Precious Parcel Proves Past is Priceless!

 From the inside cover of my grandmother's cook book from 1947!  This colorful selection of petit fours is just the kind of photo La Diva would be fascinated with when looking at my mom's cookbooks when I was a kid.  The colors, the shapes, the intricacy of these delightful little cakes would have me wondering if they would taste as delicious as they looked.

 Darlings!  La Diva received a surprise parcel in the post this week and my curiosity was pleasantly piqued.  My cousin from Michigan told me a while back that she was going to send it to me and I had completely forgotten!  La Diva was so excited, because I knew it would contain possessions of my recently deceased maternal grandmother and it would hold treasures along with clues about her lifestyle.

I approached the heavy box like something unearthed from ancient times and carefully began unpacking each item with delight and wonder.  Most of the things in the box pertained to food (naturally!) and it was loaded with cookbooks.  Inside were a few vintage glass serving dishes,  most likely from the 60's,  a recipe for my cousin's lemon meringue pie, grandpa's favorite cocktail mixing spoon (a treasure!) and a box of Jiffy corn bread with an accompanying recipe book (I didn't know the Jiffy cornbread company was from Michigan?!  It's been produced by the Chelsea Milling Co. since the 1800's!)

A small gold box held a few pieces of grandma's costume jewelry, which I knew she loved.  It included a fabulous iridescent lime green rhinestone ring that really caught the light and La Diva can not wait to wear it.  The most precious item of all was my mother's prayer card with her death notice from the paper, carefully kept in a plastic sleeve with a pressed four leaf clover. 

The book booty were all from my cousin:  A Mario Batali cookbook, one on cooking with citrus, another one with sustainable fish recipes and a nice fat hard covered one called T"he Book of Hors d'Oeuvres and Canapes" (always USEFUL to a party-throwing Diva!)  Then there was the biographies of Julia Child called "Appetite for Life," Ruth Reichl's "Tender at the Bone," and "Julie and "Julia."  Wow.  La Diva scored, thanks CUZ!

But the most precious book of all came from my grandmother's house:  The United States Regional Cook Book that was edited by Ruth Berolzheimer and contributed to by dozens of home economists, home cooks and housewives.

I just LOVE books like this!  It was published in 1947 and is illustrated along with those ultra-bright and not-true-to-life food photographs.  Regional recipes from that time differ greatly from today with more of a focus on European food from the immigrants of Dutch, Scandinavian,  French and Spanish countries. 

Pawing through its pages, I wondered how often my grandmother had used this book?   After all, Heather told me Grandma had over 250 cookbooks!    Did my mother look at this book as a little girl as I looked at hers?  Was it a favorite?  Or a family standby used for a number of traditional recipes?   Or perhaps it was pulled out for some exotic recipe for a special occasion?  La Diva doubted it was a favorite.  Though the pages were faded and yellowed, it appeared not to have been used very much as the usual evidence of a well-thumbed cooking tome were missing:  dog eared pages, unidentifiable food stains and perhaps the odd coffee cup ring or wine stain.

The Auxiliary Recipes include classic kitchen basics:  icings, frosting, sweet and savory sauces, a variety of dumpling, dressings and stuffing recipes, all the classics of the time.  The cookbook is divided into regional styles of the United States and the book boasts that each section is like having a different cookbook.  

The last chapter of the "Cosmopolitan America Cook Book" contained global ethnic recipes like Himken Bayandi (Armenian Lamb with Eggplant), Neapolitan Spaghetti, Palestinian Sweet Potato and Prune Zimes.

Michigan Dutch?  I had no idea they made up so much of the population at one time in our state to be so influential in the cooking style.  Of course!  It's all coming back to me!  Holland Michigan, the tulip festival, wooden Dutch shoe souvenirs acquired on trips from my youth.....

You know what?  I kinda like the idea of putting a fat sausage into the sides of a good 'ol meatloaf for additional flavor.  These recipes are going to be so much fun to check out!  I love to see what we used to eat in our country.

Every chapter and region begins with a scenic print.

The book is peppered with vignettes like this one about the creation of the yummy fried corn cakes known as "hush puppies."  It's interesting to note the editor's choice of the term "darkies" as a completely normal way to describe African Americans.  

Take a look at these tantalizing technicolor tidbits!

La Diva is utterly enthralled with this book!  For the photos and the recipes that no longer mirror our culture, the ones that do,  for the stories and the commentary.  I will certainly treasure this.  Thank you, Cousin, not just for a book that is a culinary window to our past but also a personal link to someone I never knew but was a part of me.

Meanwhile, if any of my darlings out there is looking for a recipe from the past, perhaps for "Goose Livers in Jelly," "Broiled Elk Steak,"  "Gombo File" or maybe some "Valencia Tamale Pie," just let La Diva know, I'll be happy to share precious pieces of my time-worn tome!

FOR LA DIVA CUCINA RECIPE IDEAS, GO TO MY WEBSITE BY CLICKING HERE! 
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