3.24.2009

Let's talk about Mormon Food

Bet that perked y'all right up. I have an anonymous friend who was asked to design a ward cookbook. She can't write about this on her blog without recognition and scandal, so I offered to do it for her.

I don't know when ward cookbooks started, but they are awesome. Once over at Desmama's we came across this old (1920s, Desmama? I can't remember) church magazine for young women. In addition to having really incredibly odd short stories about marital angst and possibly psychoses (for teenagers? Really) it also included recipes. The "international ones" were my favorite. Like, if you added mayonaise or cabbage to something then it automatically became "German."

Nowadays most ward cookbooks include a fair amount of American LDS staples, such as:

funeral potatoes

ambrosia/frog-eye salad

casseroles involving much cream-of-whatever soup and cheddar cheese

that one chicken salad with the grapes that you serve on croissants

fruit pizza

Dutch oven recipes, including the peach cobbler made with soda

Jello concoctions, which are included in the "salads" section

many rolls and breads

scones, which are actually deep-fried bits of Rhodes roll dough

tons and tons of desserts, including Better than S** Cake

a small vegetable section, which shall be mostly devoted to potatoes

that one punch made with Sprite and lime sherbet

So my friend is volunteered to put this thing together and figures, "Okay, it shouldn't be too bad." Oh, little did she know. In her words, "The head of the project handed out a style sheet to each person who volunteered to type up the recipes. It was very detailed, with the abbreviations for the ingredients and the order that things should go. Except then the typists just chose their own format. So instead of putting the person who donated the recipe after the title, they would just randomly insert that name at the end or even beside the instructions. Awesome!"

So she's spending hours reformatting all of this, people are going to pay to have this book printed, and guess what sort of recipes will be in the final product. This, friends, is where it gets amazing.

Chicken Alfredo

Cheese
Chicken, cooked; heat in microwave

Bottled Alfredo sauce


Combine above ingredients and serve over linguine noodles.


I know, right? Who even knew it could be so easy! Except I have no idea what kind of cheese she's talking about. Cheddar? Feta?


Chicken Pot Pies

Take 2 Banquet Chicken Pies. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake for 35 minutes. Add cheese, salt, pepper and enjoy.

Huh. It doesn't seem like you would need a book to tell you that. I'm pretty sure the back of the box might have served just as well.


Little Smokies

Place equal amounts of grape jelly and BBQ sauce in a crock pot. Add little smokies. Eat and love it.


I . . . kind of want to die now.

Fried Oatmeal

Cook oatmeal and place in a pan. Chill. Slice and fry in oil. Serve w/ maple syrup.


Blink. Blink blink. Has anyone ever had this??? I'm dying to know about it.

Golden Rod Eggs

Butter toast and pour white sauce over. Squish or chop hard-boiled eggs over the top.


So . . . no word on how one makes a white sauce? At least the first girl was nice enough to tell you about the bottled stuff.

Now, it's not even that these recipes are bad (they are, though). A big problem is just the lack of necessary instruction, or the assumptions that everyone has all the same cooking skills or knowledge that you do. Also there's the part where one of these (frozen chicken pot pie) is not actually recipe, and another one (the chicken alfredo) doesn't really seem like the kind of thing you'd want to be featuring in a cookbook as an example of your skills.

I do think a funny entry, though, would be something like this:

Ingredients:
Phone

Phone book

Credit card or cash
Coupon (optional)


Instructions: Open phone book. Using phone, dial the number for pizza delivery service of your choice. Place order, hang up. When delivery person arrives, pay with credit card, cash, and possibly coupons. Enjoy. You didn't have to cook.

So I would love to hear from you, dear readers. What are the craziest things you've seen in your ward cookbooks or at a church (LDS or non) function? Have I missed any of the traditional must-haves?


(image from HubPages)

Update: I just found this old post where I talk about my mom's Alaska cookbook with the moose recipes. You have to take a look.

64 comments:

Anonymous said... [reply]

I am stunned and think perhaps I am old! Can't think of food examples as I am just too stunned! :)

t. said... [reply]

At an enrichment meeting I attended in Virginia in 2002 (the year is relevant) an older sister was teaching a class on easy recipes using canned tomato sauce. She passed out photo copies of the recipes. She covered several casseroles and stews and then said "and if it's getting late and you don't know what to cook just get a squirrel from the freezer and pop it in a baking dish with the tomato sauce on top". There were 3 seconds of silence while we absorbed this and then a huge rustling as we all flipped through our recipes - and there it was "Baked Squirrel in Tomato Sauce". It's probably the only handout from an Enrichment meeting that I will have til I die.
Love your blog-t.

Nemesis said... [reply]

Hahahah. Julie, you may be stunned but you are certainly not old. I figured you'd get a kick out of what is referred to as "scones" in Utah Mormon culture. They're eaten hot with things like jam, honey, powdered sugar, or even chocolate pudding (if you're at Girl's Camp). Tasty, but definitely not REAL scones.

Tamathy, I cannot even believe the squirrel recipe. That is awesome.

