If one would peruse the Berg’s recently pared down cookbook cabinet, you would find some big names there like Betty Crocker, Better Homes & Gardens, Cooking Light – two cookbooks by my favorite TV chef, Caprial Pence (who has this gift for making it all seem completely doable) – and lovely cookbooks from Holy Communion, Luther Valley, Carthage College, Waverly Lutheran Church (where our friend Kate Barrow grew up) and even a book of recipes from the parents of various singers in Kenosha’s madrigal feaste. Between all that and more, we have enough great recipes to last us the rest of our collective lives.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the presence in our cookbook cabinet of two recipe collections that could not be more precious to us. One of them is a small plastic box full of both handwritten and typed recipes on small index cards which belonged to Kathy’s mom, Jan. There are plenty of interesting-looking recipes (including one for something called “Mystery Salad” which I don’t think we’ve yet been adventurous enough to try) but I think my favorite cards are those in a section devoted various “Hints” for the kitchen. On one of them she has written out several suggestions for how to cut tomatoes neatly and safely. Another has some tips on how best to cook with a wok. With very few exceptions, we’re not talking about information that has been xeroxed out of a book or magazine; it is painstakingly written out by hand – which makes it all the more precious to have. One card that is a real head-scratcher for me has the heading “Sweet and Sour Milk Substitutions” and below it is the phrase: “To sour sweet milk ….” I’m not sure what is meant by sweet milk but I’m pretty sure I understand what sour milk is and I can’t imagine someone choosing to intentionally sour milk. But if for some reason one does, the information on how to do so is right here in Jan’s recipe box. I think the card I like the most is one where she has carefully written out an entire graph titled “Blender Chopping Guide.” It has five columns, left to right….. ‘to make:’ ‘use’ “blend at:’ ‘for:’ and ‘approximate yield’ and has nine different entries where the information is laid out. For instance: To make: Fresh Bread Crumbs Use: 1 slice bread, quartered Blend at: H1 For: 5 seconds Approximate Yield: 1 cup.
I love this card because I feel like it puts me in touch with this dear woman who I was not able to know for as long as I wanted. This card is So Jan! It speaks to her tireless inquisitiveness and her determination to do the best job she could do in the room of the house that perhaps scared her the most- the kitchen. It also speaks to her love of information. Both Kathy and Polly have said many times that if Jan had lived long enough to see the emergence of Google, she would have been the Queen of Google. She would have reveled in the feast of information that is now a simple keystroke away – although I suspect that she would have continued to seek out information the good old fashioned way as well …. in books, in the reader’s guide to periodic literature, in magazines, journals, newspapers. This particular card serves absolutely no useful function for us- in part because its instructions are geared for an unknown blender that we don’t own. But we cannot possibly part with it.
Nor would I ever want to part with a small book of recipes that either Steve or Randi created for me as a Christmas present- one of the best gifts I’ve ever been given. It’s a collection of some of my mom’s favorite recipes- xeroxed from her originals, so they are in her own beautiful handwriting. It’s great to have the recipes themselves, because so many of them are for delicious things we enjoyed time and time again – like Ham & Cheese Chowder (which Kathy and I still make on occasion) or red, white & blue jello salad. But I think as much as anything, I just love seeing my mom’s handwriting (maybe the best handwriting of anyone I’ve ever known) and the immense care with which she transcribed these recipes- but also how she was always careful to give credit where credit was due. I LOVE that this was so important to my mom. So the lefse recipe found here is attributed to her dear friend Jeanette Martinson …. and the recipe for turtle bars is that of her dear friend Amme Anderson.
Most are names from Atlantic (Dottie Tyler, Jean Rothfusz) or Decorah (Carmen Sunde, Jan Berg – no relation, Lucia Finanger) or Colton (Joyce Farr) or Luther Valley (Eileen Warne). And once in a while, even when she does not have a specific name to cite, she will still give credit to “Luther College” or “Holden Village.” I think it’s partly because my mother was a woman of honor, for whom Right & Wrong were quite important … but I also think that it had even more to do with the fact that she loved people, and that every time she took out one of these recipes it made her think of the person who had given it to her. That chain of remembrance and appreciation was really important – even sacred to my mom – which is what makes this collection of recipes so precious to me. And since it was given to me on Christmas 1995, this seems like a nice moment to take this out and look at it again, just over 20 years after the fact …. and remember my mom and all that made her such a great wife and mother and friend and person.
By the way, this collection is chock full of recipes for various Scandinavian delights: the aforementioned lefse, plus Agg Kaka, Sandbakkelse, Svenska Spritzar, Svenske Smaakager, Romegrod, and more. What’s important to note is that my mom was not Scandinavian- she came from German stock. But my dad was/is Norwegian, and my mom – especially after we moved to Decorah – seemed to fall in love with everything Norwegian (Well, maybe not Lutefisk) and devoted herself quite tirelessly to mastering these various delicacies. That’s something else this collection represents for me – my mom’s open-heartedness when it came to new experiences…. and new challenges.
I’m also glad that contained in this booklet are a few recipes that connect back to her own mother, Grandma Hintz, and to her sister, my Aunt Marvel. It brings to mind one of my parents’ favorite stories to tell about cooking and recipes: it was a time when one of them called Marvel and ask her to explain one of her recipes for fried chicken breasts. She graciously talked them through every step of the recipe – including the part where “you take your breasts- butter them thoroughly – dip them into the breading- and then place them in a sizzling hot skillet.” They got an uproariously good laugh out of that afterwards, and I remember my dad saying something to the effect of “it smarts but it’s delicious.” (I hope that story is one-tenth as hilarious in print as it was in person – and I hope it’s not too indelicate either!)
I take this recipe book in hand and a flood of wonderful memories wash over me – including so many memories of when we sat down to a table laden with delicious food. I also remember the occasional misfires (like when my mom tried to make spaghetti in the crock pot, and it turned out like spaghetti mush) or the years back in Decorah when money was incredibly tight and we were sometimes drinking powdered milk – or a fancy meal was hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls. Through it all, my mom’s abiding love was the constant- and I am grateful for each and every memory of that …. and for whatever brings those memories vividly to life again.
Love lives everywhere – but there’s something especially remarkable and lasting about the love that lives in the kitchen.