FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA

Cookbooks are piling up again – time to get some cookbook reviews written–and I was thinking (yet again) how much diversity and incredible wealth of knowledge goes into  creating cookbooks. It doesn’t matter what state you live in, or what kind of cookbooks you find yourself collecting—with cookbooks there is something for everyone. I became interested in the beginning with church-and-club cookbooks because my father had given me one of those in the early 1960s after he bought them from a coworker at Formica. I was enchanted with that cookbook and wondered if there might be more of those “out there”. Now generally referred to as community cookbooks, these have a history that dates back to the American Civil War when women began collecting recipes to create cookbooks to raise money to help the war effort. It wasn’t very long before the  concept of collecting recipes for a church or club cookbook took off like a wild fire. I have written about these cookbooks before on my blog so I won’t dwell overlong on that topic except where it’s relevant to this post.

Even though I have never had the opportunity to travel along the American east coast- line (aside from living in Florida for a few years)—I am enchanted with lighthouses and what better place to find them than the east coast? (There are a pretty good number of them on the WEST coast too, some of which I have visited).  The problem has always been—much as I love to travel—almost every year, vacations have been planned around the graduations and weddings of my many nieces and nephews.

Much of what I have learned about the history of the East Coast of the United States has been gleaned from cookbooks.  “Cookbooks?” you ask. “Cookbooks” I affirm. When you pick up a cookbook titled COASTAL NEW ENGLAND FALL HARVEST COOKING by Sherri Eldridge, you just know you will be rewarded with some local history.

In the preface, Sherri Eldridge writes, “Like most of America, our origins are from different cultures, all adapting to the same environment and available foods of this unique settling ground.  People of the European continent brought not only their traditions, but also the willingness to make a home In an unknown land, where the first arrivals couldn’t even recognize edible vegetation. Intercultural cooperation and the pooling of resources contributed to the creation of the New England cuisine…”

Sherri adds that with the publication of this second edition, a nutritional analysis has been added and recipes have been adapted to meet the guidelines of the American Heart Association for healthy adults.

Under a recipe for cranapple salad with honey sauce, she writes ”The Pilgrims, a small sect of English Puritans, had been exiled to the Netherlands in 1606. In exchange for the promise of religious freedom, they agreed to establish a trading post in the New World for a group of London investors. In 1620 the Pilgrims set sail in the Mayflower, landing in November at Provincetown at the tip of Cape Cod”  (We ALL learned about the pilgrims and the Mayflower in grade school-but I had never read about the English Puritans being exiled to the Netherlands—have you?—or that in exchange for a promise of religious freedom, those Puritans agreed to establish a Trading Post in the New World for London investors!) This is all news to me,

Eldridge writes elsewhere “The Pilgrims settled in “Plimouth Harbor” in the early winter of 1620. Without appropriate protection from the elements, little food, and knowledge of the local vegetation and wildlife, half did not survive the first winter”. (Probably senselessly dying without knowing or trying some of the local vegetation or wildlife to survive). But, writes Eldgridge, “Just 5 years later, the resiliency and determination of the Pilgrims had established ‘Plimouth’ (sic) as a permanent colony”

Elsewhere she writes, “Up until the late 1800s, the kitchen, where the fire was kept going 24 hours a day, was the center of living in most New England homes. Some family members even slept in the kitchen, where the house was always warmest.  In a deep cubbyhole at the side of the fireplace was a brick oven, used to bake pies, breads, gems and  muffins.”

In the chapter for Breads and Baked Goods, Eldridge provides yummy recipes for light raspberry muffins, Pumpkin Bran muffins, Carrot-raisin muffins, Beer Biscuits and many other bread recipes. Other chapters include  one on salads and fresh greens—some unusual combinations you will want to try, such as Chilled Beet and Apple Salad, Ginger Cole Slaw, Boston Bean Salad, Spinach and Blood Orange Salad—and others.

Main Meal Dishes is lengthy, offering many recipes reflecting fish and seafood from the Atlantic ocean – a New England Clam Bake, How to Eat Lobster & Clams (good one for many of us!), shrimp brochettes and Downeast Deviled Crab, Savory Braised Fish and Poached Salmon in Vermouth with Artichoke Cream as well as recipes for trout, scallops and shrimp. Eldridge offers a handy tip on cooking fish – she writes “Any fish cooked by any means, generally only requires only 10 minutes of cooking time  for each inch of thickness at its thickest part” (that’s one I will want to remember!)

There are many other interesting chapters and recipes in this spiral bound cookbook – including, I’m happy to say, some recipes for jam, jelly, preserves, relish, chutney and – not to be overlooked one for Pickled Zucchini (my son has a bumper crop of squashes coming along in his garden).

Amazon.com has copies of COASTAL NEW ENGLAND FALL HARVEST COOKING starting at one cent for pre-owned copies.  **

One of the more interesting cookbooks to cross my line of vision recently is one titled THE PRAIRIE TABLE COOKBOOK, by Bill Kurtis with Michelle M. Martin. Subtitled THE   REVOLUTION TOWARDS HEALTHY BEEF, FROM THE TRAIL TO GOURMET KITCHENS provides some clues to the content.  Also listed on the cover is another sub title, WITH RECIPES FROM: *CHEF Charlie Trotter of Charlie Trotter’s kitchen, *Chef Rick Bayless of Frontera Grill and PBS’s MEXICO – ONE PLATE AT A TIME, *Executive Chef Paul Katz of Harry Caray’s Italian Steakhouse, *Will Rogers, Gene Autry and Dale Evans, *Chef David Burns o the Stadium Club at Wrigley Field, and (last but not least *Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius and Dodge City May Jim Sherer.

This is a most unusual cookbook and one I wish I had owned when I was writing about American pioneers some years ago. Chapter 1 entices with Native American recipes, fried meat pies—even a recipe for pemmican. Included in Chapter 1 is a fascinating story of the tallgrass cattle drive. Equally fascinating is the explanation for an old American saying – “The real McCoy”. Here’s how it came about:

“In 1867 entrepreneur Joseph McCoy had a bold idea. It came to him when he was a livestock trader in Chicago witnessing the new technology of the day—railroads—transform the American West. If he could attract the great cattle herds moving out of Texas to an intersection with the railroads through Kansas, he could multiply his business ten-fold, maybe a hundredfold.

The intersecting point on the plains of Kansas was in Abilene, in the grass-rich Flint Hills. McCoy spent $5,000 on advertising and riders to carry promotional posters to the Texas herds of longhorns already heading north. He promised that he would pay more per head in Abilene. He was so true to his word that eventually the whole nation would adopt the phrase “That’s the real McCoy!” One cattleman brought six hundred cows for which he had paid $5,400 and sold them to McCoy for $16,800….” (and now you know the rest of the story for the real McCoy but there is a great deal more to read about in the Prairie Table cookbook.

In the chapter “Prairie Cooking Today” we read that the recipes reproduced in this book are exactly as originally worded, even if they appear incorrect by today’s standards of grammar. And while researching this book, the authors learned that beef has always been an American tradition. The recipes and cooking methods may have changed but the desire for fresh, tender, succulent beef has not.

We also learn that the historical chapters will give us a glimpse of American lie in the West during the great cattle era, as well as a better appreciation of our modern conveniences.

When I was researching and writing about the American cowboy I deliberately didn’t dwell on the great cattle drives—my focus was on the individual cowboy. And there were many cookbooks and non-cookbooks to draw on. I just didn’t have THE PRAIRIE TABLE COOKBOOK – it wasn’t published until 2008.

Included as well in chapter 1 of THE PRAIRIE TABLE COOKBOOK is The American Indian Prairie Table—another aspect of the development of this great country that I wrote about in “Kitchens West” but co-authors Bill Kurtis and Michelle Martin take the American Indian farther. (Before I go on, I just want to go on the record as saying that I believe the USA did the American Indians a great injustice. You can’t read about them without becoming drawn in, feeling their despair as all that they loved was taken away from them by the white man.    From the Journal of William Clark, dated June 10, 1804, we read his entry, “I walked out three miles, found the prairie composed of good land and plenty of water, roleing (sic) and interspursed (sic) with points of timbered land.  Those prairies are not open like those, or a number of those E. of the Mississippi void of everything except grass , they abound with Hasel (hazel) grapes and a wild plumb of a superior size and quality called the Osages Plumb, gross on a bush the hight of a Hasel and is three times the sise of other plumbs, and hang in great quantities on the bushes  I saw great numbers of deer in the prairies, the evening is cloudy, our party in high spirits…” (*I did not correct the misspelled words—these are as  they were written by the Lewis and Clark expedition!)

It continues, “With the stroke of a pen, President Thomas Jefferson doubled the size of the young American nation when he purchased the untapped Louisiana Territory from Napoleon Bonaparte of France. He couldn’t explore it himself so he dispatched Captain William Clark and Lieutenant Meriwether Lewis to be his eyes and ears.  Carrying peace medals, blankets, beads, and assorted trinkets they kept detailed journals of their daily progress and observation of the vast lands that would become the American West.

Needless to say, no one consulted any of the American Indian tribes about the Louisiana Purchase.  Among the most striking of these people were the Osage, located in present day Kansas and Oklahoma. Even before Lewis and Clark, explorers like John Bradbury, an Englishman, described them in mythical terms:

“The Osages are so tall and robust as almost to warrant the application of the term gigantic; few of them appear to be under six feet, and many are above it. Their shoulders and visages are broad which tend to strengthen the idea of their being giants”.

There are some interesting easy Indian recipes which include a Cherokee recipe for Egg Soup and Wild Grape Dumplings, as well as a “Gritted Sweet Potatoes” – “Gritted” had nothing to do with southern grits—“gritted” was a word for peeled.  Some pioneer recipes offer a recipe for Scrapple which isn’t all that easy to find anymore, except in some very old cookbooks

Chapter 2 is titled DINING WITH THE ARMY and this is another area not-much explored by food historians, aside from some very good books about what soldiers existed on throughout the Civil War. Authors Bill Kurtis and Michelle M. Martin write “Army life was built around the bugle call. It woke men in the morning, guided posting of the colors and told men when to eat, work, and sleep. The army also understood that food, one of the soldier’s few enjoyments, needed to be regimented. Each soldier in garrison received a daily ration of bread, salt pork, vegetables, if available and other items provided by the army through the Quartermaster. These rations were supposed to last a man for an entire month. Once a soldier’s rations ran out, he would be expected to procure supplies for himself from the post sutler.

(I immediately had to google “sutler” as this was a term with which I was unfamiliar. Wikipedia tells us:

A sutler or victualer was a civilian merchant who sold provisions to an army in the field or in camp or quarters. Sutlers sold wares from the back of a wagon or a temporary tent allowing them to travel along with an army to remote military posts. Sutler’s wagons were associated with the military while chuck wagons served a similar purpose for civilian wagon trains. (And were undoubtedly the first “general stores” in a region).

Google also tells us that the word, sutler, like numerous other naval and military terms, came into English from Dutch where it appears as soetelaar or zoetelaar.  Originally, it meant “one who does dirty work, a drudge, a scullion, and derives from zoetelen (to foul, sully modern Dutch bezoedelen, a word cognate with “suds” (hot soapy water) “seethe” (to boil) and sodden. I have the feeling that the word – sutler – however it originated, may have drifted far afield.

Returning to Bill Kurtis and Michelle Martin, “The sutler on any military post sold everything from fabric to food stuffs and had a monopoly over the sale of goods not provided to soldier by the Quartermaster supply. Any soldier could purchase goods against his meager salary. Nuts, fruits, vegetables, spices, grains, sugars, meats, wild game, cheese, crackers, grits, olive oil, oysters in cans and jars, pickles, licorice, rock candy and liquor were all to be found at the sutler’s store on post…”

The Kitchen philosophy from the United States Army manual for cooks, dated 1883, stresses “Remember that beans, badly boiled, kill more than bullets, and fats more fatal than powder. In cooking, more than anything else in the world, always make haste slowly. One hour too much is vastly better than five minutes too little, with rare exceptions. A big fire scorches your soup, burns your face, and crisps your temper. Skim, simmer and scour are the true secrets of cooking…”

Imagine my surprise, finding a recipe in The Prairie Table Cookbook for Fort Laramie Slumgullion! (My blog post for slumgullion stew is still one of my readers’ favorite articles. I posted it in 2009 and it still receives messages—slumgullion stew is many different things to many different people throughout the country.

To make Fort Laramie Slumgullion, you will need stew meat, potatoes, turnips, onions, any additional foraged vegetables, pepper and salt and water. Parboil the meat until tender. Add to boiling pot vegetables cut into pieces. Add water to sufficiently cover ingredients. Pepper and salt mixture and then boil until done, about 1 hour.

