A restaurant named after a duck?
That’s what J. Albert Snipes had in mind when he opened the Goo-Goo Restaurant in 1941. He’d copyrighted the name a year earlier, inspired by the web-footed sidekick of Joe Penner, a zany vaudeville, radio, and film comic who rose to national fame in the 1930s with the catchphrase “Wanna buy a duck?” and his trademark “hyuk-hyuk-hyuk” laugh. (In the 1934 Paramount film College Rhythm, Penner kneels in front of his duck and earnestly croons “Goo-Goo, I’m ga-ga over you . . .”)
Snipes styled his restaurant, known first as the Goo-Goo Restaurant & Dine-a-Port and later as the Goo-Goo Restaurant and Drive-In, as “The Home of Fine Food,” and charcoal-broiled steaks got top billing. In the 1950s it was serving more than 3,000 people a day. But in 1965 it burned to the ground, and seven years later it was replaced by Goo-Goo Car Wash, which capitalized on the restaurant’s landmark status and today, from its headquarters in Columbus, operates in a dozen states.
Here is the recipe for the Goo-Goo Restaurant and Drive-In’s Georgia Peach Cobbler, as it was prepared in the mid-1950s.
Georgia Peach Cobbler
Georgia is nicknamed the Peach State, so perhaps it's no surprise that the Goo-Goo Restaurant's Georgia Peach Cobbler was the most popular item on its dessert menu.
Ingredients
- 1 pound canned peaches
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- Pinch of salt
- 1 quart water
- Pie dough for top
- Additional butter, melted, for brushing pastry
Instructions
Heat oven to 300 degrees.
Mix peaches, sugar, butter, cornstarch, salt, and water; put in a baking dish.
Roll out pie dough and cut into strips. Lay strips on top of fruit mixture in dish and brush with melted butter.
Bake for 45 minutes or until crust is deep golden brown and filling begins to bubble through pastry strips. Cool cobbler on a rack until warm.
Notes
This peach cobbler is especially delicious served with ice cream.
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