Diane Mika: Recipe Detective

Not to overuse the Julie & Julia comparison, but Julie only had to deal with 524 recipes in Julia's The Art of French Cooking. I have a little more to contend with.

The Challenge

From left, going clockwise: me in Mamie's arms,
cousin Cindy, Aunt Penny, Papa (Mamie's father) and my sister, Vicki.

I inherited Mamie's not inconsiderable collection of cookbooks, pamphlets and loose recipes, and I'm also at a bit of a disadvantage. Born to my parents later in their life, I didn't have as much time to enjoy Mamie's cooking as my brothers and sister did (they were 15, 16 and 18 when I entered the scene). What's more, I was every mother's nightmare: a picky eater (I don't mean mildy picky. I mean that if not for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, I might not have survived childhood!).

I grew up in a house with enticing aromas emanating from the kitchen. I sat around the table and enjoyed the company. But some of my memories of her wonderful food are not really my own. I recall everyone raving about her chicken cacciatore, for example, but I don't have a memory of the dish, myself. So in a way, going through and preparing her recipes will help me recover some of the lost tastes of my childhood.

The Source Material

One of Mamie's most prized recipe collections was a Better Homes & Gardens series, which I'm sure she must've received like a book-of-the-month club. There are two styles of books (all copyrighted 1963). One set covers the basics, with titles like Meat Cook Book, Dessert Cook Book, etc. And the other bears the moniker "Creative Cooking Library" and has more interesting titles, like Meals with a Foreign Flair, Best Brunches, and Meals in Minutes.

Then there are the cookbooks and she picked up along the way. Some, I recall, from our 3-month RV trek in the summer of 1971 that took us through the lower states from California to the Florida keys and back. Others come from my parents' retirement travels through New England. Others, still, come from church fundraisers and the like.

She also collected recipes from magazines and newspapers, not to mention product-based cookbooks, like Campbell's Recipe Box Cookbook, featuring Campbell's tomato soup (free with the purchase of two cans of soup), and Cordial Entertaining by Hiram Walker (now that one will bear some looking into!).

The Detective Work
As I go through the books, I set aside the ones with the perfect spines and pristine pages. I'm searching for dog-eared corners and stained pages--the ones that she really used. I have a nice stack of candidates in front of me but decide that I'll get to those later.

I'm drawn to the recipe box, as those are the ones she treasured enough to commit to her own handwriting. I smile fondly as I handle the dark-green tin index-card box, with flowers and the word "ADDRESS" painted on the top (my handiwork, most likely a Mother's Day craft project from grade school).

I open the box, and just seeing her handwriting brings her closer to me. (In some ways, I wish this blog could be in handwriting so that my children could experience that same feeling of nostalgia someday.)  I flip through the cards and see some of the favorites that my family members are waiting to hear about: clam chowder, burgundy beef, fruit and cream pie, dream bars. I'll get to those, I promise. But I don't want to overlook anything.

The Selection
Part of me--the perfectionist part--wants to analyze the source material and develop a comprehensive plan before embarking on the cooking tour. However, I'm learning to quell that tendency, as it leads leads first to mild paralysis and, ultimately, to complete inaction.

To keep my momentum with this project, I use the highly scientific method of pulling a card at random: "Mushroom Marinade California." The logical part of my brain sighs with relief, satisfied with the sensible decision to begin with an appetizer.

My family members could probably tell you how good these marinated mushrooms are (feel free to comment, folks), but I don't have that taste-memory. As a mostly reformed picky eater, I now love mushrooms and am excited to prepare this dish.

The adventure begins!

Next time: Marinated Mushrooms - The Results