Professor Butter Beard and Marguerite Martyn
“The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings.” – Masanobu Fukuoka, “The One-Straw Revolution”
They’re back! I know Mother’s Day has a special meaning in our hearts, filled with memories, love, gratitude, and hope for all of us human beings. But for me, it also signifies two equally important milestones. First, it’s Nellie’s birthday, and who could ask for a greater gift of joy and silly smiles! And, after months of anticipation, my favorite farmers return to their market stands in Red Bank. Hauser Hill Farms. Au Honey. Doc Pickle. The Magical Mushroom Lady. They’re all back, and my heart fluttered as I pulled into the lot this morning to warmly greet them with trays of cupcakes and love.
I spent the last two weeks imagining their smiles and what gifts of their passions they would be offering upon their return. In an attempt to calm my building craving to see them, I searched through my art books researching artists who had captured their generous souls in their paintings, etchings and photographs. I chatted with Vincent, Grant Wood, Norman Rockwell, Monet and Winslow Homer. And then I stumbled upon Marguerite Martyn, an American journalist and political cartoonist with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in the early 20th century.
Adam Kloppe, public historian with the Missouri Historical Society, writes: “In the early twentieth century, journalism was a male dominated field. But, in 1905, one woman, Marguerite Martyn, would upend the newsroom of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She wrote reports on some of the most important events of early twentieth century St. Louis. Her perspective proved that women needed to be a part of the newsroom.”
Marguerite Martyn was born on September 26, 1878. Her father was William E. Martyn, and her mother was Fanny Plumb of Springfield, Missouri, whose family had been in that town for four generations. The Martyn family lived in Portland, Oregon during the early years of Marguerite's life, and her father, a Virginian, died there at the age of 30 while employed as a St. Louis–San Francisco Railway superintendent. Her mother bravely took the lead, returned to college to study telegraphy and was then employed by the same railway company.
When Marguerite was 17 years old, the family returned to Springfield, and she enrolled in an arts program at Washington University in St. Louis. During the St. Louis World's Fair of 1904 (yes, of Judy Garland fame), Martyn drew a poster which she thought would be applicable to the closing of the exposition, and she brought it to the Sunday editor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Based on the strength of those drawings, the paper hired her as an illustrator in 1905.
Martyn began taking her sketchpad all over town, drawing pictures of the notable people and events of early twentieth century St. Louis, including my chosen sketch by Martyn in 1912 of Soulard Market, depicting shoppers bargaining with local farmers and other merchants, fashionable women comparing notes (and ultimately gossiping), a uniformed chauffeur holding his client’s basket, a delightfully curious child, and enticing items being bought and sold within the market stalls.
Soon, though, her editors recognized that Martyn had a talent for interviewing in addition to her skill as an illustrator. Over the years, she would interview everyone from socialites to sports team owners to presidential candidates. Oftentimes, Martyn would not schedule interviews with her subjects, but show up unannounced to their homes or hotels to ask for a few minutes of their time.
Kloppe continues, “Through her tenacity and personality, she was able to gain trust from nearly every interview subject. That trust got her quotes and insights from subjects that were unique and illuminating. Her writings proved extremely popular, and soon readers were searching for Martyn’s byline.”
Martyn also campaigned for causes she believed in during her thirty-six years working for the Post-Dispatch. Using both drawings and words, Martyn advocated for things like stronger child labor laws and women’s suffrage. In 1916, for example, Martyn covered the Democratic National Convention in St. Louis, and paid special attention to the Golden Lane suffragists protests, where women held a silent protest to encourage convention goers to support granting women the right to vote. According to her biographers, Martyn’s drawings of the protests, and her written takedowns of the men who fought against suffrage, are still effective, and illuminate this important moment in US history in ways that still resonate today.
As I stepped into the kitchen this morning to turn on the oven and grind the coffee beans, my thoughts danced with Martyn’s strength, courage, vivacity and artistic talents. I decided to create a new recipe for boldly spiced cupcakes as “welcome back gifts” for my dear friends. I roasted the bananas in order to intensify their sweetness and “banananess.” I added the pop and surprise of fresh blueberries, gilded the lily with an aged newsprint sepia-toned caramel buttercream frosting, and finished them with a bonus crunch of sprinkled turbinado sugar. As I filled my market basket with fresh strawberries, rhubarb, crisp lettuces, other-worldly mushrooms and Kosher dills, my soul giggled as I watched my friend’s eyes tango as they discovered each layer of flavor.
I drove home thinking of a quote from Dr. Jagadeesh Kumar: “A farmer is the first mother of your hunger.” Happy Mother’s Day to us all and see you at next week’s market.
Roasted Banana and Blueberry Cupcakes with Caramel Buttercream
Two Dozen Cupcakes (and a loaf for yourself)
Cupcakes:
4 bananas, roasted and cooled
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 ¼ cups granulated sugar
2 ½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
2 tsp Chinese Five-Spice
½ tsp fine sea salt
1 cup heavy cream
¾ cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla paste
2 cups fresh blueberries
Caramel Buttercream:
6 egg whites
¾ cup granulated sugar
½ tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp vanilla paste
4 ½ sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup caramel – preferable homemade
1) Preheat the oven to 400 and place four bananas on a medium baking sheet. Roast the bananas for 12-15 minutes until the skins are black and slightly swollen. Set aside to cool.
2) Reduce the oven to 350 degrees and line two muffin pans with paper cupcake liners.
3) In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, five-spice and salt.
4) In the bowl of a standing mixer, whisk the heavy cream to medium peaks (don’t overmix!). Scrape the whipped cream into another bowl and return the original bowl to the standing mixer (no need to wash).
5) Add the eggs, oil and vanilla paste and mix with the paddle attachment until evenly combined. Peel the cooled bananas and add the fruit to the bowl, mixing again until evenly combined. Add the dry mix and mix until just combined.
6) Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the whipped cream and then the blueberries. Fill the cupcake lines ¾ of the way full. Bake them, one tray at a time, for 19-20 minutes until puffed and golden. Allow them to cool in the pans on a wire rack.
7) The remaining batter can be spooned into a parchment-lined loaf pan and baked for 40-45 minutes until a wooden skewer comes out clean.
8) For the buttercream, combine the egg whites, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Set the bowl over a pan of simmering water and gently whisk until the mixture hits 140 degrees and the sugar has completely melted. Transfer the whites to the bowl of a standing mixer and whisk on medium high until the mixture is fluffy and completely cool – about 6-8 minutes. Whisk in the vanilla. With the mixer going, add the butter in 1 Tbsp portions until the buttercream comes together. (It may break, but it will come together!) Switch to the paddle and add the caramel, mixing on low until completely combined.
