Local Cookbooks Reveal Lots of Information

I saw a 'Tribune' newspaper article about the cookbook. I moved to AZ 8 years ago and am always looking for info about the state. The website www.HistoricalLeague.org is very informative & user friendly. I find 'local' cookbooks reveal lots of interesting facts & folklore about a region/state. I'm sure it will make a great gift for one of my friends. by Vicki H

Our Fancy Place Cards

When a recipe from Tastes & Treasures is featured at a League function, we now have place cards decorated with tatted ring medallions.

Tatting is a hobby of HL member, Mary Pearce. The skill has been handed down through four generations.

Recipe Feature for September 2008: Special Chocolate Chip Cookies

From Tastes & Treasures, page 191

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups old-fashioned oats
2 cups (12 ounces) cholcolate chips
1 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. Combine the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in a bowl of a stand mixer and beat until creamy, scraping the bowl occasionally. Add the eggs once at a time, mixing well after each addition. Blend in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture and beat until smooth. Mix in the oats and fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto a nonstick cookie sheet or a cookie sheet lined with baking parchment paper. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on the cookie sheet for 1 minute and remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Makes 3 to 4 dozen.

Cookbook Recipes Served at League Meeting

We had our monthly meeting today, which always includes a salad/bread/dessert luncheon provided by the members. I'd volunteered to bring a salad. Being one who wants simplicity in my kitchen efforts, I looked in Tastes and Treasures and decided on what looked like an easy one to make: Romaine Salad with Two Cheeses (page 169). Plus it could be assembled up to 24 hours before serving. I could whip this together at midnight, if I wanted to. The recipe calls for romaine, Parmesan, Romano, avocado and green onions in an olive oil, lemon juice and Beau Monde seasoning blend. Beau Monde seasoning ... mmm.

Checking the spice aisles at 2 grocery stores revealed nothing so I got on the Internet to find out exactly what Beau Monde had in it. cdkitchen.com featured a recipe. Easy enough to mix, Beau Monde is a blend of cloves, cinnamon, salt, bay leaf, allspice, black pepper, nutmeg, mace, celery seed, and white pepper. But my spice rack only contains the basics like garlic powder. Back to the store.

I'd say it was worth the effort. It tasted great to me and the big bowl of a doubled recipe was empty so members must have found it to be pretty good, too. And I have a jar full of Beau Monde when I want to make the salad again.

April Riggins brought the Special Chocolate Chip Cookies (page 191.) She substituted the walnuts for pecans, but wow. Either way, they would have been delicious. The plate of 24 cookies disappeared fast. April said that she should have brought more because she had members saying that they were disappointed not to have had a chance to try them.

Couldn't put it down

The book was given to me by an Arizonian friend who purchased it on a tour of historic homes. This copy is for my Michigan daughter-in-law who couldn't put it down when she came to visit recently. Jane V. Phoenix, AZ

Two years in the making

In a nutshell:
The Historical League, Inc. worked for over 2 years to put together a unique cookbook that blends our passion for Arizona history with our love of cooking. We contacted historic places throughout the state- 50 years or older, that serve food, and asked their chefs to submit menus & recipes. After thorough testing to be sure the recipes could be made by cooks at home, we wrote the history of each location. We feature places like El Tovar, La Posada, Garland's in Oak Creek, Lon's, El Chorro, The Arizona Inn, and Rancho de La Osa. That's chapter one.

Chapter two focuses on people we have honored as Historymakers- like Polly Rosembaum, Rose Mofford, Erma Bombeck, the Goldwater brothers, Eddie Basha, and Bil Keane, to name a few. They, or their family members, sent in a recipe with a story about its significance.

Chapter 3 is dedicated to our League members. Like I said, we love to cook, so a chapter for us was a given. We didn't need to test these recipes...

We hired the food stylist and photographer from Phoenix Home & Garden Magazine, so "Tastes and Treasures" is beautiful. The recipes are delicious.

The response from the public has been phenomenal. We were recently featured in Arizona Highways, Phoenix Home & Garden, and Suzanne Bissette from Channel 3 filmed a TV segment for "Good Evening Arizona".

In the first 3 months that we had the cookbook, we sold 5,000 books- half of our first printing. Leslie C. Historical League cookbook committee

Combine great recipes with Arizona history

And I did see the GMAZ spot - not my usual watch for the morning but happened to catch it. I love Arizona history (am a "near native") so when I can combine great recipes with Arizona history, I'm tickled. The second is a gift for our native Arizona daughter who is living/working in Washington DC.

A huge fan of Arizona history.

I actually received a copy as a gift and wanted to pass it along in kind to others. GREAT collection! I am a huge fan of Arizona history. My grandparents moved to Phoenix in 1947 and at the time my grandfather was the only licensed pediatric dentist in the state. He passed away four years ago but his legacy lives on - I'm just finishing my last year of training at the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin and will be returning to join a practice in the Phoenix area.

Thanks for all you do to support the Historical League in its endeavors to share the rich and vibrant culture of Arizona's past with the present.

Charlie

Love the History in the cookbook

Not only do I love to cook but I was raised in the valley since grade school (50 YEARS AGO) and love the history that comes with the book. I saw a segment about your cookbook on channel 3 news....Everyday Entertaining. Kathleen G.