From: Crystalokk@aol.com Message-ID: <c40.3c6bd040.35b0ad94@aol.com> Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2008 10:13:40 EDT Subject: Re: Price County Historical Society creates new cookbook
hi all, from crystal
are you a member of the <localhistory@listserve.wuec.edu>? if not, you
might find it interesting. news from local historical societies from all ove
r
wisconsin comes often. i plan to send an announcement of the Gold Star Mothe
r's
exhibit at the library to it soon.
here is an announcement of a cookbook which has recently been published
by the Price County Historical Society. interesting article. sorry that the
picture of the cover did not come along when i copied this for you. it's ver
y
nice.
this might give us ideas, as the subject of a cookbook has come up a
time or two at our meetings.
(we might be brainstorming it while work is completed on our 2nd edition of
Farm Stories. i have gotten another suggestion for someone to interview for
it!
but first i have to finish the family newsletter i have been working on
lately.)
anyway, enjoy the article below:
> The Daily Press
> Northern Wisconsin's Daily Newspaper
>
> http://www.ashlandwi.com/articles/2008/07/16/community/doc487e0c1e89b98990
959423.txt
>
> Price County Historical Society creates new cookbook
The Price County Historical Society has just created its own cookbook,
"Recipes and Remembrances."
By John Smart
Published: Wednesday, July 16, 2008 4:38 PM CDT
By JOHN SMART
For The Daily Press
The Price County Historical Society has at long last published its cookbook,
”
Recipes & Remembrances” — at long last because this project
has been in the
works for several years now — and it's well worth the wait. It will
be a
welcome addition to every cookbook collector's library. The recipes we
re collected
from members of the society and other long-time residents of Price County,
and come complete with tales of long ago.
Lapskaus, a Norwegian stew that uses both beef and pork with potatoes and
onions, represents many of our early immigrants' connection with their home
country, as does Alsatian Potato Salad, with bacon, celery, onion and sweet
peppers
seasoned with caraway and dill.
Alsatian Potato Salad
2 1/2 lbs. little red potatoes, cut in half
3 or more scallions, chopped
6 slices bacon, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
1 red or green pepper, chopped
1/2 cup chopped parsley
Cut little red potatoes in half and boil until tender. Do not overcook
.
Saute bacon until crisp, and add scallions until tender. Toss potatoes
with
bacon and scallions, celery, peppers and parsley with the sauce.
Sauce:
2-3 Tbls. bacon fat
1/2 cup cider vinegar
3-4 Tbls. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. caraway seed
1/2 tsp. dill weed
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
Mix all ingredients together and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and pour
over the salad.
This recipe came from the Edward Hines Lumber Co.'s kitchen records. In
the
great logging days of our area, thousands of board feet of lumber were cut a
t
the Hines Lumber Mill in Park Falls, employing many locals, and this is one
of
the remembrances from that mill.
There are recipes in the book for such forgotten delicacies as pickled
tongues and gizzards, and lots of instructions on how to make dumplings of a
ll
kinds, from raw potato and mashed potato to bread dumplings.
One contributor remembers the wild rice hotdish that her mother always
brought to church potlucks, and another tells about her mother's "fibber" be
ef stew,
a fib because it was made with venison but she told people who said they
didn't like venison that it was beef!
A wonderful recipe from Mrs. Albert Saetebeer, a Polish immigrant who arrive
d
in Price County in 1889, uses venison to make mincemeat, not that raisiney,
meatless stuff that's sold in jars, but the real, savory thing: chopped veni
son
and suet, apples, raisins and currants all seasoned with cinnamon, ginger,
cloves, nutmeg, allspice, mace, brown sugar and moistened with real apple ci
der.
Now that's mincemeat!
One of the recipes in this book is a family treasure from my 96-year-old
mother, Dixie Smart: Mother's Onion Pie. She writes, "Our mother, Mrs. Eugen
e
Paquin, often made this dish when we were children. It was inexpensive,
tasty, and
one our father liked a lot. She never had a recipe for it and, after her
death, our father asked if we could make it. So we fiddled around until
it came
close to the way we remembered it." For our family, this is comfort food.
Mother's Onion Pie:
1 lb. salt pork, cut in cubes
flour
lard or other shortening
water
3-4 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 cup chopped onions
1 pt. milk
ground pepper
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup butter
baking powder biscuits
Dredge the salt pork in flour, seasoned with pepper, and brown in a small
amount of shortening in a Dutch oven or large iron skillet. Add water t
o cover
and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add potatoes and onions and simmer for 10 m
ore
minutes. Add milk and stir. Make a paste of flour and butter and stir i
nto
mixture until thickened. Place baking powder biscuits on top of the mixture
and
bake in a 350-degree oven until biscuits are done.
A prize recipe comes from an old newspaper article that was saved by Pat
Schroeder, the PCHS's late curator who was the originator of the cookbook id
ea.
"The Northwoods Inn, in the heart of Wisconsin's famed northern vacation-lan
d,
is at the junction of state highways 13 and 70 in Fifield. Eli Nichola
s is the
owner and manager. Lunch and dinner served daily from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m."
Mr. Nicholas is long since gone, but the Northwoods Inn is still there.
Northwoods Inn Cranberry Pudding
Pudding:
1 1/2 cups flour, sifted
2 Tbls. sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
1/3 cup boiling water
1/2 cup molasses
1 cup cranberries, chopped
pinch of salt
Dissolve soda in boiling water and stir in molasses. Combine with other
ingredients and pour into a greased mold or coffee tin. Cover and steam
for two
hours, and serve hot with sauce.
Sauce:
1 cup butter
1 cup cream
2 cups sugar
2 Tbls. brandy
Combine ingredients and cook over bubbling water in double boiler for 1
hour. Serve hot over cranberry pudding, plum pudding or fruit cake slic
es.
There is a recipe for dandelion jelly which demonstrates that, in lean times
,
everything was used in the kitchen, and a gall bladder cure recipe that call
s
for steeping chopped red onions in Holland Gin and then taking 1 tablespoon
of the mixture 3 times a day. Sounds like a good cure for almost anythi
ng!
There's a recipe for "horse cookies" that are really cookies to feed to your
horses and a "roach inhibitor" made from lard and boric acid to discourage
those creepy-crawlies from invading your home.
Some of the recipes included are novelties (nobody expects readers to
actually make roach inhibitor with lard and boric acid) but most of them are
encouragement to head for the kitchen.
The Price County Historical Society, incorporated in 1959, is responsible fo
r
discovering, preserving and passing on the history of Price County,
Wisconsin. The society is based in the Old Town Hall Museum in Fifield, at t
he
intersection of highways 13 and 70. The Old Town Hall served as Fifield
's seat of
government from 1894 until 1967, at which time it was acquired by the PCHS.
The Old Town Hall Museum provides a fascinating glimpse into the early
logging and railroad days of this part of northern Wisconsin. The Museu
m is well
worth a visit, and is open from 1-5 p.m. on Fridays and Sundays from Memoria
l Day
to Labor Day or by appointment for groups.
Everyone interested is invited to check out the Website at
pricecountyhistoricalsociety.com. And you can order your copy of R
ecipes & Remembrances there
too — simply click on to "Gift Store." The cookbooks are $10 e
ach (plus $3
shipping), and can be purchased by sending a check to the Price County Histo
rical
Society at PO Box 156, Fifield WI 54524-0156. Wouldn't they make great
gifts?
John Smart, from Park Falls, is a member of the board of directors of the
Price County Historical Society.
Copyright © 2008 - The Daily Press - Ashland, WI
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