Local cookbooks
tell a community’s history. I found so many on my mom’s shelves that I’ve been
reliving my childhood. Styles have changed for sure. Every house must have kept
several blocks of cream cheese on hand. Here are some memories worth sharing:
“Parish Pantry
Second Helping” – This
1970 book shares favorite recipes of The Women of St. George’s Episcopal Church
of Port Arthur, Texas. It’s all handwritten. We didn’t have computers,
remember? Even the ads, for businesses such as Pat Wood drugstores and Drago
Hardware, are drawn.
Pretty Orange
Spread is from Kaye Sherrill. I thought it was a fruity dip, but the orange
comes from tomato paste. Mix that and salt into cream cheese, butter and Accent
seasoning. Spread on buttered bread rounds and garnish with olives, a sprig of
parsley or cucumber cube, she suggests.
“Cooking Light
& Eating Smart” is by
Jacqueline Richard’s Steen who lists her Port Arthur ties on page 3. The 1996
book offers more than 350 low-fat recipes for a healthy lifestyle. Of course,
fruit and veggies play a role in this. Her tips for using roasted bell peppers
include spicing up Italian hero sandwiches, coloring a pepper slaw, filling
pepper cups with tuna salad and filling them with omelet. I worked with Ms.
Steen and remember her well. Lucious titles inside include Curried Chicken and
Mango Salad.
“Milady’s
Kitchen and Garden Book” –
Milady’s Garden Club copyrighted a first edition in 1969. My aunt, Stella,
wrote “Merry Christmas and Happy Cooking!” inside, for my mom.
Would you try this
one?
Warm Cheese
Pudding
Patricia Boach
instructs cooks to combine 12 ounces of room temp cream cheese with a package
of cooked vanilla pudding. Serve warm.
Sounds rich and
easy.
“Meanwhile,
Back in the Kitchen” is
from The Golden Triangle Quilt Guild. I love that so many dessert selections
are “quickie,” because these women wanted to get back to quilting.
There was Dump
Cake, Easy Cobbler, Easy Sherbet, Dessert Quick, Jaqueline’s Easy Pineapple
Cake, A Good Easy Cake and Inexpensive Sponge Cake.
Dessert Quick is
layering crushed strawberries, lemon sherbet and crushed macaroons or sugar
wafers into parfait glasses. It’s pretty and delicious, Gwen Montgomery wrote.
Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie who
loves going “retro” into recipes. Share a family fave in this column by
reaching out through panews@panews.com
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