Jenny said... [reply]

I am going to barf.

Anonymous said... [reply]

Interestingly, UT/ID scones made the wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scones

I have inherited several "WARD RELIEF SOCIETY COOKBOOK"s. The ones I have are generally useful (food REAL people cook?!) and for the most part excellent. It sounds as if these are not of that variety. Or maybe people just don't cook any more?

I think I'd pay for a recipe book with that squirrel recipe though. (Although it makes you wonder -- did someone add it just to see if she COULD?)

"Yeah, I was wondering what to do with all these frozen squirrels. Good thing I ran across your recipe!"

MBC said... [reply]

My ward is currently putting together a cookbook and I want to contribute the recipes I love and use a lot--my favorite couscous salad, rosemary lentils and sausage, pulled pork--but I haven't, because I feel like I would be violating the unspoken RS cookbook rules that we only compile recipes that involve creamed soups.

Also, re: squirrels, my parents were serving in a tiny branch a few years ago, and a woman bore her testimony of the time her mother was dying and she was desperate for some good squirrel to eat. The woman prayed and found a dead squirrel left on her porch from her worst enemy (as a kind gesture or because he was her worst enemy?). Best meeting ever.

Anna B said... [reply]

seriously funny. thanks for the recipe for ordering pizza, by the way--been wondering about how to get that tasty non-home-baked goodness ;)

although, in defense of ward cookbooks, you can get some kick trash recipes! tried and true, tasty, some really elegant. i like 'em!

Nemesis said... [reply]

Of course everyone is right to say that there ARE good ward cookbooks out there, and that even in the bad cookbooks there are going to be some good recipes. I think it's interesting to see the regional variations--for example, lots of salmon and wild game recipes in my Alaska mom's ward cookbooks. (They usually begin with the words, "Skin and clean your [animal of choice]."

La Yen said... [reply]

I love the ward cookbooks. Someone always submits things like "Cheese soup" and "Hamburger soup." And Watermelon rind relish. Ew. No.

That being said, I rely on mine heavily.

Brandi said... [reply]

I was the one in charge of putting together our ward cookbook 2 years ago. I have to say, every submission was an actual formed recipe will full instructions. No frozen pot pies.

Everybody ignored the template and abbreviation key I handed out, so I spent a good 60 hours fixing all the recipes, but all in all it turned out fantastically.

We didn't have a single "Mormon Food" entry. Not one. I was shocked. But then again, the oldest member of the ward was 51. That probably makes a difference.

Perhaps the 37 versions of chicken enchiladas and 18 versions of Cuban Sandwiches I receives are Mormon Food: The Next Generation.

abby said... [reply]

Don't forget the many variations of Mormon chili. I take it tamathy this wasn't in a Northern Virginia ward because half of us up here are from Utah and the other half are from all over the world. I have a ward cookbook that had easy gourmet recipes in it because the second counselor's wife was a lawyer who entertained. Half our recipes should say go to the Trader Joe's frozen food section.

I had to read the Relief Society Magazine for my senior paper at BYU. Believe me, it made me shudder. There were stories about leaving your children home alone would turn them into juvenile delinquents. The writing in it was so bad and made me grateful that we don't have a publication like it today.

Audra said... [reply]

OK, I laughed so hard I cried at the squirrel thing.

The thing is...

THAT IS MY FAMILY!

My aunt even gave me some canned groundhog that she canned. We made it into a pot pie and fed it to my in-laws. She apologized that it was not the best can of groundhog since they had just ate the one with the brains in it!

But she is not Mormon... so I digress.

I have never cooked anything out of a ward cookbook. I need to dig mine out and see if anythign is worth it. Oh, and I got one from my ward in Virginia at the same time my mother-in-law gave me one from her ward in California. The differences were amazing. Virginia: Banana Pudding, Red Velvet Cake, Chicken Cassorole
California: Chicken Encheladas, Beans and Rice, and Jello Salad

JustMe said... [reply]

I give up!

If those recipes really are in the cookbook, I totally must buy it. I kid thee not. It would be worth the cost just so I could say to my sweet, southern-raised daughter - "And this my dear, is why you will never be moving to Utah. In the south, we know how to cook".

Though when my son married I wonderful girl from Idaho, I told her family after the wedding, "I can't wait for them to spend Thanksgiving with us, Jenny is going to love our traditional opossum dinner" Bless their hearts, they never did figure out I was kidding.

Also - it would be good for hours and hours of laughs when I post these classic meals on my Facebook page.

Made my day - even after filing taxes!

Anonymous said... [reply]

The one ward cookbook I own, which is incidentally not from a ward I ever lived in or knew anyone in, has five nearly identical recipes for chicken enchiladas involving cream soup, sour cream, and cheese. It also contains my jambalaya recipe, which is to die for.

Señora H-B said... [reply]

I have a couple of recipes gleaned from ward cookbooks that I use regularly. I have thrown away every cookbook, however. Even the most excellent one from the Longfellow Park wards in Cambridge, MA (though that might be due to my anti-packrat tendencies).

