Well it would seem that my four cases of Girl Scout Cookies are almost gone (yes, I do enjoy supporting them by buying massive amounts of cookies), so it's only fitting that we spotlight a Girl Scout cookbook today.
Evansville Favorite Recipes Compiled by Evansville Girl Scouts (1939) includes recipes from the girls as well as the moms. On top of that there are advertisements for businesses in Evansville (Minnesota).
I love the cover of this book because it is made out of oil cloth. A great idea that I haven't come across before in other community cookbooks. Oilcloth is the perfect cover for a cookbook because you can easily wipe up spills. Oilcloth is basically a cotton fabric that is treated with oil and other ingredients to make it waterproof. It has almost a plastic feel to it on one side.
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| From the collection of Gena Philibert-Ortega |
Not only do we get the names attached to each recipe, as is standard for a community cookbook, but we also get a list of names for the girl scouts.
This recipe for Spanish Rice is a good example of how immigrant foods sometimes got lost in the translation as other groups reinterpreted the recipes. The only ingredients that would hint at being "Spanish" are the tomatoes and onion. Not sure how adding ham would make anything Spanish. But cured pork products can make any recipe a "good dish."
I love when the cookbooks provide even more information about a community by including advertisements. These are just two of the pages of advertisements. Notice how the Tip-Top Grocery ad includes the name of the female proprietor (Belle Gutten). The Erickson Company is a furniture and funeral service establishment. At one time furniture makers also made the caskets for our ancestors. This is a great example of how the two were combined. It's also a good reminder for us that when you are looking for the funeral home for your ancestor, it might not be a traditional funeral home.
While there are cookie recipes in this cookbook, sadly they are not official Girl Scout Cookies.
