Oliver's Chili Peppers

Oliver's Chili Peppers

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Treasures

I have a treasure. It's a cookbook, and it belonged to my beloved Grandmother. It is quirky and completely retro in design and content. From Good Housekeeping in 1963, it has spattered pages and notes in the margin, showing use and love. When Grandma passed, my mom had the foresight to give this to me, although I hadn't quite realized my love of all things culinary. I can still smell her kitchen when I look at the pages.


Grandma & Her Cookbook
The recipes are actually a little bit comical now, and the tips for entertaining, directed at woman, are archaic, but I still love it. I enjoy flipping through and being reminded of an era where serving tiny, canned wieners in a sauce was considered high-brow entertaining. I rarely saw Grandma use a recipe (clearly, I inherited this from her), but her kitchen was always welcoming. Anyone could drop in for tea unexpectedly, or get in the door at 10:30 at night after a long drive, and she would pull out roasting pans full of perogies, cabbage rolls, turkey and ham. She made bread, jams, pickles and one thing that I wish I could get my hands on again; sweet relish. There is nothing quite like her sweet relish on fresh white bread with ham. It was impossible not to munch on something in her kitchen. When I was little, my snack after running in from the garden or playing in the basement was to grab a couple cold perogies from the roaster in the fridge. Marvelous! I can still hear her saying in Ukrainian, "Eat! Eat!"


Cookbooks have a way of connecting us to a different time, or memory or area of the world. Besides the retro book of my Grandmother's, I have a few other's that I treasure;  


1. Mossey River Book- a community cookbook from the area that my family is from in Manitoba. It is full of family favourites, including recipes contributed by my Grandma, aunt and other relatives. 


2. In the Green Kitchen by Alice Waters- Alice is the goddess of the Slow Food movement. This book makes me drool and desperately want to live in Berkeley, California.


3. Jamie at Home by Jamie Oliver- Have you seen the show? Full of from-the- garden recipes that are not fussy, and always delicious. 


4. Williams Sonoma Complete Entertaining & Williams Sonoma Simple Classics- These two books have the best pictures! They alone inspire me to entertain more often and with more elegance. 


5. LCBO Food & Drink 2009 Holiday- Ok, so this is not a cookbook, it's a magazine of luscious, decadent recipes and wine pairings. I stole it from someone's desk, and I'm not giving it back.


Some of these books are kept not in my kitchen, but on my bedside table. I will randomly pick one up for inspiration or a walk down memory lane (better than any paperback!). What are your favourite cookbooks and how do they round out your kitchen adventures?