Homegrown cookbooks

As I get older the regrets pile up, none so tragic for me as the too-short amount of time I spent with my great aunts and grandmothers in their kitchens. There’s no helping it – I was young and they were not. I could not have known back then that what they cooked and how they cooked it would later prove so fascinating, not only to me but also to culinary historians.

We’re left to ponder our ancestors’ recipe collections and their cookbooks, with, if we’re lucky, handwritten margin notes and recipes clipped from magazines and newspapers tucked between the pages.

Fortunately, during the Civil War era, a group of women created the first community cookbook as a fundraiser, starting a trend that has never flagged in popularity and that quickly spread to all of the English-speaking world. These collections of submitted recipes, usually compiled and published by volunteers, are a goldmine of information for food scholars and just plain fun for everyone else, filled with ads, quips, helpful hints, jokes and anecdotes that reflect the unique identities of the groups who published them.

Why are community cookbooks so interesting? Many experts believe the recipes show what people actually cooked in their own home kitchens. But maybe not always.

“Anyone who doubts that people contributed the recipes they actually cooked to community cookbooks should count the number of items in those from the 1960s and 1970s that include either cream of mushroom, cream of celery, or cream of chicken soup,” said Christine Crawford-Oppenheimer, librarian at the Culinary Institute of America.

“It all depends on the date on which the book was written,” said Alice Ross, food historian who has studied charitable cookbooks at length. “In the 19th century and early 20th, there was a committee of women who asked for special dishes, probably those that had been prepared for church suppers and festivals. And then it would have been an embarrassment for someone to hand in something unknown. Contrast that with charitable cookbooks written 100 years later. In this case the women who submitted recipes may not have known each other at all, much less tasted their food.”

The recipes reveal something about their contributors.

“Three possibilities unfold as we examine compiled cookbooks: 1) we are getting a true representation of what food was served and by which communities; 2) we are getting a fiction, of sorts, in which we see the story of what those communities would have us believe they are eating; and/or 3) we are seeing what these people wished they were eating,” wrote Traci Kelly of the University of Madison, Wisconsin in her Ph.D. dissertation.

“The priorities of the book are the priorities of its begetters,” said Anne Mendelson, culinary historian. “For me, the ones that stand out most strikingly are those where the committee deliberately focused on some aspect of a community portrait – like the story of their town since pioneer days, with photographs and timelines, essays on particular dishes or ingredients thought to be characteristic local specialties … but these demand special time and effort and oversight, as well as enough people who care.”

For immigrant communities, community cookbooks were sometimes their first venture with printed recipe books.

“This was the case in Hawaii for much of the 20thcentury. When a Japanese Buddhist Temple, or the Okinawan Society, or a Chinese University Women’s Association or the home economists on Maui or a local politician or the YMCA started compiling a community cookbook, they clearly took the format from the U.S. mainland,” noted food historian Rachel Laudan. “But the recipes, or a very high proportion of them, represent the jump from the oral tradition to the written one.”

Even famous people contribute to them.

Cookbook author Sharon Hudgins said “A few of the recipes in ‘Spies, Black Ties, & Mango Pies,’ the CIA cookbook – and no, that’s not Culinary Institute of America – reveal the names of the authors, such as Barbara Bush. And there’s an introductory conversation with Julia Child, who served in the OSS during World War II.”

They’re popular at home and abroad.

Hudgins also noted that community cookbooks “have been published by expatriate communities around the world, from at least the time of the British Raj. You’ll find cookbooks like this from British communities in India, Singapore, Egypt, and from groups of Americans stationed abroad with the military.”

Cookbook author Nancy Harmon Jenkins admits that “One of the most treasured cookbooks in my embarrassingly vast collection is the Rangoon International Women’s Club Cookbook, published in Rangoon by the local YWCA in the 1960s.”

Community cookbooks sometimes have the first instance of recipes that appeared in print anywhere.

Said Andrew Smith, author of the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food & Drink in America, “For instance, Los Angeles Cookery, published in 1881, features a ‘Spanish Department’ including recipes for estofado (stew), chili, and the first known American recipe for ‘zalza.’ Yet another work, the National Cookery Book, 1876, includes numerous ethnic and regional recipes that never appeared before in print; examples include eleven recipes from Florida. I could give a thousand more examples if you want them.”

To these homegrown cookbooks our ancestors contributed their best efforts, and now, so do we. In the Spokane area the community cookbook tradition is going strong, with at least seven available for sale right now.

Ginger Beef

From “Culinary Delight,” submitted by Rose Takeshita

1 pound tender beef, sliced

3 tablespoons oil, for grilling

For the marinade sauce:

4 tablespoons soy sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

2 tablespoons sake

1 teaspoon sugar

Marinate beef for 15 to 20 minutes. Heat oil in a skillet (medium-high). Add beef (cook in batches), do not allow slices to overlap. Brown both sides.

Note: This recipe is enhanced with fresh ginger.

Yield: 4 servings

Approximate nutrition per serving: 237 calories, 15 grams fat (5 grams saturated, 57 percent fat calories), 22 grams protein, 1.9 grams carbohydrate, 71 milligrams cholesterol, less than 1 gram dietary fiber, 551 milligrams sodium.

Scotch Shortbread

From “Tea-Time Cookbook,” submitted by Trudy Raymond. Her grandmother, Isabella MacLeod Thomson, came to Spokane from Scotland in 1905. This is her old-country recipe.