Chapter 3 is titled “Moving West” and this is a topic I have delved deeply in, in the past—but I appreciate and enjoy getting a new “take” on prairie settlers. There are recipes for roast beef, spiced beef, another roast beef and beef steaks as well as Fried Rabbit, Baked Prairie Chicken and French Stew. What I found most interesting is a page dedicated to a topic we have been writing about ever since I started a blog. It shows a close up of a couple of recipes and the authors write “Many housewives kept books in which they clipped recipes from newspapers, wrote down household hints, wrote their own poems and daily reflections, and crafted their own unique recipes for their families. Kitty Hayes Houghton was one such woman. Her notes, ideas on self-improvement, newspaper clippings on important issues, and recipes provide a glimpse   into the Flint Hills ranching lifestyle. The…recipes from Kitty and other pioneer wives, were found on tattered pages in between self-help columns, advertisements for dyspepsia cures, notes on hospitality, and poetry, and short stories written by women with much imagination and creativity”  (Haven’t I written about manuscript cookbooks and battered, tattered pages of an old church cookbook—possibly ad nauseum since this is a favorite topic.

Chapter 4 is the Cowboy Table on the Trail and this is another topic I have explored with you on my blog – but books like The Prairie Table Cookbook bring fresh outlooks on these subjects, along with photographs. New recipes and text offer readers a new take on what may be an old subject – but it’s never boring. Check out Helava Chili and Chuck Wagon Scrapple. You may want to try Ranch House Pot Roast and don’t overlook Squirrel Can Stew (no squirrel—it’s made with a sirloin steak but the “Squirrel can, I discovered was the name given to an empty lard can that sat next to the chuck wagon.    Cowboys scraped their plates into this can before putting their dishes in the “wreck” pan (a dish pan for washing). This was used to keep the camp more sanitary and clean. Cowboys would make remarks and crack jokes about food and coffee tasting as if the cookie had just dipped from the squirrel can. Joking aside, there was a code of conduct that cowboys were to observe with respect to eating and etiquette in camp. Breaking these camp commandments could get you in trouble with cookie and every cowboy knew that cookie was the one man everyone respected and wanted to please. If cookie wasn’t happy, no one was happy! – from the Prairie Table Cookbook.

The foregoing is just a sample of what you will find in The Prairie Table Cookbook.  THE PRAIRIE TABLE COOKBOOK was published in 2008 is available on Amazon.com with prices starting at one cent for a pre owned copy, or $2.47 for a new copy.   **

Next on my list of cookbooks (as we make our way from Sea to Shining Sea, is one titled THE BEST OF SIMPLY COLORADO COOKBOOK published by the Colorado Dietetic Association. This is a beautiful spiral bound cookbook with concealed rings (not visible from the outside of the book). In the 1980s, members of the Colorado Dietetic Association embarked on a fantastic journey into the world of cookbook publishing. The result and final destination: Simply Colorado: Nutritious Recipes for Busy People, published in 1989. The overwhelming success of Simply Colorado led to a second book, called Simply Colorado, Too! More Nutritious Recipes for Busy People, released in 1999. (Not surprisingly) sales of these books scored above the 150,000 mark. Simply Colorado led with more than 125,000 copies sold—a milestone for any coobook.

To celebrate their success, the members of the Colorado Dietetic Association did what any  successful fundraising group will do—they published a third cookbook, titled The Best of Simply Colorado. In this cookbook, which I am reading through now, the Association combined favorite recipes from both cookbooks. Reflecting changes in dietary guidelines, eating habits and food choices, The Best of Simply Colorado offers  the quick and easy tasty and healthy recipes you expect from Colorado’s food and nutrition experts (registered dietitians)

Also, recognizing that Colorado continues to be a cultural crossroads, The Best of Simply Colorado includes an assortment of recipes from the desert Southwest to the fragrant and flavorful Orient.

Published in 2006, the U.S. Dietary Guidelines are those for 2005—not too drastic of a change for us in 2013.  There is even a page on modifying your favorite recipes. Now, I know pretty well how to modify most of my favorite recipes, but do you?

There are charts for substitutions, which you will find useful – and from there venture forth into a wide selection of appetizers, snacks and beverages, ranging from interesting recipes such as Cripple Creek Caviar (can you guess what the secret ingredient is?) tp Smoked Salmon Pate, beverages such as Mock Sangria and hot appetizers like savory stuffed mushrooms and stuffed mushrooms Florentine.

There is a recipe I can’t wait to try, called Southwestern Layered Dip—perfect for your next party.  Next chapter is simply titled “Brunch” but the  twenty-five brunch recipes are anything but—I don’t mean to imply that the recipes are “simple” – but rather simply wonderful—a glorious presentation of brunch casserole and crustless vegetable cheese pie, breakfast burritos to an assortment of coffee cakes and pancakes, waffles and smoothies.  These will become your instant go-to cookbook recipes every time you plan a brunch or breakfast. (I used to do a lot of these when my sons were younger—not so much anymore but it’s always good to know where to turn when a brunch beckons.  Or, if you are invited to a brunch and wanted to contribute something.—perhaps French Coffee Cake or Rhubarb Coffee Cake!

This is just a sampling of the Best of Simply Colorado; there are chapters on Soups and Stews, Salads, Vegetables, Breads, Muffins & Scones, Grains & Legumes, Fish & Seafood, Poultry, Meats, Vegetarian Entrees—and Desserts. Get out a package of those little square post-it notes to mark the pages you want to try. You will surely need an entire package of post-its.

The Best of Simply Colorado is available brand-new from Amazon.com for $12.42.  Pre-owned copies are available starting at $1.58 and up.  **

Lastly, arriving on the Pacific coast, I want to share with you a cookbook that I reviewed previously for the Cookbook Collectors Exchange—it was a joy to review. I love, love, love that part of California and would love to live there. Maybe in another life? **

FEAST OF EDEN

Regional winner of the 1994 Tabasco Cookbook Award is a beautifully composed cookbook titled FEAST OF EDEN, from the Junior League of Monterey County, California.

The Junior League of Monterey County, Inc., is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and improving the community through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable.

The Junior League of Monterey County, Inc. reaches out to women of all races, religions and national origins who demonstrate an interest in and commitment to voluntarism. Currently there are 140 active members and 302 sustaining members of the Junior League.

The Junior League has been actively working to improve Monterey County for 60 years. Our hands-on approach has enriched our community through the development of past League projects, including The Family Service Agency (started as the Family Resource Center), The Salinas Adult Day Care Center, the Monterey County Youth Museum (MY Museum), and the Silent Witness Exhibit. JLMC is also represented on the executive board of the United Way of Monterey County’s Success By 6 project.

FEAST OF EDEN is a lovely and appropriate play on names since its famous native son, John Steinbeck, wrote EAST of EDEN and a number of other wonderful books about the Monterey Peninsula.  If you are not familiar with them, DO read CANNERY ROW, TORTILLA FLATS, OF MICE AND MEN, SWEET THURSDAY and, of course, EAST OF EDEN. You will come to love, as did I, the village of Carmel by the Sea, the town of Monterey, Carmel Valley and Salinas, all places Steinbeck loved and wrote about.

I visited the Monterey Peninsula for the very first time in 1979 with a girlfriend who had spent summer vacations there as a very young child. We wandered the cobblestone streets of Carmel, with its old-fashioned street lights, meandering in and out of hundreds of cubby-hole shops and stores. We dined in tiny little restaurants, some with fireplaces, and sometimes at little street-side tables, people-watching while we dined on shrimp or pasta.

The village of Carmel is indescribable. It has been, for decades, an artists’ colony, but it is also a great tourist attraction, and once you visit, you will know why. I’d give my eyeteeth to be able to live there.

Meanwhile, share with me, for a few minutes, a love of Monterey and the presentation by the Junior League of Monterey County.

I confess to being partial; the Monterey Peninsula is one of my favorite spots on earth. Whenever possible, Bob and I would head north to camp in Carmel Valley and shop in the quaint village of Carmel. I have several black and white framed photographs of Point Pinos, the lighthouse on the Monterey Peninsula, that I printed and framed myself. They are on my bedroom walls, always beckoning.  When I am there, I feel like I am at home.

I can easily visualize, when – in the Introduction – the compilers of FEAST
OF EDEN tell us “Where the Santa Lucia Mountains separate the fields of Salinas from the Pacific Ocean, lies the garden paradise of Monterey County, California….life in Monterey County is highly textured. From the rocky cliffs of the agriculture fields of Salinas, to the thatched roofs of story book Carmel, to the diamond sparkle of the aquamarine waters of Pebble Beach..”

Accompanying  a rich array  of recipes which range from the elegant–Custard Baked French Toast…Spicy Grilled London Broil…Crab Cakes with Charon* sauce,  to the sublime—Baked Salmon with Tomato, Cucumber and Basil, Scallop Lasagna, or Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake…are colorful vignettes of life in Monterey county, which will enable you to understand a bit my love of this particular region  in California.  (*Charon Sauce is made with egg yolks, lemon juice and fresh Tarragon. I’m guessing it is closely related to Hollandaise sauce but with the addition of Tarragon. I was unable to find Charon Sauce on Google.com,).

Other recipes you might want to try – Zesty Crab and Artichoke Dip,  Eggplant Bruschetta, or perhaps the Tomato and Bacon Bruschetta – Monterey Phyllo Triangles, Thai Meatballs, Pastures of Heaven Salad or Steinbeck Country Salad. Feast on Praline Breakfast Rolls or Apple Spice Muffins—or try the Chocolate Zucchini Cake that I think I am going to make with the zucchini my sister brought over.

FEAST OF EDEN provides many vignettes about life in Monterey County.  Read, for instance, that “Early Carmel-by-the Sea had few telephones, no electricity, no paved roads and the rudimentary wooden sidewalks lined only Ocean Avenue…but to many it was a refuge from an increasingly technological world…” or that “Life in Carmel in the 1920s and 1930s was both carefree and communal. Villagers might meet each other at all times of the day or night in all kinds of dress.

Author Mary Austin would roam the woods dressed as an Indian Princess in Greek robes. Each day, city residents would greet each other in their bathrobes at the milk stations – sets of shelves set up where residents would leave money at night and pick up their milk in the morning”.

FEAST OF EDEN with over 225 triple-tested recipes featuring healthy, fresh ingredients, is beautifully done, with wonderful color photographs of various dishes, and many of the historical sites for which Monterey County is so famous.

SANDY’S COOKNOTE:  The above was written for the Cookbook Collectors Exchange, probably in 1994 or 1995. When the cookbook was first published in 1994, it sold for $19.95.  It is available on Amazon.com new starting at $4.83, and pre-owned starting at one cent (remember that  book purchases from private vendors always carry a $3.99 shipping & handling charge.)

Since 1994, I don’t remember how many more trips Bob & I would make to Monterey. Once, we made the trip in a Chinook I had bought, and we camped in Carmel Valley. It was our favorite place to visit.

Now we have traveled from coast to coast, from Sea to Shining Sea–computer style!

–Sandra Lee Smith

 

SOME OF MY FAVORITE STEVEN RAICHLEN COOKBOOKS

SOME OF MY FAVORITE STEVEN RAICHLEN COOKBOOKS are never far from reach although I have to admit, a lot of my cookbooks are grouped by categories (vegetarian, meat, chicken & poultry, appetizers, Barbeque cookery, and a large collection of foreign cookbooks) so it presents a bit of a challenge when I want to revisit a cookbook author and have to start searching all over the house to find the books he/she has written. I was able to go right to The Barbecue Bible (1998)—because all the barbecue books are together on one shelf–but I’m going to have to start a dedicated search tomorrow morning.

The truth is, I have cookbooks on all the walls in three bedrooms, half of the walls in the living room and maybe half of the library space in the garage library that Bob created for me before he was felled by cancer.  One of my ambitions is to convert a larger section of the garage library into favorite cookbook authors. They have outgrown the wall in a spare bedroom. My problem with favorite cookbook authors is that – when I find one I like – I am not satisfied to simply read what they have written – I want to own the books as well. My collection starts out with Ida Bailey Allen (A) and works its way to Myra Waldo (W) – and I have written about these favorite authors on my blog (I LOVE YOU IDA BAILEY ALLEN, WHERE EVER YOU ARE, and WHERE’S WALDO?)  The challenge comes from searching for the books written by favorite authors and trying to discover little known facts about their lives – as in Myra Waldo, who disappeared from the public eye after writing dozens of terrific cookbooks–and only in the past few years was I able to learn the rest of Myra Waldo’s story. Sometimes learning “the rest of the story”, as Paul Harvey would say, is as fascinating as the search itself.

All this being said, what I actually wanted to do today is share Steven Raichlen’s HIGH-FLAVOR LOW-FAT APPETIZERS—because who doesn’t love a good appetizer?

Raichlen, who was born in Nagoya, Japan, grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. He got a degree in French literature from Reed College in Portland, Oregon, and won a Watson Fellowship which enabled him to move to Paris to study medieval cooking in Europe. (I’m perplexed that he has never published anything – as did Lorna Sass – about medieval European cooking).

