"I Dream of Jeannie" was a 1960s American sitcom. Produced by Screen Gems, it originally aired from September 1965 to May 1970 on NBC. The show ran for five seasons and produced 139 episodes. The first season consisted of 30 episodes filmed in black and white. The other 109 episodes were filmed in color. The show has continued to air in reruns ever since.

Though it was not the shows main characters that I enjoyed so much. For some odd reason, it was Jeannie's bottle that always held my attention! And to this day, I still want a room decorated to match the interior of her bottle!

Jeannie's famous bottle was not created for the show. The actual bottle was a special Christmas 1964 Jim Beam liquor decanter containing "Beam's Choice" Bourbon Whiskey. It was designed by Roy Kramer for the Wheaton Bottle Company.

For years it was said that Sidney Sheldon, the shows creator, received one as a gift and thought it would be a perfect design for the series. Several people in the Screen Gems art department also take credit for finding the bottle. There is strong evidence, however, that it was first season director, Gene Nelson who saw one in a liquor store and bought it, bringing it to Sheldon.

Jeannie's bottle was left its original dark, smoke-green color, with a painted gold leaf pattern (to make it look like an antique), during the first season. The plot description of the pilot episode in TV Guide, in September 1965, referred to it as a "green bottle". In that first episode, it also looked quite rough and weathered. Since the show was originally filmed in black and white, a lot of colors and patterns were not necessary. When the show switched to color, the prop people came up with a brightly colored bottle to replace the original.

Over the years, I've collected these bottles, finding a lone one at tag sales, or a flea market, as well as obtaining a few on eBay.
Here is one of my original 1964 Jim Beam bottles, unpainted, and still has the labels on it, along with the state "tax stamp", and part of the seal.



Here is another 1964 Jim Beam bottle that has been painted to match the bottle used for the first season of "I Dream Of Jeannie" with the gold vines and leaves.
NOTE: The first season bottle had a clear glass stopper that Tony took from a 1956 Old Grand-Dad Bourbon bottle in his home, as the original stopper was left behind on the beach where Tony found Jeannie. These glass stoppers are extremely rare and hard to find. It's a highly sought after piece for Jeannie Bottle collectors. One such stopper recently sold on eBay for $475!



Here is another Jim Beam bottle that has been painted in the design we are all familiar with!



The Jim Beam bottle, below, was one that I tried painting myself! Not that much of an artist, I must say it wasn't too bad, though I just couldn't match up that shade of "metallic purple" used in the show.




The 2 "I Dream Of Jeannie" reunion movies, "I Dream Of Jeannie 15 Years Later (1985), and "I Still Dream Of Jeannie" (1991) again used Jim Beam bottles, but with a new, more dramatic paint job.



Not sure if it was due to the success of the show or just "repeating" past designs, Jim Beam released other bottles, similar in design to the original "Jeannie" bottle from 1964. These bottles were colored, and had a "Handle" attached to the bottle. The stoppers, though the same design, were flat on top and did not contain the "point" as the original bottle stopper did.
On the left the blue bottle contained "McGill's Canadian Whiskey", as stated on the label, and came out in 1973. The bottle on the right was "Beams Ruby Crystal Bourbon". This came out in 1980. There was also a clear glass bottle that matched the blue and red ones, with a handle. I did have one of these clear glass bottles, sealed, still containing the bourbon, but unfortunately, it was recently destroyed, by accident, as it fell from the shelf it was displayed on.



Below is a photo of another, unpainted, 1964 Jim Beam bottle. As you can see through the stopper, the bottles, though dark colored, are actually transparent.
The bottle on the right was an "eBay find". It's actually a ceramic replica of the Jim Beam bottle painted with a "Gay Pride" design. The stopper is permanently attached to this bottle.



Some more eBay finds, below left, another ceramic replica of the "purple" bottle, without a stopper. The bottle on the right was a promotional item given out at the, now defunct, Aladdin Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.



Other fun "I Dream Of Jeannie Items" I've collected, below, a metal lunch box and Mattel released a limited edition "I Dream Of Jeannie" Barbie doll complete with a mini Jeannie Bottle.



Most recently Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the entire "I Dream Of Jeannie" series in a DVD Boxed set. The set includes 20 DVDs featuring all 139 episodes, as well as fun extras (note the entire first season has been "colorized" in this set). Also included is a limited edition "Jeannie bottle" that holds all 20 DVDs. The set also includes 55 collector's cards with never before seen photos, episode synopses, trivia and cast profiles!

Return Of A Childhood Favorite!

Growing up in the Detroit Area, we've always had our share of "Detroit-Made" foods. Vernors Ginger Ale, Faygo & Towne Club Pop, Better Made & New Era Potato Chips, Sander's Hot Fudge, Strohs Beer, etc. Some have come and gone, and many are still around, some even over 100 years old and still as popular as ever!

One item, in particular, that I remember fondly from my childhood was Velvet Peanut Butter! It was the ONLY peanut butter my mother bought when I was growing up!







"Fresh...Pure...Delicious"

Perhaps nothing says peanut butter to generations of Metro Detroiters more than those three words -- the familiar pledge of Velvet Peanut Butter. The jar with the yellow label and a freckled-faced boy grimacing under each word was a household staple for decades.

Velvet Peanut Butter disappeared from store shelves more than 20 years ago, but the beloved brand is making a comeback thanks to the aspirations of a Michigan native now living in Georgia.

Eric Bruce, a marketing research director for a television station, has resurrected Velvet Peanut Butter because he was tired of seeing Detroit brands disappear or their production moved elsewhere. He began making the peanut butter at a plant in Fitzgerald, Ga., late last year and shipping cases to Hiller's Markets here in Michigan.

Nostalgia and Hiller's promotion of Michigan products helped the grocer sell 1,200 jars of Velvet in the first five weeks. The peanut butter is now also available at Oak Ridge and Westborn markets, and plans call for other stores to carry the brand as well.

"Sales really took off," Bruce said. "It has far exceeded my expectations. I know it's just peanut butter, but you're really selling people their hometown and memories."

Created in Michigan

Velvet Peanut Butter traces its roots to a two-car garage in Detroit in 1937. The peanut butter made by Paul Zuckerman became so popular that he expanded his operations three times in Detroit before establishing a plant in Livonia in 1963, where it was made until the family got out of the business in 1985. The peanut butter also was sold in Indiana and Ohio.

Now, Bruce and his wife, Kim, also a Michigan native, are making Velvet using the same recipe. They bought a warehouse in Michigan and hope to make the peanut butter here eventually.

"It shows our commitment to Michigan," said Bruce, 42. "I'm hoping to bring this company back."

It's a challenging time to sell peanut butter because of the recent salmonella scare and with schools removing peanut products from menus because of allergies, said Fred Marx, a partner with public relations and marketing firm Marx Layne and Co. in Farmington Hills.

Still, Marx believes Velvet will receive a warm welcome in Metro Detroit, where many beloved brands have been purchased by conglomerates and their products made elsewhere. "People are nostalgic for this peanut butter," he said. "While there is competition, in this marketplace, I think people remember it fondly."

Addressing concerns about salmonella, Bruce said every product batch is tested before shipping.

Norbie Zuckerman, the founder's son and whose face graces the label, said he and his mother, Helen, are delighted to see the brand return. "It's a great product," he said. "We think it's great for Detroit."

Welcome back Velvet!!

UPDATE: Velvet Peanut Butter should be available in Kroger Supermarkets starting in May 2009!