Darrell Morrisey and "Les secrets de la bonne cuisine"

Darrell's drawing for this advertisement, for Les secrets de la bonne cuisine,
was published in La Presse on 22 October 1928

Darrell Morrisey's drawing, see top right hand corner

In 1927 Darrell Morrisey produced an advertisement for what became a popular cookbook, Les secrets de la bonne cuisine (1928) compiled and written by Sister Sainte-Marie Edith (1876-1949) whose secular name is Mary Theodora Turner, of la Congrégation de Notre-Dame (CDN) located at 2330 Sherbrooke Ouest, Montreal, QC. Sr. Sainte-Marie was the director of the school for home economics which included cooking classes taught by Sr. Sainte-Marie; the book was also published in English. The book has been reprinted and second hand copies of the original book are available online, it can also be read or downloaded in its entirety on the Internet Archive website. Darrell Morrisey was a member of the Beaver Hall Group of artists; she was born in 1897 and died in 1930.

"Les secrets de la bonne cuisine"

Title page: Les Secrets de la Bonne Cuisine: Contenant La Substance Des Cours
de Cuisine Donnés À l'Ecole Ménagère (Congrégation de Notre-Dame)
de Montréal, Avec Plus de 1500 Recettes, Toutes Mises À l'Épreuve
Dans La Cuisine de l'École.

The secrets of good cooking (English version) by Soeur Sainte-Marie-Édith
(Mary Theodora Turner), Montréal, Canadian Printing and Lithographing
Company, 309 pages, 1928. Archives: Congrégation de Notre-Dame, Montréal.

Is this Sr. Sainte-Marie Edith's birth family?

Just out of interest (and thoroughness) I tried to find Sr. Sainte-Marie Edith birth family in the 1881 Canadian Census using her name, Mary Theodora Turner; there were several entries for "Mary Turner", each was age five years old. The family that seemed the most likely to be Sr. Sainte-Marie Edith's family lived in Addington, Restigouche County, New Brunswick; the family is listed as being Roman Catholic; they were also described as "Francaise" as their nationality but I am not sure if this means French-speaking (Restigouche, New Brunswick, has a large French-speaking population) or that the family was originally, or second generation, from France; the family have Anglophone given names but they could easily be anglicized French name; family members included: David (the father), age 42; Aleva (the mother), age either 26 or 36; William (son), age 10; Edward (son), age 9; Mary (daughter), age 5 and therefore born in 1876 as was Sr. Sainte-Marie; and George (son), age one year. What suggests that this might be Sr. Sainte-Marie's birth family are two things: Mary Turner's second name, "Theodora", is an unusual name, it is unlike more traditional English or French Canadian names for that time; and Mary Turner's mother's name is also not traditional, it is "Aleva", a name that I have not previously encountered. That said, one of my New Brunswick ancestors also has a name that I am not familiar with; John Veraker Morrissy, was born in Miramichi, NB, and became a Member of Parliament in Ottawa, I have never heard of the name "Veraker" other than in reference to him.

The above image is not from the Mother House of the Congregation of Notre Dame but
should give an idea of what the CDN cooking classes, in this instance at the college
Marguerite Bourgeoys, were like.

Sr. Sainte-Marie Edith conducted cooking classes and was director of the school for home economics at the Congregation of Notre Dame. Across the street was the Mother House, also a part of the CDN, where young girls were educated in secretarial science; I am not sure if buildings on both sides of Atwater Avenue were known as the Mother House. This was a prominent post-secondary school in its time; for instance, after attending the High School of Montreal, my mother learned typing, short hand, what we now call “secretarial science”, at the Mother House, it was excellent preparation for employment. Students were both French and English speaking, as were many of the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame. Sr. Sainte-Marie Edith's cookbook appealed to the average homemaker; recipes are prefaced with questions students might have asked about the recipes, as we say today, it was "user friendly". Use of the commercial product, Crisco, is common in the book. Many girls, both English and French speaking, both Roman Catholic and Protestant, were welcomed and attended the courses given by the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame.

It seems to me that Darrell Morrisey found a friendly environment at the Congregation de Notre Dame. Her father, Thomas Louis Morrisey, was born into the Roman Catholic faith but converted to the Church of England when he married, in those days this was advantageous for upward social mobility and professional advancement in business.

I make a stew

On this rainy and sleighty chilly May day, I've made my first stew, something I've wanted to cook for some time. And it was really good!

Food and its decline

The quality of many things we buy has declined, instead of increasing the price of consumer items manufacturers reduce the quality. Even knowing this I was surprised at the quality of bacon, something I haven't cooked in over ten years. And I love bacon, but at local restaurants--two eggs over easy, bacon, coffee, double order of white bread toasted, and jam--my favourite meal. Well, it's Easter and I was feeling in a generous mood instead of my usual self-deprivation and frugality and bought a package of bacon, a pricey $10.00 for what used to cost maybe $6.00; how do young families survive the inflationary cost of food? And then, just yesterday, I decided to cook some of this "bacon"... it was impossible to separate the strips of bacon, it was a greasy mass of stringy meat... And it didn't fry very well. So, if you're going to buy bacon, spend more and get something worth buying. 

No strips of bacon, just a mass of stringy fat and a little meat

A package of bacon ...

It was Easter and I was feeling generous and bought, as a treat, hot cross buns. Good luck finding hot cross buns amid all of the doughnuts, pecan tarts, and macarons, etc., that are in the bread, pastry, and cake department at the IGA. So, here (pictured below) is what they had, manufactured by POM bakery; POM is an acronym for Pride of Montreal and their large bakery, 132 years old, used to be located near the bottom of Landsdowne Avenue on Ste. Catherine Street West in Westmount, that building was converted into condos long ago. And POM is now owned by BIMBO which is a Mexican firm. So, it should be Orgullo de Mexico, ODM, not POM. As for the hot cross buns, a Christian treat sold only at Easter, there is no reference to hot cross buns on the package, it is now brioche aux raisin, raisin buns; and I would never have bought whole wheat hot cross buns, do I want health when I eat two or three hot cross buns every few years? No way. It was more like healthy raisin bread than anything else. Would I be going too far in saying it is another cancellation of Christianity now that they've canceled hot cross buns? You may think I am joking or exaggerating, but why not label hot cross buns as what they are, not delete the symbolism? Bimbo would not be impressed...

Otherwise known as hot cross buns