At any rate, Raichlen attended Barbecue University*, designed a line of grilling accessories and ended up on Chappaquiddick Island where his most recent achievement is the publication of a book of fiction, titled “Island Apart”—which is what Chappaquiddick means in the Wampanoag language.

*As for Barbecue University—I wondered—is there really such a place?  This was a “gotchal, for sure. Raichlen is the founder of “Barbecue University”, which offers three-day intensive courses on live fire cooking at the Broadmoor Resort in Colorado Springs.

But before Chappaquiddick, Raichlen moved to Miami—where he found the time to get married, father two children and write a slew of cookbooks.

But getting back to Raichlen’s series of “HIGH-FLAVOR LOW-FAT” cookbooks—HIGH-FLAVOR LOW-FAT APPETIZERS was published in 1997 by Viking, a division of Penguin, USA, Cookbooks. (I have four of the series, which I reviewed in the late 1990s for the Cookbook Collectors Exchange).  All of the books contain photographs by Greg Schneider, a man who raised food photography to a high art—any one of his illustrations would look beautiful, matted and framed and hanging on a dining room wall.

Steven Raichlen has won five James Beard awards for his cookbooks. High-Flavor, Low-Fat Cooking won the 1993 award for Best Light and Healthy Cookbook, and his follow-up, High-Flavor, Low-Fat Vegetarian Cooking, won the 1996 award for Best Vegetarian Cookbook. In 1999, Healthy Latin Cooking won the award for Healthy Focus. He also earned the 2001 JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION/KITCHENAID BOOK AWARD FOR HEALTHY JEWISH COOKING.   More recently his 780-page book, BBQ USA, won the 2004 award for Tools and Techniques.

In 2003, Bon Appetit named Raichlen “Cooking Teacher of the Year,” the same year that The Barbecue Bible, based on his four years of research while traveling 150,000 miles through 25 countries on five continents, won an IACP Julia Child Award. (I imagine Raichlen has enough cookbook awards to paper all the walls of his home office).

All this being said, let’s take a look at Steven Raichlen’s HIGH-FLAVOR LOW-FAT APPETIZERS since, as we all know, appetizers, or hors d’oeuvres come first. (I am always reminded, when I speak of hors d’oeuvres, of a young man who rented a guest house from us years ago, and called them Horses’ ovaries.)

I have to confess, though, that I am a sucker for cookbooks on appetizers. After years of throwing parties and spending days—nay, weeks –poring over cookbooks, digging through recipe boxes, planning and shopping and preparing food, then making myself a wild woman with the logistics of trying to cook everything with only one stove and four burners—and serve it all hot (or in some cases, chilled).  Well, not too many years ago, I made a happy discovery that parties planned entirely around appetizers work extremely well.

“The appetizers of today,” explains Mr. Raichlen, “are high in flavor, low in fat, and International in inspiration. Nutrition-minded eaters are discovering a bold new world of flavors—quesadillas from Mexico, Bruschette from Italy, Sates from Southeast Asia…”

“For that matter,” says Raichlen, “our whole attitude towards finger fare has changed. Once considered an adjunct to a meal, appetizers are more and more becoming a meal in themselves. Call it grazing—or Tapas or Dim Sum…”

Raichlen writes that it’s his favorite way of eating. Mine, too. It’s also my favorite way of serving guests.

Mr. Raichlen says that this book was inspired in part by a friend, Miami journalist Jane Wooldridge. He describes her as “An avid party giver, gracious hostess, and enthusiastic supporter of the High-Flavor, Low-Fat philosophy”. For several years, Jane urged him to write a High-Flavor, Low-Fat appetizer book and he says it was a good reason—that while most of us have adopted a healthier low-fat diet for our everyday meals, too often we subject our family and friends to a fat assault when we entertain.

Raichlen provides us with a variety of techniques for trimming the fat from party fare. He says that readers of his previous High-Flavor, Low-Fat books will recognize many of the techniques he uses in this book to create bold flavors with little or no fat. One is a generous use of herbs and spices to replace the richness once achieved with animal fats. Another is the use of chicken or vegetable stock instead of oil or butter to create moist, creamy dips and spreads.

There are other techniques that can be used in preparing High-Flavor, Low-Fat party fare. Raichlen suggests yogurt cheese and low and no-fat cottage cheese and cream cheese for making dairy based dips and spreads. If your fat budget allows it, he suggests using the low-fat product. It has much more flavor than the no-fat version—but he is quick to add that nonfat dairy products can produce some very fine food, too. For a richer, creamier texture, Raichlen advises we drain the yogurt or cottage cheese in a yogurt strainer (or a cheesecloth lined strainer) before using. Yogurt can be drained in as little as 4 hours, but the resulting yogurt cheese will be firmer and drier if you start the previous night.

Raichlen notes that egg whites have the same jelling and leavening properties as whole eggs, without the fat of the yolk (and egg white products are available everywhere now). He uses them in a variety of dishes, from fillings to custards. Egg whites are the active ingredient in such egg substitutes as Egg Beaters. I consider myself a purist so you might be surprised to find recipes in this book that call for egg substitutes. The reason is simple: egg substitutes are more than 95% egg whites, and there’s no appreciable difference in taste.

Everyone loves crisp finger food at cocktail parties—but not the fat associated with deep frying.  While working on this book, Raichlen discovered that wonton skins and ravioli wrappers could be baked instead of deep-fried. The result is a crackling-crisp crust with very little fat. And Asian wrappers are a lot quicker and easier to use than filo dough. Raichlen calls this method of cooking “oven frying.”

He also says that garlic, spices and chili peppers are a great way to achieve flavor without fat. He says he has a rather high tolerance for intense flavors and chili hellfire and has tried to suggest a range of this ingredient for people who may have more timid palates. Raichlen suggests you start with the minimum quantity of these flavorings and add more as needed.

He provides some general observations on party planning, and writes that “the French term hors d’oeuvre literally means “outside the main work.”  “But there’s no reason to dismiss this,” Raichlen writes, “the most diverse branch of cooking, as secondary or unessential. Although great hors d’oeuvres can’t guarantee a great party, it’s harder to have one without them. Besides, interesting party fare certainly gives people something to talk about…”

Something else I learned early on, about a cocktail, or hors d’oeuvre-themed party—whenever someone asks “what can I bring?” (As many guests do), you can respond with “your favorite appetizer” – or if the anticipated guest says he or she doesn’t know how to make any appetizers – then I suggest a bottle of their favorite wine. (Bob and I invariably ended up, after one of these parties, with more bottles of wine than we knew what to do with). But we had a bar in the den and our closest friends were always happy to become bartenders for the party.

Raichlen suggests choosing dishes that can be prepared ahead of time and served at room temperature—or those that can be cooked or warmed at the last minute (while Bob had volunteers tending bar in the den, I always had a couple of girlfriends donning aprons and helping to keep the dining room table amply supplied),  Raichlen notes that your place as host is with your guests, not in the kitchen—and with an appetizer party, you will be able to do this.

Raichlen also suggests keeping the menu as interesting as the conversation; balance hot and cold, soft and crunchy, Eastern & Western. “Whether you plan to serve 4 items or 14,” he writes, “offer a variety of flavors, textures and temperatures.”  He likes to balance hot offerings, like dumplings and quesadillas, with cold ones, like dips based on yogurt or sour cream. He notes that soft creamy spreads make a nice contrast to crunchy pastries and vegetable sticks.

He also writes “When it comes to planning a party spread, remember that good things come in small packages. Small means bite-size hors d’oeuvres that can be popped into the mouth without interrupting the conversation. “For the convenience of your guests and the cleanliness of your carpets, make sure that passed fare can be consumed in one or two bites. Otherwise, provide plates and cutlery. (We always kept sturdy paper plates on hand with the array of appetizers laid out on the dining room table). When we ran out of one kind of hors d’oeuvre, one of my kitchen helpers quickly replaced it with a fresh array from the oven or – for contrast – something chilled.

HIGH-FLAVOR LOW-FAT APPETIZERS starts out with dips, Chips, and Vegetable Sticks which includes a recipe for a New Guacamole and Savannah Salsa – the latter made with cooked black eyed peas. Salsa recipes, you must surely have noticed, have branched out far and wide over the past couple of decades. Raichlen provides a recipe for Mango Salsa and another for Three-Tomato Salsa.

Vegetable sticks with dry dips includes a recipe for Cajun Dip and another for Greek Dip. Another sure-to-be-a-favorite is a recipe for Shanghai Dip, as well as a Provencal Dip (some of these recipes can be made up well in advance. I save all small glass jars and bottles to mix ingredients for recipes such as these, put them into small jars and label them. Spreads for Breads includes a Fig Tapenade and Sun-Dried Tomato Tartar, Roasted-Vegetable “Caviar” (made with eggplant) and Spicy Walnut Spread served with Pumpernickel Toast Points.

Wraps and Rolls feature Santa Fe “Sushi”, Crab Quesadilla, Scallion Blintzes and Buttermilk Crepes while under Dumplings and Pastries you will find Empanadas (Hispanic Meat Pies) and Samosas (Indian Spiced Potato Turnovers)—and one of my favorites Seafood Pot Stickers with Honey Soy Dipping Sauce. These are a few of the many recipes sure to whet not only your appetite, but that of your cocktail guests as well.

And here’s the part that will really catch your attention. HIGH-FLAVOR LOW-FAT APPETIZERS is available on Amazon.com, new, $2.02, collectible 99c, or pre-owned, starting at one cent. (Remember that Amazon.com will charge you $3.99 for shipping and handling when you purchase a book from a private vendor—still, where else will you find something this great for four dollars?

OTHER COOKBOOKS WRITTEN BY STEVEN RAICHLEN:

STEVEN RAICHLEN HIGH-FLAVOR LOW-FAT COOKING 1992

MIAMI SPICE 1993

THE CARIBBEAN PANTRY COOKBOOK WITH MARTIN JACOBS, 1995

HIGH-FLAVOR LOW-FAT CHICKEN, 1996

HIGH-FLAVOR, LOW-FAT PASTA, 1996

HIGH-FLAVOR LOW-FAT VEGETARIAN COOKING 1997

HIGH-FLAVOR, LOW-FAT COOKING EASEL COOKBOOK 1996

HIGH-FLAVOR LOW-FAT DESSERTS, 1997

HIGH-FLAVOR LOW-FAT ITALIAN FOOD COOKBOOK 1997

THE BARBECUE BIBLE, (Julia Child Cookbook Awards Winner) 1998

STRONG WOMEN STAY SLIM, WITH MIRIAM NELSON & SARAH WERNICK 1999

HIGH-FLAVOR LOW-FAT MEXICAN COOKING 1999

BBQ BIBLE SAUCES, RUBS & MARINADES 2000

STEVEN RAICHLEN’S HEALTHY LATIN COOKING WITH HANNIA CAMPOS & CRISTINA SARALEGUI, 2000

HOW TO GRILL 2001

BEER CAN CHICKEN 2002

BBQ USA 2003

STEVEN RAICHLEN BIG FLAVOR COOKBOOK 2003

INDOOR GRILLING 2004

BBQ BIBLE 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY 2008

THE HADASSAH JEWISH HOLIDAY COOKBOOK (with co-authors) 2008

PLANET BARBECUE 2010

BOLD AND HEALTHY FLAVORS, 2011

BEST RIBS EVER 2012

RAICHLEN ON RIBS, RIBS, OUTRAGEOUS RIBS, 2012

This list is undoubtedly incomplete because every time I think I have the entire collection listed, I find a reference to yet another.  I didn’t include “Island Apart” because it isn’t a cookbook. You may want to read it anyway!

–Review by Sandra Lee Smith

RECIPES 1-2-3 BY ROZANNE GOLD

RECIPES 1-2-3 by  Rozanne Gold is one of those cookbooks that will surely knock your socks off (or your oven mitts, at least).

There have been, you must have noticed if you automatically scan all the cookbooks in book stores and in particular, the flurry of cookbooks devoted to just a few ingredients—there are many great cookbooks on this topic.  Rozanne Gold was one of the first to take this concept a step further. First of all, RECIPES 1-2-3 is a beautiful hardcover cookbook by Viking Press, with photographs by Tom Eckerle.

“Time is not on our side,” explain the publishers. “Not only don’t we have time to cook, we often don’t even have time to shop for food. Imagine being able to choose from more than 250 dazzling recipes that contain only three ingredients.”

Rozanne Gold is the author of the award-winning “LITTLE MEANS: A GREAT NEW WAY TO EAT AND COOK”. She is also consulting chef to the Rainbow Room and the new Windows On the World. First chef to New York City mayor Ed Koch, she is now Culinary Director of the world-renown Joseph Baum and Michael Whitman Co., and if that were not enough, she is also culinary counselor for Dunnewood Vineyards in California.

