Wheat & Honey Muffins - Jerry Dybzinski (Infielder)

RECIPE

Makes 1 dozen muffins.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

1/2 cup wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 beaten egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup oil
1/2 tsp. shredded lemon peel or 1 tsp. lemon juice

Mix dry ingredients in one bowl and other ingredients in another.  Combine the two and stir with fork until just moistened.  Bake in oiled muffin tin or paper cups for 20 minutes (or until golden brown).

Jerry Dybzinski did not have a long career.  The Cleveland native was drafted by the Indians and worked his way up through their system before making his major league debut in 1980.  He played three years with the Indians before suddenly being traded to the White Sox for Pat Tabler on April 1, 1983.  No fooling!

"Dibber" was the Sox's starting shortstop in 1983 and enjoyed the best numbers of his career as part of the AL West Division champs.  In 1984, however, Dybzinski was relegated to backing up Scott Fletcher, who was seen as the shortstop of the future. 

The Sox released Dybzinski and he played one more season with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1985, his final season in the majors.

Muffins.  Easy to make, hard to screw up, and one batch can last you a few days.  This recipe for wheat and honey muffins was effortless.  The muffins were soft, moist and tasty.  What else can I say?

FINAL SCORE - Despite my questionable cooking skills, it was impossible to mess these up, and they turned out great.

Breakfast Cake - Vance Law (Infielder)

 

 

RECIPE

 

CAKE

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 tbls. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/3 cup oil

1 1/3 cups milk

2 eggs

 

Sift dry ingredients.  Beat eggs; add oil and milk.  Combine with flour mixture.  Pour into a greased 9 x 13" pan.  Sprinkle topping on top.  Bake 25 minutes at 400 F.

 

TOPPING

1/2 cup flour

1/3 cup butter

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 tbls. cinnamon

Combine all until crumbly.

 

 

Vance Law was a White Sox player for only three seasons (1982-84), but he is well-remembered from the 1983 AL West Division winning club.  The eyeglasses he wore at the time, instantly recognizable, have taken on an iconic status.

 

For three years, Law was the starting third baseman for the Sox, and built a reputation for reliability and solid play.  No flash, just fundamentals.

 

Sort of like this recipe of his from the 1983 White Sox Cookbook.  I don't know if "breakfast cake" is a lost culinary tradition, but we brought it back here courtesy of Mr. Law.

 

This is probably the most basic recipe for cake you can find.  The cinnamon flavoured topping seems almost exotic by comparison.  Anyway, follow the steps and you'll be rewarded with a nice white cake.  You can have it for breakfast with fruit or jam or whatever creamy spread you like.  Makes a nice snack any time during the day or night.

 

I say it's time to bring back the timeless art of breakfast cake!

 

FINAL SCORE - solid, reliable, won't let you down... just like Vance Law at third.

 

Apple Brownies, Easy! - Carlton Fisk (Catcher)

 

 

RECIPE

 

1 stick of margarine

1 cup sugar

1 egg

2 small apples (chopped)

1 cup of flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. salt

 

Cream margarine and sugar.  Beat egg.  Mix in sugar mixture.  Add nuts and apples.  Mix flour and spices.  Beat into egg mixture.  Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes in greased 8" square pan.  Cut when cool. 

 

Here he is - the Commander - with the first of his three baked goods recipes in the 1983 Chicago White Sox cookbook.   

 

Carlton Fisk signed with the White Sox in 1981, the first big splash signing by new owners Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn.  Fisk followed the big splash with a big blast - homering against the Boston Red Sox in his debut game with Chicago.

 

Fisk had a solid season in 1983, hitting .289 with 26 HRs and 86 RBIs.  He'd go on to set records for most games caught and most home runs by a catcher, ending his storied career a decade later.

 

Fisk was a natural leader on the field and in the clubhouse.  As the name of this recipe implies, he was always there with a word of encouragement - or chastisement.

 

Apple brownies, it's easy!  True to Fisk's word, this is a very easy recipe.  So much so that it doesn't even mention what kinds of nuts to use or how many.  He just assumed you'd know something like that, ya belly itchin' rookie!  I went with a handful of chopped walnuts.

 

Fisk was known as a slow game-caller behind the plate, but these tasty brownies took no time at all. 

 

FINAL SCORE - Quick, and... easy!

 



Tropical Delight Cake by Tony La Russa - from "Home Plate: The White Sox Favorite Recipes" (1983)

RECIPE

CAKE
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup honey
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour [I used regular whole wheat flour]
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
2 1/2 cups unsweetened, crushed pineapple, with juice
1 cup diced dates
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 cup dry milk powder
1/4 cup wheat germ

Mix all ingredients together.  Pour batter into an oiled and floured tube pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes.  Cool.  Frost with Banana-Nut Cream Cheese Frosting [see below].

FROSTING
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 small ripe banana, mashed
8 tblsp. butter
2 tsp. honey
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy.  Beat in honey and banana.  Add vanilla and nuts.  (Keep refrigerated.)  Chill to spreading consistency.  Decorate frosted cake with raisins [I used a dried fruit mix of dark raisins, white raisins, currants, cranberries and blueberries].

If I'm going to cook through the 1983 White Sox cookbook and name this blog after Tony La Russa, it makes sense to kick things off with his recipe.

La Russa became Sox manager midway through the 1979 season, replacing Don Kessinger.  La Russa was the latest in a managerial merry-go-round that saw four different managers come and go in the previous four seasons, but his hire would stick.

By 1983, La Russa had shaped the team into a contender and clinched his first division title.  After a slow start, the Sox went on a 59-26 rampage in the second half and won the AL West by 20 games.  La Russa won multiple Manager of the Year Awards, and went on to become one of the winningest managers in history.  But it all started with the White Sox.

This cake is pretty easy to make, once you have assembled all the ingredients.  Not sure how many of you keep things like dry milk powder or wheat germ in the pantry, but they should be available in your local grocery.  The tube pan was borrowed from my bemused mom.

Once everything was gathered up, it was a matter of mixing the dry and wet ingredients, then combining them and pouring everything into the tube pan.

The frosting is pretty intense.  I mean seriously, what comes out of the oven after 40 minutes is a nice fruitcake that isn't too dense or sickly-sweet.  But then you frost the thing with what is essentially a banana cheesecake.  Mercy!

This would be a good dish to serve up at holiday time, if you want to try something different.  I wouldn't recommend making this cake on a regular basis.  Tony himself kept pretty slim throughout his baseball career so I'm guessing he didn't indulge in Tropical Delight Cake too often.

FINAL SCORE - it's a White Sox Winner, but make it a rarity, like an AL West Division title.