Starting from Scratch
- Lifestyles
- Special Interest
Author: Aramco ExPats Staff
Released 28 September 2006
Bob and Jo Waters
Late 1944 on Furlough in Oklahoma
Photograph Contributed by Bob Waters
Many wives waited with anticipation for the notice that family housing had come to Aramco camps and soon they would be rejoined with their spouses to embark on an exotic adventure. While forewarned that there would be a number of new things to get accustomed to, the degree to which they would rely on their culinary ingenuity and creativity could not be understood until confronted with the enormity of the challenge.
Used to supermarkets chock full of fresh meats, dairy, and produce, and an endless array of prepared foods, the gal who had dallied through her home-economics course, neglected to pay attention to Aunt Mildred's age-old cooking and baking methods, or simply didn't inherit the Betty Crocker gene, found herself pitifully unprepared. The beauty of the Aramco compound however was, within a stones throw, a gal in distress could always locate a truly remarkable homemaker that had already ferreted out the secrets of how to turn the meager offerings from the commissary into palatable, almost-like-home meals.
Besting their scientific and engineering-minded counterparts, the women of Aramco set out to reconstruct many mealtime favorites and normalize their family's lifestyle as much as possible, at least where food was concerned. Like magic, things that seemed lost from the table forever began reappearing, and everyone wanted to get their hands on the recipes.
What resulted from the hours of experimentation, trial, and error, was a collection of scratch recipes that became essential to the Aramco homemaker. Eventually, these recipes found their way into several cookbooks designed and distributed by the ladies of Aramco.
The recipes persist today and are reminders of the women of Aramco who carved hearth and home out of the desert. We provide a few of our favorite in-a-pinch "from-scratch" recipes for you here, so if you do wake up and find yourself living in the middle of the desert one day, armed with a few essential ingredients, you can whip up a meal that would make Betty Crocker's mouth water.
Scratch Biscuit Mix
Scratch Pancakes
Scratch Donuts
Sourdough Starter
Scratch Sauces, Condiments and Spreads (peanut butter, mayonnaise, catsup, cider vineger, cream cheese, maple syrup, lemon curd)
Scratch Cottage Cheese
Arabian Pizza
Pickled Shrimp
Hamour Papillote
Three Bean Curry
Cabbage Slaw
Nancy's Butterhorns
Molly's Crepes with Cream Cheese Mousse
Homemade Graham Crackers
Homemade Ice Cream