In the Introduction to 1-2-3, Gold writes “Think of the transparent sound of a small chamber orchestra; or the compressive clarity of haiku. When it comes to the senses, less is often more. So it is with our palates and the way we taste. The Western vocabulary contains only four descriptors for how we experience a morsel of food: salty, sour, bitter, and sweet. The Japanese posit a fifth sensation, called umami, a beeflike essence of wild mushrooms.

It was this realization, she says, that led her to develop RECIPES 1-2-3. She says that in her twenty years as a professional chef, she has “imposed dozens of ingredients onto a single dish, used paintbrushes and squeeze bottles to decorate plates; piled food so precariously as to challenge gravity…”

“Turnabout,” explains Ms. Gold. “Today I’m convinced that we really can create delicious food and orchestrate wonderful meals by combining recipes with just a few ingredients.”

She also tells us that an important goal of her book is to make cooking more user friendly, without taking shortcuts.

She has also set out to demonstrate to use the various (and better) ways of cooking things—showing us how a roasted asparagus stalk differs from one that’s steamed, and why baked squash makes a better soup than one that’s boiled. Information such as this is invaluable to novice cooks who are often stymied and left at an impasse when the cookbook tells them to “braise” without giving them a clue exactly what braise means.

Ranging from appetizers (simple. No? Only three ingredients) to sumptuous desserts (simple, yes? Only three ingredients) and in the middle you will find a wide variety of entrees, each one more wonderful sounding than the last…check out the Mahogany short ribs with the secret ingredient (this one I can experiment with since we have our own grape vines—one of the surprises, for me, is a recipe called Coffee and Vinegar pot roast…now many years ago, in the mid 60s, I believe, I had this recipe – and lost it. I have searched through thousands of cookbooks for this particular recipe, so imagine my surprise – voila! It’s in RECIPES 1-2-3. The author says that she has collected a stack of wacky and wonderful recipes from a variety of odd sources (haven’t we all?) and this one was from as community cookbook, and was originally known as Lutheran Ladies Peking Beef Roast.

In addition to many other suggestions, Gold provided a 1-2-3 pantry list to help you get started.

There is a recipe for Beer Bread which reminded me – that was the FIRST 3-ingredient recipe in my collection; at the time, I wondered if I could present enough 3-ingredient recipes for a magazine article. The Beer Bread is one of those that crops up here and there and is a great bread to serve hot with a bowl of soup. Gold presents a simple recipe for tortilla strips but she fries hers in oil – I cut mine into thin strips and dry them in the oven—because I have an auto pilot and my oven stays warm all the time. This is a wonderful addition to a bowl of Tortilla Soup. Gold presents recipes for Fennel, Leek, and Orzo Soup, Curried Lentil Soup and “Fire and Ice” Gazpacho. Gold’s recipe for Beer and Stilton Soup would also be a great soup and beer bread dinner on a Friday night.

I’m almost certain that the recipe called Coffee and Vinegar Pot Roast is the very same one I made in the mid 60s but I would have sworn the recipe came from a I-Hate-To-Cook-Cookbook by Peg Bracken – but what do I know? After cooking and collecting recipes for over fifty years, I’d be the first to admit I don’t remember where all of them came from – unless the recipe was written on a card with the name of the person who gave me the recipe written on the back of the card.

RECIPES 1-2-3 BY ROZANNE GOLD was originally reviewed by me in 1996 for The Cookbook Collectors Exchange.  Inside my copy of RECIPES 1-2-3 was a full page review in the Los Angeles Times, dated May 30, 1996, presented side by side with Andrew Schloss’ COOKING WITH THREE INGREDIENTS. In my collection of cookbooks, I have a full shelf of cooking with 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, – even 7 ingredient cookbooks—it was a concept whose time had come.  Coffee and Vinegar Pot Roast is in the newspaper article as well!

If you are a busy cook with little or no time to cook for your family, books such as RECIPES 1-2-3 can be lifesavers. Keep the book handy; go over the pantry guide and you can astound your family and friends with quick and easy meals.

Amazon.com has copies of RECIPES 1-2-3 starting at 1 cent for a pre owned copy and $4.27 for a new one.  Rozanne Gold is also the author of Healthy 1-2-3 and RECIPES 1-2-3 MENU COOKBOOK, as well as RADICALLY SIMPLE, 325 INSPIRING RECIPES, EAT FRESH FOOD; AWESOME RECIPES FOR TEEN CHEFS and KIDS COOK 1-2-3. All are available on Amazon.com.
–Review by Sandra Lee Smith

 

FROM THE EARTH TO THE TABLE BY JOHN ASH

In 1995, John Ash’s new cookbook was FROM THE EARTH TO THE TABLE, (subtitled John Ash’ s Wine Country Cuisine) was accompanied by so much fanfare that I was, in all honesty, more than a little intimidated. It was written up In Publisher’s Weekly, featured in Cooking Light, heartily praised in the Lo Angeles Times by Dan Berger, the Times wine Writer) and given a warm write up in the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, perhaps understandably since Mr. Ash’s restaurant is in Santa Rosa.

I wondered –was this cookbook too highbrow for the likes of you and me? The answer was no!

What I did was set aside any preconceived notions about what I think makes up a GOURMET COOKERY and then began checking out the recipes.(although I do a lot of cooking and baking—I have never considered myself a ‘gourmet’ cook).

You have to admit, this gourmet chef comes with great credentials. Not only does he have his own restaurant in Santa Rosa which has gotten many rave reviews, he has written or co-authored several other cookbooks.

Mr. Ash, to quote Publisher’s Weekly is “a passionate advocate of cooks knowing where, when, and how their food is grown and raised…he urges readers to eat seasonally and locally, instead of using tasteless tomatoes in a salad in December , he suggests the likes of Warm Red Cabbage Salad.

“FROM THE EARTH TO THE TABLE: John Ash’s Wine Country Cuisine” was nominated for both a 1996 Julia Child Cookbook Award and a 1996 James Beard Foundation Book Award.

Mr. Ash is also Culinary Director of the Fetzer Vineyards’ Wine Center at Valley Oaks, California, where he draws from the bounty of Fetzer’s five-acre organic biodynamic garden to invent recipes that are high-flavor, innovative and healthy (and where he has the pick of a thousand varieties of vegetables, fruits, herbs and edible flowers grown there) and although he is no longer involved in the day to day operation of John Ash & Co. Restaurant (adjacent to Vintner’s Inn, just north of Santa Rosa, about two hours  north of San Francisco) he retains the title of consulting chef, working with the executive chef on recipe and menu  development.

This is probably a far cry from the John Ash who, according to the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, was once too shy to leave the kitchen to meet diners who wanted to compliment him.

Prior to embarking on a restaurant career and writing cookbooks, John Ash was a photographer and medical illustrator in San Francisco. He eventually was hired by Del Monte Foods to head up new product development (and where he came up with the idea of pudding-in-a-cup). He tired of corporate life, however, and then toured Europe, taking courses at cooking schools such as the Cordon Bleu in London. When he returned to San Francisco, he operated a small catering company, which in turn led to the opening of John Ash and Co., his restaurant in Santa Rosa.

Describing FROM THE EARTH TO THE TABLE, the publishers explain that the book contains over 300 recipes featuring fresh, seasonal ingredients in distinctive flavor combinations. The book is organized by course and main ingredient, with sections devoted to Salads and Soups, Pastas, Pizzas and Risottos; Poultry, Fish and Meats, Vegetarian Main courses and of course, Desserts, Breads, and Beverages.

One feature I especially like about this cookbook is the author’s informal explanations of things  which sometimes overwhelm us – for instance, he says there is really no difference between focaccia and pizza…both are flat round breads seasoned with oil and cooked in the oven or over embers—and are called pizza in the south and focaccia in the north.  Semifreddos, he explains, translates to ‘half frozen” in Italian….mmmm check out the recipe for Ginger, Fig and Cranberry Semifreddo!

Since this is a cookbook from the wine country, many recipes feature the judicious use of wine and there are some good lessons to be learned by all of us. Ash says that cooking for a winery has taught him to cook differently, to be more sensitive to what the food will taste like with different wines and specific wines. We can all benefit from the lessons learned by the master chef.

One lesson I learned  many years ago is that a pantry or refrigerator filled with sauces chutneys, vinaigrettes – things I make myself and keep on hand to dress up meals – makes all the difference between a simple unadorned meal and one that looks fancy, tastes great and impresses the heck out of dinner guests.

Consequently, one of the features I appreciate most about FROM THE EARTH TO THE TABLE are the many wonderful new ideas to incorporate in my own culinary repertoire. There is, for instance, a red pepper chutney, wonderful marinades such as mustard, Thai-style and basil-parmesan…a sun dried cherry sauce, poblano chile sauce – or how about a warm garlic dipping sauce?

In 2008, my Canadian girlfriend, Sharon, and I took a California Adventure road trip which started at the coast in Ventura and took us all the way to the redwoods where we spent a couple of days exploring—but reading about Santa Rosa made me think—Sharon and I spent a night in Santa Rosa when we were unable to book a room anywhere in San Francisco and continued north until we reached Santa Rosa where we found a nice motel and wonderful restaurant food, telling ourselves this was a place that deserved more exploration—but after the Redwoods we traveled south and then inland to go to Yosemite, so we didn’t make it back to Santa Rosa – much to my regret, especially after reading about John Ash’s Santa Rosa.

John Ash is the culinary director of Fetzer Vineyards’ Wine Center, which happens to have a huge organic culinary garden. With that as well as the produce and other ingredients available in abundance in California’s wine country, he creates dishes like Orecchiette with Red Wine-Braised Chicken, Fresh Cherry Flan, and other delicious combinations. There are lots of sidebars on ingredients, and Ash suggests substitutions for seasonal or hard-to-find ingredients. Most recipes are accompanied by informative wine notes that explain the particular food-wine match.

COOKBOOKS BY OR CO-AUTHORED BY JOHN ASH:

FROM THE EARTH TO THE TABLE, by John Ash and Sid Goldstein, originally published in 1995 originally sold for $29.95. Reprinted 2007, available pre-owned starting at one cent on Amazon.com.  Shipping/handling $3.99 on all books sold by private vendors.

THE WINE LOVERS COOKBOOK: GREAT RECIPES FOR THE PERFECT GLASS OF WINE, Sid Goldstein, Paul Franz-Moore and John Ash, published 1999, available at $4.14 new on Amazon.com, or starting at one cent for pre-owned copies.

COOKING ONE ON ONE, John Ash, published 2004, new copies available $5.50 or pre-owned starting at 1 cent. Add $3.99 for shipping and handling.

SALMON: A COOKBOOK by Diane Morgan, John Ash and E.J. Armstrong, published in 2005, pre-owned copies available on Amazon.com.

WILD ALASKAN SEAFOOD: CELEBRATED RECIPES FROM AMERICA’S TOP CHEFS, BY James O. Fraioli, Jessica Nicosia-Nadler and John Ash, 2011, hardcover new $11.98 & up, preowned $3.41 & up

CULINARY BIRDS: THE ULTIMATE POULTRY COOKBOOK, by John Ash, to be published September, 2013 – can be pre-ordered on Amazon.com

–Review by Sandra Lee Smith

PARIS BISTRO COOKERY

While putting some books away—notably foreign cookbooks—I came across one I have had so long, I no longer remember how I acquired it. I do know that a few years ago when my sister & I, along with her son Cody and my grandson Ethan, met our niece, Leslie, in San Diego with her son Blake—we found a wonderful used cookbook store and bought literally stacks of cookbooks. Leslie was buying all the French cookbooks she could find and I remarked, offhandedly, that I had a lot of French cookbooks that she was welcome to, as it isn’t one of my favorite foreign cuisines. Later on I mailed two boxes of cookbooks to her.  So, how did I end up with a copy of Alexander Watt’s PARIS BISTRO COOKERY? The copyright on this cookbook is 1957 and although the dust jacket is worn and torn in places, at least it’s there.  This small cookbook was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1958 and appears to be the first edition.

My first thought was “What is bistro cookery and how does it differ from other French cooking?  Good question!  From visiting Bing and finding some definitions, I learned that French bistro food caught on in the U.S. in the ’80s, when we realized that we loved the simple, homey cooking found in those small, casual eateries the French call bistros. An alternative to haute cuisine, this is hearty, rustic, everyday stuff, often characterized by regional roots: crisp roast chickens, savory tarts, hearty stews and robust salads.

A bistro (/ˈbiːstrəʊ/), sometimes spelled bistrot, is, in its original Parisian incarnation, a small restaurant serving moderately priced simple meals in a modest setting. Bistros are defined mostly by the foods they serve. French home-style cooking with robust earthy dishes, and slow-cooked foods like cassoulet, a bean stew, are typical. According to Wikipedia, bistros likely developed out of the basement kitchens of Parisian apartments where tenants paid for both room and board. Landlords could supplement their income by opening their kitchen to the paying public. Menus were built around foods that were simple, could be prepared in quantity and would keep over time. Wine and coffee were also served.

