Who decides who gets a seat at the table? In November 1928, Mrs. C. W. Lisso of Chicago sent Lillian Sharpe Hunter’s “Housewives Exchange” in the New York Amsterdam News a bridge party dessert, proof that the column linked households the Great Migration had scattered between cities. Lisso baked it in an iron skillet then flipped each slice so canned Hawaiian pineapple sat on top, an inexpensive luxury grown by plantation workers. Women who cooked in dominant caste homes had no say over menus or guests. At a bridge party, the hostess chose both.
[Side Bar]
Mrs. C. W. Lisso, Chicago, in Hunter’s column. The original omits the syrup; brackets supply the usual butter and brown sugar.
Skillet Cake Recipe
Ingredients
1½ cups white sugar
3 eggs
½ cup cold water
1½ cups flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
Sliced pineapple
[For the syrup: butter and brown sugar]
Whipped cream
Directions
[Melt butter and brown sugar in an iron skillet to form a syrup.] Place slices of pineapple in the syrup and pour the sponge cake mixture over all. Preheat the oven ten minutes and bake at 375°F for 30 minutes. When ready to serve, cut in slices, turning the pieces upside down so the pineapple sits on top. Serve with whipped cream.
Mrs. C. W. Lisso, in Lillian Sharpe Hunter, “Housewives Exchange: Holiday Plea,” New York Amsterdam News, November 14, 1928, 5.