14 ounces (1 3/4 cups) pastry flour (see note)

2 ounces (1/4 cup) rice flour (see note)

1 level teaspoon baking powder

1/2 pound butter, softened

6 ounces (3/4 cup) caster sugar (see note)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together butter and sugar. Sprinkle and blend in the flour and baking powder by hand. Press or roll out the dough to about 1/4- to 1/3-inch thick. Cut into small shapes with cookie cutters. Prick the tops about halfway through the cookies several times with a fork. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake about 25 minutes, until the edges are just starting to darken. Remove to a wire rack and cool.

Note: Cooks can use 2 cups regular flour instead of pastry and rice flours, or regular sugar instead of caster sugar. Caster sugar is also sold as superfine sugar.

Yield: About 2 dozen cookies

Approximate nutrition per cookie: 155 calories, 8 grams fat (4.7 grams saturated, 44 percent fat calories), 1.8 grams protein, 21 grams carbohydrate, 20 milligrams cholesterol, 2 grams dietary fiber, 87 milligrams sodium.

Hollywood Date Nut Bread

From “Tea-Time Cookbook.” Submitted by Rosemary Small, who writes: Mary Lavinia Pilgrim Herman was my maternal grandmother, born in Hull, Yorkshire, England in 1878. Known as Minnie, she made and sold this bread from a little shop in Hollywood, Calif., to help her family survive the Great Depression. She taught me how to bake this bread when I was 7 years old, a few months before she died in 1961.

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

Pinch of salt

3/4 pound Medjool dates (about 1 1/2 cups)

1 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup pecans or walnuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a small loaf pan. Lightly roast nuts and chop coarsely. Mix sugar, flour, salt, baking soda, and nuts in a 3 qt bowl. Pit and chop dates coarsely, then toss dates in dry ingredients to separate and coat the individual pieces. Add buttermilk all at once and mix very lightly. Spoon quickly into pan. Bake 1 hour. Turn loaf out of pan to cool completely. Serve 3/8-inch thick slices, cut in half, plain or with a dab of cream cheese.

Yield: 1 small loaf

Approximate nutrition per serving, based on 10: 285 calories, 9 grams fat (less than 1 gram saturated, 26 percent fat calories), 5 grams protein, 52 grams carbohydrate, less than 1 milligram cholesterol, 5.6 grams dietary fiber, 187 milligrams sodium.

Walla Walla Onion Casserole

From the Southside Senior and Activity Center Cookbook. Submitted by Jessie Quincy, who shares: “My brother said this is ‘almost good enough to put on ice cream,’ his ultimate compliment.”

1/4 cup butter or margarine

4 onions sliced

1/2 cup instant rice

1 cup grated Swiss cheese

2/3 cup whipping cream (do not whip)

Salt and pepper to taste

Sauté onions in butter; cook rice. Add to onions. Add cheese, salt, and pepper; mix. Put in 2 quart greased casserole. Pour whipping cream over top. Bake at 325 degrees for 40 minutes.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Approximate nutrition per serving, based on 8: 211 calories, 17 grams fat (10 grams saturated, 71 percent fat calories), 5 grams protein, 10 grams carbohydrate, 55 milligrams cholesterol, 1 gram dietary fiber, 139 milligrams sodium.

Anything Goes Quiche

From the Corbin Senior Writers Cookbook. Submitted by Gale O’Connor

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk (any kind, skim, whole, low fat)

1/4 teaspoon salt and dash of pepper (optional)

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons Bisquick

1 1/2 cups shredded, sharp Cheddar cheese

1 1/2 cups cooked, diced meat (or 7 1/2 ounce can salmon)

1/3 cup chopped onion or 1 clove minced garlic, or both

1 1/2 cups any leftover cooked vegetables you have, the more colorful the better

Heat oven to 350 degrees. With an electric beater, mix eggs, milk and Bisquick until well blended. Gently stir in vegetables. Pour into a sprayed 10-inch pie pan. Add meat and cheese, pressing down into the filling until covered. Bake 45 minutes. Good for any meal when served with fruit or green salad.

Yield: 8 servings

Approximate nutrition per serving: Unable to calculate due to recipe variables.

Instant Tea Punch

From the Corbin Senior Writers Cookbook. Submitted by Rayme Combs

1 quart hot tea

1 can frozen lemonade concentrate

3 cups white table wine

3 strips of cucumber rind

Mix all ingredients, cover, and let stand 5 minutes. Remove cucumber rind and pour over an ice block in a punch bowl.

Yield: 12 servings

Approximate nutrition per serving: Unable to calculate.

Raspberry Truffle Torte

From Second Harvest Inland Northwest, submitted by Europa Restaurant and Bakery

For the Oreo crust:

1 1/2 cups Oreo crumbs

1/2 cup butter, melted

For the truffles and filling:

4 cups whipping cream

4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup raspberry preserves

To make the Oreo crust, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Combine the Oreo crumbs and melted butter. Press into a 9-inch springform pan, covering the bottom and 1-inch up the sides of the pan.

Bake for 10 minutes. Cool.

For the truffles and filling, bring cream to boil in a saucepan, stir in chocolate chips until smooth. Pour one-third mixture into separate bowl. Stir in raspberry preserves into this bowl and cool to room temperature. Then, whip the chocolate-raspberry mixture with mixer until it becomes a shade lighter in color and has the stiffness of whipped cream.

Using mini muffin scoop, (1-inch diameter) scoop out truffles. Chill 30 minutes in freezer.

Dip truffles in reserved melted chocolate and cream mixture. Allow chocolate to set up.

Arrange truffles in the bottom of Oreo crust. Re-warm and pour remaining two-thirds of chocolate mixture over truffles.

Decorate with strings of white chocolate and any remaining truffles.

Store torte in the freezer.

Yield: 10 to 12 servings

Approximate nutrition per serving: Unable to calculate.