Delta College Public Media: As Seen on Local TV - Julia Child
- kellison71
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
WUCM-19 --today’s WDCQ-TV – went on the air in 1964, Delta College was only three years old. However, it was the age of television. At the time it opened, the nascent college had been equipped with a state-of-the-art television studio and closed-circuit television was an integral program for the community college.
“Delta College is one of just a handful of community colleges in the nation to own public broadcasting stations. Delta College Public Media (WDCQ-TV and WUCX-FM 90.1) is an essential part of the educational mission of the college, providing informational and learning programs to 1.4 million viewers and listeners each year.
It all started on October 12, 1964, when WUCM-TV 19 (the station's call letters at the time) aired its first show, a children's program called ‘What's New.’ Since then, Delta College Public Media has gone from black and white to full color and from analog to digital broadcasting. In 1987, it expanded its service into the Thumb on Channel 35. And, on December 1, 1989, the college added its public radio station, WUCX FM-90.1. Delta College Public Media continues to enhance the college's commitment to quality and educational services as it delivers quality PBS and NPR programming to the Great Lakes Bay Region, Flint and the Thumb.
Delta College Public Media also plays a key role in Delta College's electronic media program by providing students with hands-on broadcasting experience.” (https://www.delta.edu/public-media/index.html)
This link to a timeline of the history of the station on the Delta Public Media website.
For those of us of a certain age – to be more precise, for those of us with memories of television of the 1960s--we have fond, hazy memories of WDCQ-TV’s early programming. At school, the programs were classroom-oriented – there was an engaging Michigan program—and at home, one of the most memorable programs appeared two years after Channel 19 went on the air - The French Chef, a program described in a September 14, 1966 listing:
“7:30: The French Chef (premiere [for Saginaw])- Emmy Award-winning series with Julia Child as hostess and instructor in preparing food (channel 19).”
Within a few weeks, the station was promoting Child’s show with an entertainment page advertisement, with the tagline “SEEN IN LIFE: SEE IN ACTION ON CHANNEL 19.” We are almost positive LIFE refers to the magazine titled Life.
If you are not familiar with Julia Child’s accomplishments:
Throughout its history, Delta College Public Media’s commitment to the community in which it is located has been as strong as its work to bring nationally acclaimed programming to the area. Over the years, the Castle Museum has been fortunate to engage with Delta College Public Media in numerous projects. One of the most recent was with their Hidden History program. Note: If you are making today’s recipe, you might want to start making your Madeleines and view the videos while your batch of Madeleines is resting.
The Recipe: Julia Child’s Madeleines de Commercy
While we have always relied upon our worn and stained copy of From Julia Child’s Kitchen, we located an online version of the recipe.
If your library does not already include a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking and/or From Julia Child’s Kitchen, consider returning one of your holiday gifts and exchanging it for a copy of either – or better yet -- both of the books.
Les Madeleines de Commercy/The Madeleines with The Hump on Top
Original recipe found in From Julia Child’s Kitchen by Julia Child.
2 large eggs, beaten
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
4 ounces unsalted butter and 1 1/2 tablespoons for buttering the molds (total of 5 1/4 ounces)
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Grated lemon zest from 1/2 lemon
3 drops of lemon juice (or 2 of lemon and 2 of bergamot)
2 large Madeleine pans
Per the original recipe, all ingredients should be brought to room temperature before mixing so that the melted butter does not congeal in the batter before the ingredients have blended together.
Combine flour and sugar in a mixing bowl and add three quarters of the eggs. Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon to blend into a heavy cream – if very stiff, add a little bit of the remaining egg, one droplet at a time. Set aside for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, bring all of the butter to a boil until it begins to brown very lightly. Combine 1 1/2 tablespoons of the butter and tablespoon of flour in a small bowl and set aside.
Stir the rest of the butter over cold water until cool but still liquid. Beat the remaining bit of egg into the batter and stir in the cool butter. Stir in the salt, vanilla, grated lemon zest, lemon juice (and bergamot if using). Cover the batter, and set aside in the refrigerator for at least one hour. Meanwhile, paint the Madeleine cups with a light coating of the browned butter and flour mixture, wiping up any pools that form in the bottom. Set aside or refrigerate if the kitchen is warm.
Preheat the oven to 375°. Using a spoon and rubber spatula, drop a rounded tablespoonful of batter into each Madeleine cup. Do not spread the batter to fill the mold. Repeat with remaining batter and mold. Set pans on the middle rack and bake for about 15 minutes. The batter will spread on its own to fill the cups and a hump will gradually form in the middle. Unmold onto a rack, humped side up.
Serve as is, or sprinkle tops with a dusting of confectioner’s sugar.
Makes 2 dozen Madeleines.
CTK Notes:
Julia Child’s instructions are flawless. This CTK Team Member doesn’t believe he would be exaggerating if he said he has made Madeleines de Commercy from Child’s recipe more than one hundred times. It has failed him only once. He believes he failed to properly cool the butter before adding it to the egg, flour, and sugar mixtures. As he stared into the oven, he was reminded of the need for precision and care.
He will note – the Madeleine pans were purchased in Saginaw – from the Kitchen Department at Jacobson’s.