The origins of the word bistro are uncertain. Some say that it may derive from the Russian bystro (быстро), “quickly”. According to an urban legend, it entered the French language during the Russian occupation of Paris in 1815. Russian officers or cossacks who wanted to be served quickly would shout “bystro.” However, this etymology is not accepted by several French linguists as there is, notably, no occurrence of this word until the end of the 19th century. Others say the name comes from a type of aperitif, called a bistrouille in (or liqueur coffee), served in some reasonably priced restaurants.

Then I discovered on the cover in much smaller print “50 of Paris’s best small bistros—a cook’s tour with 100 recipes of their specialities de la maison”  (so much for such a small book!) On the inside of the dust jacket, I read “Here is a title to look at twice—for it has a double meaning. This is at once a guidebook and a cookbook  It is a collection of moments savored in those wonderful but often hard-to-find Paris islands where magnificent food is served—and eaten. It is, as well, a collection of the secrets of the chefs who make those islands as singular as they are…”

Cookbook author Alexander Watt was the food and wine expert of the London daily telegraph and knew Paris inside the kitchen and out. In Paris Bistro he cut through to the root of the French cuisine.  Covering a wide cross-section of Paris, Mr. Watt took his readers on a tour of fifty small inexpensive bistros that he personally had discovered, tested, and approved. Granted, this cookbook was published over fifty years ago and I have no way of knowing whether any of the 50 still exist more than sixty years later. Reading the dust jacket, something nudged my memory banks – what other book had I read along similar lines?  I’ll think about that as I continue on.

Author Alexander Watt took us on a tour of fifty small, inexpensive bistros that he personally had visited, bringing to life the ambiance of each bistro, recapturing the atmosphere, the particular nature of the cooking, the regional dishes for which the restaurant may be famous. He not only described the specialties of the bistro, but also offered a  representative menu, suggesting the right  accompanying wine, cheese and liqueur (or digestif, as the French would say—to settle a superlative meal. Then Mr. Watt went on to outline the making of several of the dishes for which each bistro is famous.

Mr. Watt is a Scotsman who—at the time Paris Bistro Cookery was published—had spent 25 years of his life in Paris. Watt was a food and wine expert for the London Daily telegraph and a contributor to Vogue and other international magazines. He was an exacting gourmet and an acknowledged connoisseur of food and wine. In 1954, Watt published with James Beard his first book titled PARIS CUISINES. In 1962 Watt published the Art of Simple French Cooking.  I have been unable to find any additional cookbook titles for Mr. Watt. There are, curiously, a number of non-food titles that may or may not belong to this same Mr. Watt.  While exploring his name, I found a number of Alexander Watts going back in history; most of the dates are too old to be our French expert Alexander Watt.

In the foreword to Paris Bistro Cookery, Mr. Watt writes “By ‘a small bistro type of restaurant’ I mean a small restaurant where the activities of Le Patron, or La Patronne, replace those of the chef, the head waiter and the wine waiter.  This, at once,  implies a friendly ‘enfamille’ atmosphere or ambiance as they say in French, which characterizes the bistro type of restaurant with its sawdust and simplicity, as opposed to the carpets and comfort of the one, two-, and three-starred establishments…”

“What exactly is bistro?” Mr. Watt asks. “Few foreigners, or even Parisians can define the word. The origin is an interesting one and dates back to the time of the fall of Napoleon, when, in 1815, the Allies occupied Paris. Hungry and tired, the Russians, who were then encamped on the Place de la Concorde, felt need to be restored, (hence the origin of the word ‘restaurant’) so they used to wander around the adjoining streets in search of food and drink. ‘Bistro, bistro!’ they would shout as they entered the cafés, meaning in Russian ‘quick, quick’ …give us something to eat and drink.  And so the word stuck and now signifies a small café where meals are served simply and rapidly…”

“The clientele,” Watt continues, “consists of the local tradesmen and shopkeepers who have to eat their midday meal ‘’bistro, bistro’.  As often as not, there will also be a gathering of discerning French and foreign gourmets who have come out of their way to enjoy a good quality meal ‘lento-lento’. The bistro proprietors generally do a very good business and remain on friendly terms with their regular clientele who form a sort of family circle of faithful attendants….”

Watt says this should not discourage the gastronome from getting to know these fascinating out-of-the-way bistros—especially  those owned and run by the friendly couple, the one serving at le zinc the bar), the other working in the kitchen—who will welcome a new client if he adapts himself to the unaffected atmosphere and exhibits a ready interest and appreciation of the wines and specialites de la Maison. (This reminded me of a well known Maison Gerard in North Hollwood, where some of us frequently went to eat at lunchtime – they were famous for the French Onion Soup).

Before beginning your adventure in Bistro restaurants, Watt offers a chapter of Hints on Culinary Procedure in which the author places emphasis on the cook (you) having the proper kind of cooking utensils—namely, in France, copper bottomed saucepans and pots and seem  to think most American kitchens would not contain expensive copper bottom pots and pans for “thin aluminum  pots” will cook too rapidly he wrote. I was bemused by this chapter as for myself I use mostly stainless steel cookware (and cast iron skillets)  and don’t know anyone who cooks with aluminum nowadays. That is a singular example of how far we’ve come and advanced with our cooking tools, some sixty years later.

There is a chapter on French Recipe Terms as well.

Follows are the50 bistros with a little introduction to each. I can’t pretend to know very much about French cooking but I was pleased several basic recipes for making puff pastry, Crepes, and a veal reduction. There is an extensive chapter on “choosing a cheese” and a Glossary of the dishes found in this cookbook which may be the most useful to a novice cook or anyone wanting to learn how to make some French recipes.  (and of course, there is always Julia Child’s famous cookbook).

Amazon.com has come pre owned and collectible copies of PARIS BISTRO COOKERY—the cover shown is not the same as mine. It took endless entries onto Google to learn anything at al—the website continuously brings up ads for all sorts of unrelated information. I went to Bing.com and found the books listed on Amazon. Powell’s bookstore in Portland, Oregon, has a red-covered copy of Paris Bistro Cookery with a backorder of $205.50.  Powell’s also answers the questions uppermost in my mind: they note that many visitors who arrive in Paris expecting to eat well in the bistros the city was once famous for, find many have closed or turned into sushi bars. But although these small restaurants with zinc counters serving delicious traditional “spcialitis de la maison and plats du jour” under the watchful direction of the Patron have all but disappeared from Paris, they live on in the pages of this delightful book. It offers a hundred recipes from fifty of the best authentic Paris bistros, collected in the 1950′s when these establishments were at their height. Part guidebook and part cookbook, this volume gives the address and description of each bistro as it was, and its colorful denizens, followed by its signature recipes. A work to savor.

Before I close leaving you to wonder –should you or shouldn’t you attempt to find a copy of Paris Bistro Cookery, I’ll give you an article more accessible to find – Endless Feasts –60 years of Gourmet Magazine—edited by Ruth Reichl—has an article titled Paris Report, by Don Dresden, which offers a more realistic view of Paris restaurants following World War II when the author had gone back there to live. Paris, it seems, was and is equally famous for its food, not just the wines. Anyone who has been there and wants to talk about it – I am ready to listen. Paris Bistro Cookery—with or without the recipes—is a fascinating little book to read.

Sandra Lee Smith

 

THE ALL-AMERICAN TRUCK STOP COOKBOOK

“THE ALL-AMERICAN TRUCK STOP COOKBOOK” BY KEN BECK, JIM CLARK & LES KERR

Initially, back in 2002, I planned to include “THE ALL-AMERICAN TRUCK STOP COOKBOOK” with my article about diners for the Cookbook Collectors Exchange.  The problem with this is, as I discovered, some diners are truck stops -–but not all truck stops are diners. So, I decided that the subject of truck stop restaurants should be kept separate from the diners.

I have some fond memories of some truck stop restaurants and truckers in general from having moved across country several times. When we moved to Florida in 1979, we kept in touch with activity on the road with our CBs and we all had “handles”.  One time the kids and I sang “On the Road Again” for some truckers somewhere along Interstate 10, as we headed for Florida.

“THE ALL-AMERICAN TRUCK STOP COOKBOOK” is a compilation by Ken Beck, Jim Clark and Les Kerr, published by Rutledge Hill Press in Nashville, Tennessee in 2002. (if the name Rutledge Hill Press sounds familiar, it should. They’re the folks who have been publishing the Roadfood Cookbooks, such as “The Louie’s Backyard Cookbook”, previously reviewed on my blog.

In the Introduction to “THE ALL-AMERICAN TRUCK STOP COOKBOOK”, the authors ask, “Remember the simpler days when there was no such thing as a fast-food restaurant—before there were interstates?

Maybe you’d been driving along the two-lane highways all day long. It was time for a bite of supper, and you had to pick a place to eat. Remember what Mama would say?

‘Look for a place where all the trucks are stopped!’

(Pete Rigney, the Silver Fox, disputes this old adage and says, “There was some truth to that, but traveling the roads in the fifties, I found there was more myth than truth. In reality, truckers knew where you could get a lot of food for the money and where nobody had died recently….”)

In any case,  the trucks stop right here in THE ALL-AMERICAN TRUCK STOP COOKBOOK”

Here’s something I bet you didn’t know – more than three million heavy-duty truckers haul freight across the United States and Canada, from Miami to Anchorage and from Bangor to Baja.  Authors Ken Beck, Jim Clark and Les Kerr (hereafter referred to as “The Authors”) covered some of those miles themselves in collecting more than two hundred favorite recipes from top truck stops across the land. Truckers, say the Authors, do know the best places to eat and they were happy to share their secrets of the best places to find yummy dishes like chicken-fried steak and gravy, fruit cobblers, soups or chilies.   The Authors suggest that you can either use this book as a cookbook – or even as an insider’s guide to finding where to eat and what to eat once you get to your destination.

Truckers,  claim the authors, like foods from every category on the menu but they received so many recommendations for chili and meat loaf that an entire chapter was devoted to each of these “hearty truck-stop staples”.

The book starts with a chapter titled “Nearly a Century of Service: The History of the Truck Stop”, explaining that perhaps the forerunner of the truck stop was the stagecoach stop relay station where horses and drivers were changed or rested, and tired and hungry passengers were served.

“But the original truck stops,” say the authors, “find their beginnings in the 1920s as gas-driver vehicles began to take over routes.  It was big news when a truck route was established in the early twentieth century.

As late as 1950 one newspaper headline declared ‘Trucks End Isolation for Many Sections’”.

The authors explain, “Before trucking, a town without rail service relied on often inconsistent deliveries of goods. One pretruck vehicle was a horse freight wagon operated in Tennessee by ‘Uncle’ Dave Macon, later one of the Grand Ole Opry’s first superstars”.

“Team tracks,” the authors continue, “developed in the early 1900s in cities with train stations. The tracks allowed rail cars loaded with freight to be diverted to drayage companies.  The goods reached their final destination by wagons pulled by teams of horses or mules…”

However, during the early 1920s, along came the establishment of dedicated truck routes and with it, the beginning of the truck stop. Truck historian Jennifer Rowcroft says that long distance automobile and bus travelers were originally the customers most service stations sought.  However, it took truck drivers to create most of the business for the early gasoline retailers.  Anticipating profits from providing truckers’ needs, service stations began to cater to them. By 1925, “the highway havens added bunkhouses, lounges, showers, and mechanical facilities.  One of the truck stations from that era still thriving is the Dixie Truckers Home, founded in 1928 on Route 66 at McLean, Illinois.  (Curious, I looked up Dixie Truckers Home in Marian Clark’s “THE ROUTE 66 COOKBOOK”. Clark provides a bit more history of the Dixie Truckers Home and says that the truck stop has closed only one day since 1928, and that was due to a 1965 fire that burned the original building.   She also informs us that the Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame can be found at Dixie Trucker’s Home. Exhibits featured in a prominent hallway tell the story of Route 66 in Illinois.) But I digress.

During the 1930s, there was a huge increase in the trucking business and, likewise, the truck stop industry.  By 1935, say the authors of “THE ALL-AMERICAN TRUCK STOP COOKBOOK”, of all communities used trucks as their primary means of shipping.  Between 1932 and 1936, the number of truck drivers in the United States increased from about one million to about 3.1 million.  “Truck stops,” say the authors, “sprang up to accommodate all those drivers…the advent of long-distance trucking was taking root and truck stops became an important part of the support system for the trucking economy”.

And, they note, it was because of the use of trucks by the military during WW2 that, by the end of the war, there were plenty of trained truck drivers.  Trucks became larger during the 1940s and 1950s. Another major change in this industry was the ability to transport frozen food and other items previously not considered.  Another major new phenomenon, the authors explain, was the development of the modern truck stop chain in the early 1970s.

