Showing posts with label Bureau County. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bureau County. Show all posts

Friday, April 26, 2013

Food Friday: Tacos with Ketchup from Illinois

Oh tacos, our family loves them. We often have a taco night where we set up a taco bar with everything that can make a taco great like meat, lettuce, tomatoes, cilantro, onions, guacamole, and sour cream. And of course, glorious shredded cheddar cheese.

Now, everyone has an idea of what makes a great taco. I have spent almost my entire life in Southern California and have traveled to Mexico. I've tasted great tacos. Let's face it, people travel, they like a dish and want to make it for their family but may lack the recipe or even the ingredients to make it like the original.

That's where What's Been Cookin' in Bureau County. Bicentennial Cook Book comes in. I've highlighted this cookbook last year and its recipe for pickled eggs. There's a lot to like about this cookbook from the Ladies of the Bureau County Home Extension Association (1975). Aside from recipes are some history snippets with drawings of historical buildings.





And then there's recipes. I will admit that there's a few that seem very 1970s to me, maybe even 1950s, including one that calls for a lot of cream soup, cheese, pimentos,  noodles and pork. For the sake of the recipe author I won't say more. But then there are the taco recipes, both unattributed so no one needs to worry that I am making fun of anyone.




My favorite instruction has to be to add the cheese and then if it needs color, add ketchup. Ketchup does cover a magnitude of sins. I will say the addition of baked beans is not one I would recommend.

You know, life changes, people grow, tastes mature. These odd recipes serve a purpose. They show us the types of foods made by our families with what they had access to and they show some creativity.

So when you put together those family cookbooks, make sure to add some of the more weird interesting ones. They help tell your family history story.



Friday, February 3, 2012

Food Friday: Pickled Eggs and a Note

Recently my mom was at a garage sale organized by a woman who wanted to sell her cookbook collection. So my mom called me and asked  if I wanted any. Of course I did and I told her to buy some "interesting" ones. So my mom went through the large piles of cookbooks looking for those she thought I would find interesting. She did a great job and today's recipe comes from one of those books. Thanks mom!

One of the great things about this cookbook is that inside was a note to a granddaughter from her grandmother. The note includes information on recipes in the cookbook and people's names.





In part, it reads:

"I am sending this cook book to you for Christmas, with your mom as I know you like to try new recipes. I bought this awhile back when they were having the park days and Bi-Centennial celebration. Your mom just called me, I had tried calling her and got no answer, she said she had had her hair fixed tonight thats (sic) why I wasn't able to get her. There's a lot of recipes in this book by Pat Rod, she is the mother of Donna Rod who is engaged to Jerry Wolford, and Donna baked and brought the pine-apple upside down cake to the Sandberg (?) reunion..."

This notes reminds me of the ephemera (documents, correspondence, photos) that I have found in books. These "bookmarks" can be important and I would encourage you to look through your family's cookbooks for "bookmarks." (Not convinced that there are important finds in "bookmarks" left behind in your family's cookbooks? Check out the blog Forgotten Bookmarks.)

What's Been Cookin' in Bureau County. Bicentennial Cook Book is the product of The Ladies of Bureau County Home Extension Association.(Illinois). This 1975 cookbook features recipes and line drawings of places around the county including short historical descriptions. Unfortunately, some of the recipes are not credited to an author but the beginning of the cookbook includes a credits page for those who assisted with the publishing of the cookbook.




Today's recipe is for Pickled Eggs. I'm using this recipe for two reasons. One is it isn't credited which is too bad since the author mentions her grandmother. Second it reminds me of my paternal grandmother and the pickled eggs she made. She used the juice of canned pickled beets for her eggs.