Shelf Life

In honor of the 100th anniversary of Gwendolyn Brooks's birth, Liesl Olson, Director of Chicago Studies at the Newberry, recreated the poet's signature frozen fruit salad. The concoction offers a mayo-streaked window onto the culinary predilections of mid-20th-century America: whipping cream, cream cheese, and the afore-mentioned mayonnaise combine with maraschino cherries, canned pineapple, and walnuts to create a dessert that's as textured as Brooks's poetry. But the recipe, which Brooks shared with Chicago writer Jack Conroy after a dinner party in 1961, also reveals the social connections among the city's literary community. (Intro music: "Two Types of Awakenings" by Nheap)