Today, over three million truck drivers are now on the roads and truck stops are more important than ever. State the authors, “With an estimated average employment of eighty-five people each, truck stops play a vital role in the economy. “OVERDRIVE  magazine, the largest-selling trucking magazine in the world, reports that truck drivers make up over half of a truck-stop restaurant’s customers, with other travelers and local residents making up the rest…”

As for recipes—honey, you’re going to be in hog-heaven when you discover what’s in “THE ALL-AMERICAN TRUCK STOP COOKBOOK”.

From Berky’s Beef Cabbage Soup to Dakota Cheeseburger Soup, or from Ho-Bo Soup to Rhode Island Clam Chowder, from Keyers Ridge Chili to Wyoming Chili, or from Cold Coldfoot Salad (from Coldfoot Alaska!) to Nelle’s Red Kidney Bean Salad..this is just for openers! You may want to sample Crazy Fred’s Fajita Taco Salad (from Crazy Fred’s Truck Stop in Kingman, Arizona or Iron Skillet Huevos Rancheros (from Iron Skillet Restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia) or Grandma Max’s Broccoli Casserole (from Grandma Max’s Restaurant in Salina, Kansas).

And, if you like celebrity type recipes so you can do some name-dropping when you serve up a special dish at your next dinner party, you can tell your guests, “These Patio Black-Eyed Peas” are from Loretta Lynn’s Kitchen in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, or “This is Kay’s Salmon Dip”- and explain that the Kay is Kay Adams, a country singer and song writer.

There are all of these and many, many more in “THE ALL-AMERICAN TRUCK STOP COOKBOOK”—and with each page, you will find fascinating, nostalgic old-time photos and lots of trucker history. One note – some of these recipes yield a large amount, such as Dana’s Chicken Enchiladas (24 to 30 servings) or the Smoked Sausage Vegetable Noodle Soup Colorado (50 servings!) – the really great thing about having some of these recipes handy is so that you will be prepared the next time you have to make a large amount of food for a party. Don’t let that intimidate you; most recipes are geared for 4 to 6 or 6 to 8 servings. (Actually, I have yet in my life to make a small amount of chili or soup or chowder. I always end up with enough to feed the entire neighborhood—and have leftovers).

However, “THE ALL-AMERICAN TRUCK STOP COOKBOOK” is a lot more than a compilation of recipes. Included are many nostalgic photos of some of the early truck stops, stories about some of the more fabulous and eccentric truck stops, and interviews with several truck stop waitresses who have been serving meals to hungry Americans for decades. There is also a truckers’ glossary, a rundown on trucking movies and television shows which includes CONVOY and SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT , complete with photographs. There are interviews and stories on the country music artists who have recorded the greatest trucking tunes of all time: Red Sovine, Dick Curless, Red Simpson, C. W. McCall and Kay Adams.

I’d say that “THE ALL-AMERICAN TRUCK STOP COOKBOOK” is really a fun to read cookbook—and what’s more, a portion of the authors’ proceeds from this book will be donated to the NATSO Foundation, a national charitable organization support by truck stops.

NATSO  is a nonprofit charitable organization funded through private donations. NATSO was founded in 1990 for the purpose of administering an industry-wide scholarship. NATSO has awarded more than $100,000 in college scholarships to industry employees and their dependents. NATSO also has a disaster relief program which has a network of 650 travel plazas and truck stops to assist the Red Cross in the aftermath of disasters.  Travel plazas have donated over thirteen thousand gallons of fuel as well as meals, truck washes, and other services to the Red Cross personnel since the Disaster Relief program began in 1996. To learn more about the NATSO foundation, visit their website at www.natsofoundation.org.

“Check your oil, fill’er up, and get ready to dig into these all-American recipes and stories from leading truck stops all across America”.

“THE ALL AMERICAN TRUCK STOP COOKBOOK” by Ken Beck, Jim Clark and Les Kerr is from Rutledge Hill Press and originally sold for $14.99.  It can be found on Amazon.com starting at 8 cents for a pre-owned copy. It is available on Alibris.com starting at $1.99.

ISBN 1-55853-966-2

Review by Sandra Lee Smith

Updated May, 2013

(In loving memory of Mike Lydon, my granddaughter Savannah’s maternal grandpa, a trucker who passed away at a truck rest stop when Savannah was just a baby. Mike was a great friend of ours who taught me how to play pool!. Then, ten years ago, my youngest son married Mike’s oldest daughter.)

 

THE FARMER’S WIFE COOKBOOK(s)

As I have said before, book titles cannot be copyrighted – that is why you might find half a dozen different cookbooks with the same title. I was reminded of this a few days while writing a review of a cookbook titled CLASSIC CHINESE COOKING. (I have known this ever since I started writing in the early 1960s but now I asked myself why do I know this and has it been changed?  So, I asked Google and found this response:

“Generally, No.” You cannot copyright a book title.  The U.S. Copyright Office does not typically allow someone to copyright a book title because titles are not considered intellectual property but are only “short slogans,” which are not eligible to be copyrighted.  The Copyright Office doesn’t want titles to be restricted to one book; there may be other works in which the title may be equally usable and appropriate. ..”  I see examples of this multi-titles in the world of cookbooks quite often.

I’m now looking at a few cookbooks titled THE FARMER’S WIFE COOK BOOK and one of the interesting aspects of this cookbook title is that one of them was published in Great Britain while another closer to home was published by a magazine called The Farmer’s Wife, edited by Martha Engstrom. Are there more? I wondered.

I turned my attention to Google.com and discovered quite a collection of Farmer’s Wife cookbooks.  Apparently, the Farmer’s Wife magazine is one of the earliest of periodicals to use this title.

According to Google “The Farmer’s Wife (magazine) was first published in 1893, and had a circulation of 3,000 a month. In 1897, the Webb Publishing Company in St. Paul, Minnesota bought this magazine, and from that point they raised the circulation rate through the early 20th century decades to 1,100,000 a year. In mid-1939 The Farmer’s Wife was bought by Farm Journal, and became a subsection in the back of this magazine.

The connection to Farm Journal gave me a jolt—I have many of the Farm Journal Cookbooks. Penpal Penny in Oklahoma and I began collecting the Farm Journal cookbooks back in the 1970s and loved the recipes.  They were always our “go to” recipe source before anything else. Whenever I found an extra copy of one of the Farm Journal cookbooks, I’d buy it to give to a family member or a friend.

Well, I would have sworn I had more than two of the Farmer’s Wife Cookbooks but so far I have only found two of them. And the slew of them I have discovered on Amazon.com only adds to the mystery—how can so many different books have the same affiliation to the Farmer’s Wife Magazine?

One is The Farmer’s Wife Cookbook containing over 400 blue-ribbon recipes, compiled by editor Martha Ergstrom and published in 1996. The best explanation of the cookbook can be found in the introduction, Welcome to the Farm Kitchen, which reads, “The recipes I the Farmer’s Wife Cookbook are true farm recipes. They originated in country kitchens and were submitted by readers to The Farmer’s Wife, a monthly magazine published from 1893 to 1939 by Webb Publishing Company of St. Paul, Minnesota. Many of these recipes are almost a century old, offering a step back in time to another era of cooking. They have all been updated for the modern kitchen to produce similar results today as they did in Grandma’s kitchen.

Many of the recipes are downright delicious…such as the Swedish Meatballs, the pies and cakes…Some are chock full of nostalgia, reviving memories of Grandma’s special cooking. Others are quaint, offering a window to look back at a long ago style of North American farm country cookery that is largely forgotten today.”  (Actually, I don’t think it IS forgotten – the responses I get whenever I write about some of these cookbooks is prove enough that many people are still interested in the recipes—and the follow-up cookbooks are a strong indicator that the books are greatly welcomed).

“Other than spices and such, the recipes call for the homegrown ingredients that were typically raised and produced on American farms during this era. Milk and cream, both sweet and sour, butter, chicken and eggs, cured meats, variety meats (the vernacular for organs such as the heart and liver), and fresh and home-canned fruits and vegetables were considered staples. The recipes were created to give equally satisfying results using either fresh or preserved ingredients….”

Martha Engrstrom goes on to say that “in reviewing issues from almost forty years of the Farmer’s Wife [magazine] I was struck by the number of feature articles and fictional works that touched on the significance of ‘community’. The desire or need for farm families to participant in both social events and common work-related activities, within the greater community, was an everyday embracing theme.

The purpose or focus of such gatherings varied but common  to all was food. Whether it was a church circle or some other women’s society, the 4-H club or the crews of men who aided neighbors in raising barns or threshing grain, a meal to be shared by all participants was considered central to the event or activity itself.”

Ms. Engrstrom’s last two paragraphs struck another chord. For over forty years, one of my penpals has been a “farmer’s wife” in Oregon—although this farmer also worked in a paper mill for many years and in more recent years they have downsized considerably on the amount of crops that are raised. There is enough for my friend to can virtually all fruits and vegetables grown on their property to last for a year, plus to have plenty of extra fruit and vegetables to share with friends and family. But last year, I visited them in October and participated in picking apples from their half-dozen orchard of apples, and the family all gathered one Saturday to make gallons and gallons of apple cider. I contributed by making Cincinnati chili for the family dinner. In addition, my girlfriend and I made quarts and quarts of V-8 juice.  There was still a lot of tomatoes leftover and since she didn’t want to can any more for herself, I suggested buying a box of quart jars (available everywhere in Oregon!) and us making 12 jars of V-8 juice for myself – they could bring mine to me when they made their annual pilgrimage south to Southern California and from here to a place in Arizona where a lot of snowbirds spend the winters. And so we did, and I was thrilled to receive my case of V-8 juice when they arrived in late December.  This was a perfect example of a farmer’s wife using virtually everything needed to grow many fruits and vegetables (and they have blackberries growing wild along the perimeter of the property! Be still my heart!)

Years ago, before retiring, they also grew a mint crop annually, that grew easily with little attention and then would be taken to a place where the mint was processed. I STILL have a little bottle of mint oil from their property).  My experience with seeing how the family gathered and everyone spent hours cutting and forcing apples into a machine that extracted the juice was a small scale experience of how small town farmers and the neighbors joined forces to preserve the fruits of their labors.

Getting back to the Farmer’s Wife Cookbook, each chapter contains old-time photographs of kitchens, cooks, and their families – I assume all were taken from the Farmer’s Wife magazine. I simply love the illustrations as much as the recipes. The First Courses and Soups contains an introduction from The Farmer’s Wife.  For readers who are searching for the “old fashioned” way of making things, this book is for you. I don’t know how often women have asked me how on earth I ever found the time to make homemade soups—soups! One of the easiest things to make and it can be made with some leftover meat or vegetables, if you have them on hand. I love making turkey rice soup with a turkey carcass, or ham and bean soup with a leftover ham bone. Granted, if you are making bean soup, you will get a much better soup by letting the dry beans soak overnight, then drain and rinse them off and put into the pot with fresh clean cold water.  There is a recipe for Bean Chowder on page 13 of The Farmer’s Wife Cookbook. There are also recipes for Vegetable soup, Minestrone, and Beef Stock that can be converted into many different dishes. (if you have the time to do it, cook a turkey carcass in water until all the meat falls off the bones, then strain it – remove as much meat as you can find and toss the rest. I like to put any kind of beef or poultry stock in gallon size pickle jars. When it is cold, transfer the stock to 2-quart Gladlock plastic containers and freeze them. At this point, I like to transfer the frozen stock “bricks” to ziplock freezer bags and label them with a sharpee pen. The frozen soup bricks stack nicely in the freezer).

The next chapter in the Farmer’s Wife Cookbook is Cream soups – and Cream of Tomato Soup does not contain canned tomato soup but it does contain 2 cups of home canned tomatoes! Yum!

A chapter on Breads provides recipes for Boston Brown Bread, Peanut Butter Bread, Corn Bread and Spoon Bread and Quick Nut Bread. There are also muffins, biscuits  and popover recipes,  recipes for White Bread and Dinner Rolls, oatmeal bread – and one I am looking forward to trying—Swedish Limpa Rye Bread. There are also instructions for home bakers.

Under a chapter for meats you will find a recipe for Swiss Steak and another for City Chicken – I learned how to make Swiss Steak from my mother-in-law who was from West Virginia, and my mother sometimes made City Chicken which was small chunks of veal and/or boneless pork that were floured and browned and then put on skewers and cooked in a small amount of oil. I think it was a way of making a dinner for a family of seven using very little meat. As kids, my siblings and I loved City Chicken. Who even knows what it is, today?

Under ground meat there are recipes for Baby Porcupines, Swedish Meatballs and Hamburger Royal. There is also a chapter for making sauces (from scratch! Not from a little packet of seasoning mix – which, incidentally, have doubled in price in recent months…this is a good time to learn how to make your own sauces!

Under the chapter Titled “Chicken” you find first a recipe for roasting chicken (possibly one of the easiest entrees you can make and serve for a family meal or for company – followed by a recipe for dressing and another for making a boiled chicken, chicken pie, creamed chicken, chicken mousse or chicken loaf—proving that many recipes can be made from a boiled chicken. These and many other topics are included in The Farmer’s Wife Cookbook. There are recipes for using eggs to make suppers, cheese suppers and genuine New England Dishes—along with many recipes for low-income families, bearing in mind that the Farmer’s Wife magazine was being published throughout the war years of World War I and world War II – as well as the Great Depression. The only other place I have seen so many frugal recipes was in a Depression Era cookbook and some of my old Sunset cookbooks.

There are many recipes for making your own salad dressings (was there any other way, back in the day?) which include Sweet Cream dressing and Cooked or Boiled Dressing. There are recipes for vegetable salads, potato salad and slaws. Fruit Salads includes the famous Waldorf Salad, still popular today, decades later.  There are gelatin salads and gelatin desserts (and I am forever thankful no one called them congealed salads, which has such a dismal connotation in my mind). There are Whips and Puddings, steamed puddings and custard recipes, many old and perhaps somewhat forgotten except that many of us are old enough to remember the terms and names. Tapioca pudding! My favorite then and my favorite now!  There are Date or Fruit  Torte and Blitz Torte (I think my mother had this recipe and I thought it was a misspelling).

I found an interesting article about a woman who sold fruitcake starting out with making the cakes and taking them to a local grocery store to sell—they didn’t all sell out the first year but the word got around until her cakes were in great demand—mind you, this was in 1936 and the creator, a Mrs. Theresa Fort, continued making and baking her fruitcakes until she and her husband bought a big old fashioned house and opened up a tea room. She served Sunday dinners and parties but continued to make fruitcakes that were a huge success. She didn’t have an electric mixer so all the cakes were mixed by hand in a large bowl with a wooden spoon. The fruitcake recipe that created a cottage business isn’t included in the Farmer’s Wife Cookbook –but I have shared some favorite cookbook recipes with you in the past. What is included is a recipe for a fruit cobbler, another for a Apple Roly-Poly (who knows what that is anymore?) and another for Brown Betty.

There are candy and cake recipes—no cake mix starts out with “1 cake mix” but there are old-time favorite cake recipes such as Applesauce Cake, Tomato Soup Cake with Cream Cheese frosting that does call for a can of condensed tomato soup, Nectar Raisin Cake and Orange Cake, an Angel Food Cake recipe that calls for 1 cup of egg whites (approximately 12 eggs) and Hot Milk Sponge Cake—plus some others you may want to rediscover. The book does contain a fruitcake recipe but no indication is given that it is the same fruitcake that made Mrs. Fort famous back in the 1930s.

There are cookies and pie recipes and homemade doughnuts—and an interesting chapter on Jellies, Conserves and Jams that I will have to explore more, being a jelly-and-jam maker myself. Included is an article published in 1928 in Farmer’s Wife Magazine, titled “Canning For the Fair” which includes an illustration of Sure-Jell pectin mix that was priced at 13 cents.  (I recently priced powdered pectin—the popular brands are over $3.50 for a single box.  There is also a chapter  on making Pickles and Relishes.

This Farmer’s Wife Cookbook originally sold for $9.95. (The price is printed on the back of the cover).

I am finding The Best of the Farmer’s Wife Cookbook by Kari Cornell & Melinda Keefe (published in 2011), The Farmer’s Wife Harvest Cookbook by Lela Norgi, The Farmer’s Wife Canning and Preserving Cookbook, the Farmer’s Wife Cookie Cookbook, also by Lela Norgi and even a Farmer’s Wife Slow Cooker Cookbook although to the best of my knowledge, slow cookers were not in existence back in the days of the Farmer’s Wife magazine!  I’ll leave it to someone else to unravel this plethora of Farmer’s Wife cookbook authors.   **

The second Farmer’s Wife cookbook in my collection does not appear in any of the Amazon.com lists I have consulted. This is a British version of farmer’s wives cookbook which contains a preface written by the foremost cookbook author in Great Britain, Marguerite Patten, about whom I have written for the Cookbook Collectors Exchange and then again for my blog in February, 2011.

This Farmer’s Wife Cook Book was the end result of a competition for country farmers’ wives , for which Marguerite Patten was one of the judges.

She writes, “…All the recipes have been written by farmers’ wives, and selected from over 1000 recipes sent in from all over the country, specially for this promotion.

The excellent recipes came almost literally from John O’Groats to Land’s End and from just about every type of farm and farming land in the country….”

Marguerite says “We judges based our selection on recipes that produced original, practical and delicious dishes, which were also economical and not too difficult to make.  I was one of the judges of this competition and it was a very difficult task to test so many excellent recipes and to select the winners….”

Marguerite notes that “farm cooking in this country has always been exceptionally good, possibly for two main reasons: first, farmers’ wives are usually very busy people; they have little time for shopping, so make use of the ingredients readily available; they need skill and creative ability to turn them into unusual and appetizing meals; secondly, British farmers’ wives have access to some of the best natural produce in the world—high quality milk, cream, eggs, poultry, bacon, etc., so their meals are  nourishing as well as interesting…”

She adds that although the recipes were developed by country women, they are equally suitable for those of us who live in towns and cities.

What follows is a most appetizing mouth-watering collection of recipes with the most unusual twist to the winning dishes – although the names of the winning farmers’ wives are list alongside the recipes—you won’t find a single photograph of these farmers wives – instead, charmingly, delightfully, photographs of their homes is provided. In over 40 years of collecting cookbooks with emphasis on “regional” recipes – whether they are regional to Great Britain or the USA –this is a first for me. It makes me want to pack up and go visit Great Britain, once and for all!

This copy of Farmer’s Wife Cookbook must have been sent to me by my penpal, Betsy, who has been to Great Britain many times. Once when I was visiting her in Michigan, her British penpal came to visit too and we had a delightful time together.

I haven’t been able to find a web listing for the Farmer’s Wife Cook Book, United Kingdom style – but it is such a luscious cookbook, it should be added to your Bucket list as something to search for.   From Farmhouse Pancakes to Bedfordshire Brochettes, from Fluffy Eggs to Cheesy Potato Scones (Be still my heart!) the recipes will tempt and astound you. Readers on the other side of the pond might find the book a little easier to find. I finally found a copyright date of  1973. This is a slim hardcover cookbook subtitled “Country Recipes from Farmers’ Wives”

I know there are other Farmer’s Wife cookbooks “out there” – you may want to search for them to add to your collection!

Happy cooking!

Sandy

 

CLASSIC CHINESE CUISINE

“In China, more than in any other culture, food and civilization are synonymous…” Nina Simonds

I absolutely LOVE Chinese food – unfortunately, however, it doesn’t always love me. Over the years, I’ve discovered that many of my migraine headaches could be traced to having dinner in a Chinese restaurant.  Obviously, there’s something in the ingredients that doesn’t go well (I’ve often suspected MSG). What to do? Am I condemned forever to spend the rest of my life avoiding a kind of cuisine that I adore?  Of course not!  The solution was simple – I just don’t eat Chinese restaurant  food anymore. That doesn’t prevent me from enjoying my own, or that made by friends who understand my dilemma.

So, of course, you can understand my delight discovering CLASSIC CHINESE CUISINE by Nina Simonds, revised and updated from the original Houghton Mifflin book published in 1982.  I am amused by the original publishing date of 1982 – I don’t think I knew how to cook anything Chinese in 1982. (You’ve come a long way, baby!).  I really like CHAPTERS books. This is a large soft cover book with the most mouth-watering assortment of photographs (by Alan Richardson), easy to follow directions, and–of course—wonderful recipes.

Acknowledges the author, “This book is the product of more than 10 years of study, research and experience. So many people contributed by sharing their knowledge, expertise, and encouragement. She tells us that, “for a foreigner in Taiwan, whose basic Chinese vocabulary considered of the words ‘Hello’, ‘goodbye’ ‘thank you’ and ‘no MSG’, the phrases ‘Ni chi bao le mei you?’ was extremely useful. This salutation is uttered when greeting a relative or friend, and it is frequently blurted out at acquaintances when further conversation is impossible…although the phrase symbolizes a wish of well-being, translated literally it means ‘HAVE YOU EATEN YET?’. For a 19 year old woman who had grown up fascinated by all aspects of food and who had traveled to Asia to study Chinese cuisine, this sentence was a revelation.  Clearly, I had come to the right place”.

Ms. Simonds had grown up in New England to a family for whom food had always held a special importance. She recalls that while most parents are content to read fairy tales to their children at bedtime, her father would bundle the four of his children, pajama-clad and squeaky clean from their evening baths and then describe in mouth-watering detail, the various delicacies sampled on his latest business trips. By the age of five, remembers Nina, they were all well versed I the subtleties of cold stone crab with mustard sauce and familiar with the heady fragrance of fried saganaki, a Greek specialty of fried cheese.

“It was hardly surprising,” she writes, “that after one uninspiring year in college, I decided to reassess my goals and steer myself toward a food oriented career….”  She took an introductory course in Mandarin and a growing fascination with Chinese cuisine led her to Taiwan in 1972 where for three and a half years she apprenticed herself in restaurant kitchens with some of Taipei’s foremost chefs.  Many of these chefs were the finest of the Chinese master-chefs who had fled from China after the revolution. She writes that she was overjoyed to discover in Taiwan all the various regional flavors of China had been preserved and the restaurants in Taiwan were an  ideal training ground for studying authentic Chinese cuisine.

During that time, Simonds translated several cookbooks with Huang Su Huei, a renowned authority on Chinese food. She lived with a Chinese family and for the first time in her life, was surrounded by a nation of people whose preoccupation  with cooking outdid her own.

Simonds writes that the Chinese fascination with food dates back to the beginning of an established culture. Ancient Chinese society held men  with a refined knowledge of food and drink in high esteem. In FOOD IN CHINESE CULTURES, K.C. Chang relates that I Yin, a prime minister of the Shang dynasty (18^th century B.C. to 12^th century B.C.) and once a chef, apparently  initiated his political career on the strength of his cooking prowess (perhaps akin to James Beard running for president in the U.S.A.?)

At a time, writes Simonds, when most other cultures regarded food solely in terms of basic survival, Chinese cuisine was well developed and correct preparation, service and consumption were an essential part of social behavior.

She adds   that “In his writings, Confucius placed great emphasis on food and helped to   establish the refined standards of Chinese cuisine that have endured to this   day.  By the Han dynasty (206 B.C. to   220 A.D.) the Li chi, the most extensive   handbook of ritual and social behavior ever compiled, was widely in use. Some   of the earliest written recipes and rules of conduct for meals appear in this   volume. A section titled ‘Five Points   to Ponder at Meals for Scholarly Gentlemen’ gives guidelines for ‘Taking   food as a Means of Attaining Tao: The superior person does not for one moment act contrary to virtue, not even for the space of a single meal.     He first adopts the right posture, make the proper table arrangements and     reflects on his own adequacy before he takes any food…” Sandy’s     Cooknote: Taoism is a     Chinese philosophy based on the writings of Lao-tzu (fl. 6th    century bc), advocating humility and religious piety.

Simonds also writes “Through the centuries, food has been the inspiration for innumerable Chinese scholars, artists and poets. One of the earliest examples is a poem written in 200 BC by Chu Yuan as an appeal for the departing soul of a beloved king. Culinary delicacies, in appetizing detail, are mentioned in an attempt to lure him back to life….”

Simonds believes that “Food is an international language that can provide valuable clues to the history and culture of any country.  This is particularly true  of China,” she writes, “ and it is my belief that insight into the history of philosophy of food in ancient China contributes to the understanding of modern Chinese cuisine and culture…”

With this in mind, she has tried to acquaint the reader with the stories behind the food, relating the origin of the dishes, their symbolic importance and their significance in the contemporary Chinese diet….”

Accordingly, Ms. Simonds has carefully selected recipes from the repertory of classic Chinese dishes to represent a sampling of traditional specialties from all parts of China. “Although refined by chefs down through the centuries and slightly adapted to modern methods, many of these dishes were originally conceived and developed in ancient China…”

Before listing recipes, Simonds has gone to great lengths to provide us, the readers, with an extensive list of Special Ingredients. Some you may know about, such as Hoisin Sauce and Soy Sauce, Oyster Sauce and Chinese Rice Vinegar—but are you familiar with Gaoling Wine, Sesame Paste or Rice Vinegar?   Others that we might not have been so familiar with twenty years afo—but have become acquainted with over the years would be Cilantro, Dried Tangerine or Orange Peel and Five Spice Powder.

There are these and many others to acquaint yourself with. CLASSIC CHINESE CUISINE is packed with interesting tidbits of information for preparing the recipes, or some morsel of historic information. For example, Simonds writes “In the city of Taipei, food vendors pass through the alleyways, day and night, hawking their wares. One man rode a bicycle with a box strapped behind his seat, filled to the brim with hot steamed bread and flower rolls. Upon hearing his call, my Chinese surrogate would dispatch the children to buy a supply of the buns to eat with our dinner instead of rice. Flower rolls are particularly delicious with red-cooked meats and stir-fried meat and vegetables dishes…”

Flower rolls, incidentally, are made with a basic dough and get their name from the shape. Illustrations with the recipes provide some easy to follow directions.

And recipes?  I can’t begin to give them all justice. CLASSIC CHINESE CUISINE contains hundreds of mouth-watering recipes. Sometimes just the name alone makes the recipe enticing. How could anyone resist a recipe called TWO WINTERS OR VEGETARIAN EIGHT TREASURES –or how about PHOENIX EYE DUMPLINGS which, Simonds explains, gets its name from the phoenix, a symbol of beauty and peace, long venerated by the Chinese. A number of dishes are said to have been inspired by this mythical bird.

CLASSIC CHINESE CUISINE is a large soft-cover cookbook published by CHAPTERS in 1994. It appears to have been reprinted at least once, in 2008. Amazon. Com has a pre-owned copy available for 8.85.  Make sure you find the cookbook written by Nina Simonds! While checking on Amazon to find out what is available, I found half a dozen cookbook by different authors – but with the same title (If I am not mistaken, I believe it has always been a copyright law that titles cannot be copyrighted). I’m sure all the other Chinese cookbooks are     worthy but I don’t have them so I can’t vouch for the other titles.

Alibris.com has pre-owned copies for $1.51 and up.

Review by Sandra Lee Smith

 

QUICK & EASY VOLUME II

QUICK & HEALTHY, VOLUME II by Brenda Ponichtera is “more help for people who say they don’t have time to cook healthy meals”.

Ms. Ponichtera is a Registered Dietician, Diabetes educator and author. She majored in Foods and Nutrition at Framingham State College in Massachusetts, where she received a Bachelor of Science in Education. The author completed a dietetic internship in Seattle, Washington, at Harborview Medical Center, Swedish Hospital and Children’s Orthopedic Hospital – so you can rest assured, this is one cookbooks author who really knows what she is writing about.

Quick & Healthy, Volume II is attractively compiled with bright red spiral binding and is filled with healthy recipes, menus, and recipes using ordinary ingredients from the supermarket; it is a must for those of us working to achieve a low fat lifestyle.

Also included are charts to help you determine your ideal weight, calories and fat, how to monitor fat intake, the grams of fat in common foods, how to trim fat from your diet, and food exchanges, especially helpful for diabetics.

Explains the author, “Healthful eating doesn’t have to take a lot of time in the kitchen. With that in mind, I wrote my first book QUICK & HEALTHY R ECIPES AND IDEAS…”  Since then, she says, she has received many requests for more recipes and menus, which is why she decided to write QUICK & HEALTHY VOLUME II.

“What is quick?” asks Ms. Ponichtera, “When testing recipes, we decided that quick meant spending less time in the kitchen. Putting together the ingredients for a meal in less than 15 minutes met that criteria. However, the cooking time can take longer since this does not usually require constant attention…”

All the recipes are low in fat and when combined with other foods for the day, fall within the recommendation of no more than 20% to 30% of the total calories from fat.

What is really most impressive about Ms. Ponichtera’s cookbook are the recipes—we all know how easy it is to be turned off by “DIET” food but take a look at this – herbed cream cheese sour cream baked potato topping? Carrot muffins!  Pineapple Bread! A really wonderful tortilla soup recipes! Chicken pasta stew! Sour Cream Enchiladas!

And what’s not to like about Chicken and Black Bean Burritos, or Chicken Chop Suey…

You’ll appreciate the section on desserts (dieting today doesn’t mean giving up the yummies!) – Ms. Ponichtera provides us with recipes for raisin bread pudding, peach custard, and Banana Cream pie!

I believe the most current edition of QUICK & HEALTHY Volume II was published in 2009. I reviewed it for the Cookbook Collectors Exchange originally in May, 1997.  The original QUICK & EASY cookbook was published in 1991, and reprinted in 2008.  If reprinting is any indicator of how a book (or two) are doing, I would say that a lot of people have discovered both of Ms. Ponichtera’s cookbooks

You can find the original QUICK & EASY cookbook on Amazon for $6.08, pre owned or $16.45 new.  QUICK & EASY VOLUME II can be yours for $3.15 pre owned, or $10. for a new copy.

–Review by Sandra Lee Smith

BOUNTIFUL OHIO

BOUNTIFUL OHIO, subtitled “Good Food and Stories from where the Heartland Begins”  by James Hope and Susan Failor, and published by Gabriel’s Horn in Bowling Green Ohio, (1993) is the kind of book you will read again and again, with heartland recipes to refer to time and time again.

I hardly know where to begin—this book is so jam-packed with information and recipes.

Mr. Hope is rightfully Professor Hope; he taught at a university in rural Ohio. A native New Englander, James Hope set out, one summer, along with professional home economist Susan Failor, to “discover” Ohio.

Cincinnati, Ohio, is my birthplace; I was a native buckeye up to the age of twenty-one when my husband, baby, and I set out to drive across country to California.  But Ohioans never forget their roots and I have spent many summers, with my children, visiting relatives and friends in Cincinnati suburbs.

During those summer vacations, we made numerous trips to the famous chili parlors for platters piled high with Cincinnati chili, a concoction like none you have ever eaten. (A Four Way consists of spaghetti, topped with Cincinnati chili, chopped onions and grated cheese, topped off with oyster crackers. The best place to go to is Camp Washington Chili Parlor).

We ate wonderful German sausages with sauerkraut, farm-fresh sliced tomatoes and sipped Ohio’s famous Meier’s wine….so imagine my delight, discovering BOUNTIFUL OHIO—An entire cookbook devoted not only to recipes                              and foods cherished by Buckeyes, but filled, also, with the foodlore of Ohio.

I always knew that Cincinnati was famous as a meat-packing town, most notably Kahn’s, just as I always knew that Proctor and Gamble’s first company was located in Cincinnati. What I didn’t know is that P&G owed its origins to the meat-packing industry, too, that candle maker William Proctor and soap maker James Gamble married sisters and combined forces to form one of the most successful American business enterprises ever. This business owed its foundation to the fats and scraps collected from meat-packing plants.

Comment the publishers, “The recipes in this book range from cheesy cornbread to Sara’s Amish dressing and from Firelands Braised Beef Noir to Di’s Ohio sour Cherry Pie (winner of the best pie in America). They are the wholesome flavors of good food from home in Ohio”.

I also discovered an apple maple chutney recipe that I can’t wait to try, and along with an authentic recipe for Johnny Marzetti, the story behind its origins.  If you have very many regional cookbooks in your collection, you most likely have an assortment of Johnny Marzetti recipes, with Marzetti spelled many different ways. Here, then, is the true story behind Johnny Marzetti.

While not a community cookbook, BOUNTIFUL OHIO is definitely a regional cookbook, a book you will thoroughly enjoy and treasure for many years to come, whether or not you are from Ohio–or neighboring Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, West Virginia or Pennsylvania.  While numerous books have been published, extolling the virtues of Midwestern cooking, few have delved so deeply to explain why it is so good.

In the Preface, James Hope and Susan Failor write “You don’t have to travel far to go a long way in Ohio: the state is so diverse—geographically, economically, ethnically—but the scene outside your window changes constantly. Sometimes that makes it hard for Ohioans to figure out just who they are—but it intrigues and delights the authors of this book, and is one of the reasons we decided to write it…”

The authors say they’re glad they did. Being interested in food, they ate their way from border to border and found a lot of it, in a variety ranging from five star virtuosity (The Maisonette in Cincinnati that held that rare ranking for decades, closed its doors in 2005).

The authors say that Ohio is one where farm and cookie factory literally exist side by side.  Ohio is smaller in land area than 33 other states, so it packs a surprising amount of agriculture and industry into a small space.

“Midwesterners that they are,” write Hope and Failor, “Ohioans don’t toot their own horns much. But Ohio ranks among the nation’s top ten or twelve states in corn, soybeans, wheat, fresh vegetables, dairy products, chickens, egg, hogs and vegetables for processing. It does more than grow food, too; it also processes vast amounts of ketchup, pickles, soup, ice cream, Swiss cheese, cereal and many other things. Most people don’t realize what an efficient little cornucopia this state is…”

The authors owe the success of BOUNTIFUL OHIO to all the people listed at the end of the book—farmers, grocers, chefs, food processors, homemakers, extension agents, professional government officials and dozens of other Ohioans who helped them write this book.

Chapter One is titled “IN SEARCH OF BOUNTIFUL” and Professor Hope explains that he took to the road in mid-August, a few days after teaching his last class of summer session at a university in rural Ohio and was now free for a year, on leave to do research of the kind that is supposed to add to the world’s body of knowledge. He would do that, but had something else in mind, too.

He says that like William Least Heat-Moon in BLUE HIGHWAYS and Ishmael in MOBY DICK, Hope was in search of something. While those writers were trying to fill gaps  in their souls, he was hoping to fill a different kind of vacancy—he was looking for good things to eat.

(Many books have been written in the past three or four decades about finding good food to eat throughout the USA—I know because I have collected a lot of those books–but this was the early 1990s and a lot of those books hadn’t been written yet).

Professor Hope confessed that after years of gulping quick lunches between classes, he was hungry and intended to eat leisurely and well—but there was a deeper purpose to this as well. He had a theory (as professors often do) that food, and the search for it, would help him come to know Ohio, perhaps become even more of an Ohioan.

Culture, he writes, is all the things a people value—it is how they establish their identity, their sense of who they are, their uniqueness. Culture, he says, is art, music and literature but it is also film, furniture, car ornaments, roller coasters and merry go rounds. And, says Professor Hope, it is food. Especially food: our foods are among the common statements of who we are; we create and consume them all day long. (I would have said it’s also our cookbooks. In the mid 1960s when I first began collecting cookbooks, I started with a church cookbook my father bought from a co-worker at Formica. Dad bought several copies of this Cincinnati Methodist church cookbook, for my sisters and my mother and me.  I cherished that cookbook and began to wonder if there were of it “out there.”  I have learned a great deal over the years about places from the cookbooks published by churches and clubs).

Professor Hope says that getting to know this place and its culture—to become part of it—was important to him.  He had lived in Ohio for more than a decade and a half, but still felt like a New Englander, someone from away. “I couldn’t blame the Ohioans,” he writes, “they seemed friendlier than the taciturn Yankees with whom I was raised.  The problem was this: I had never really taken the time to get to know the place, and Ohio seemed more like an address than a home.”  (This is something I can relate to—when we first came to California in 1961, I didn’t feel like a Californian. We returned to Ohio in 1963 for the birth of our second son, Steve, – but before the year was over, I knew we had to return to California. Ohio was no longer my home. I had somehow become a Californian).

But, back to James Hope and BOUNTIFUL OHIO – in which he says that New Englanders know exactly who they are and they have the sights, the sounds, the ancestors and the flavors to prove it to you, whether you ask them or not. They claim a sense of place as birth right and have all the materials for it. Professor Hope says he grew up surrounded by mountains and Indian trails, Revolutionary War battlefields, home ports for clipper ships and brooding houses with small-paned windows that concealed secrets.

Further on he writes how, in the sixth decade of his life, he knew where he had been; he did not know where he was now and meant to do something about it.

There is a great deal more to the Preface to BOUNTIFUL OHIO but I would be remiss to write too much of it and take away from you the experience of seeing my home state of Ohio from another’s eyes. (I have been seeing Ohio through my birthright eyes and then, later on, I began seeing Ohio in a different light—becoming more appreciative as I got older and would visit places with one of my brothers or one of my nephews. With my brother Bill over the span of several years – we visited Hale Farm and Cuyahoga National Park, as well as Stan Hywet mansion in Akron, Ohio. This is a 65 room Tudor style mansion built in 1912 by Goodyear Rubber company founder F.A. Seiberling and his wife.  It was touring the house and gardens that made me realize how much I love old houses. Curiously, the house is not named after a person, as commonly believed, and it took 4 years to build at a cost of $150,000.

You can spend a lot of time reading BOUNTIFUL OHIO—it’s the kind of book to read a little at a time, relishing all the history—and the recipes!

BOUNTIFUL OHIO can be purchased on Amazon.com at one cent and up for a pre owned copy.  Mine is a softcover (oversized) cookbook.   A great addition to collectors of regional material.

Alibris.com has pre-owned copies of BOUNTIFUL OHIO starting at 99c.

A great regional cookbook to add to your collection!

Review by Sandra Lee Smith