I am appalled when I read old Relief Society cookbooks and discover such recipe gems as Tuna Mold made with Lemon Jell-o and Carrot Salad made with Lemon Jell-o.

Meat/vegetbles and Jell-o = Gross in my book.

Jen and Joe. said... [reply]

And THIS, Miss Nemesis, is why the Seventh-Day Adventists are kicking our Latter-day butts in lifespan longevity.

That is all I have to say.

Pie said... [reply]

Ward cookbooks: Oh, the horror! *shudder* In one of my sisters ward cookbooks the mother of a large family submitted a recipe for gingerbread that called for 40 cups of flour... because we all have industrial floor mixers in our basements. And my personal favorite: cream-of-misc. soup-casserole topped with corn flakes. PEOPLE.

word verification: groene... sums it up!

Christina said... [reply]

Wow. Just wow. To think that I ever thought that my chicken alfredo recipe was easy! It has 9 whole ingredients!

And that is the most painful-sounding ward cookbook I've ever heard of, although I think some of mine (especially BYU years) were pretty typical of the list you compiled.

Nemesis said... [reply]

Before my mom can get on here to defend herself, she submitted excellent recipes to all of our ward cookbooks. Just so you know.

FoxyJ said... [reply]

Our Relief Society is right now compiling recipes and they actually put on the handout "no taco soup, chicken and rice, pizza dough, etc." It made me laugh. I'm curious to see what sort of recipes people submit--it's been interesting being in this ward after my last one. My last ward had a lot of people who were very interested in cooking and made a lot of gourmet things, wheras here I've noticed more of a tendency towards stuff like bringing instant pudding to a potluck. I haven't cooked anything with creamed soup for several years; I'm submitting recipes for vegetarian food since that's what we eat and I assume it will be unique.

I've actually found some great recipes in ward cookbooks. We've also been given a few 'local' cookbooks from Hawaii and some of those are really interesting. Last time we were visiting, we went to a ward potluck with my SIL's family and it was interesting--there was a mix of everything from Jello salad to raw fish to egg rolls. I love seeing how Mormon food ends up in different regions.

Giggles said... [reply]

My dad took Jell-O and carrots to a branch party in Kentucky. They'd never seen anything like that before and were completely befuddled how he got the carrots that way. They thought he'd been whittling them on the porch all afternoon. Apparently they've never seen a grater before.

I make scones that way, kind of. Only my dough is homemade, not store bought at all. And sometimes you can put a chunk of cheese in the dough and it gets nice and melty and yummy. It's a great way to make a homemade bread something on a day that's too hot to turn on the oven. It's probably a pioneer scone thing, not a British tea scone thing.

Rachie said... [reply]

My best friend calls this kind of typically Mormon food "Mor-met." Like gourmet but for Mormons.

Happy Camper said... [reply]

My one and only ward cookbook is from my freshman year at BYU, and it proudly sports the title "Recipies" on the cover. And no that was not a clever reference to the pastry section. On the up side, there's several very yummy recipes in there, like the caramel brownie recipe that I still remember with fondness, although I've been too lazy to make it in recent years.

Anonymous said... [reply]

Mormet food? That's awesome.

My favorite RS recipe--listed under the "family heirloom recipes" section was Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies.

2 boxes spice cake mix
1 big can pumpkin
chocolate chips.

Ignore directions on cake box, just mix up the dry cake mix with the pumpkin, add the chocolate chips, and bake at 350 for 12 minutes...or something like that.

Le Sigh.

(Verification word: koter. Is Mormet green jello with carrots koter?)

xox

JRO said... [reply]

I've never had a ward cookbook. But I did get a cookbook from my mother-in-law with her family recipes and I'm sure there are some good Mormon classics in that one. She gave it to my husband and me just before we got married. There was a note inside that said she gave the same cookbook to her daughters years ago, but waited to give them to her son until he was married. I was horrified(!) at the time. I really had no intentions of becoming some typical Mormon housewife. Now 11 years later, I'm not, but I have cooked a couple of family favorites from the cookbook.

goddessdivine said... [reply]

Ok. This project must be stopped, aborted, discontinued! People should not be wasting their hard-earned money in these difficult financial times on these 'recipes'. Dude.....

Sherry said... [reply]

Yes. Those recipes pretty much sum up why I could no longer stand to live with my in-laws. Having grown-up with a mother who makes superb non-Mormon foods (She's a convert and hates Jell-O), I was flabbergasted when I lived with the in-laws for a while.

Also, never heard of funeral potatoes until I went to BYU, and of course, I love them, but I was rather befuddled with their name for a while.

And I still contest that Jell-O is not a salad. If it is a salad because it has fruit in it, then I had banana cream salad for Pi Day last week.

Teresa @ Grammy Girlfriend said... [reply]

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Holly said... [reply]

I will have to pass along "mormet" to some foodie friends - I love it!

A friend and I were looking at a ward cookbook from Heidelberg Germany (we were in an english-speaking mostly-military ward there in the 70s), and reviewed the recipes our mother's had submitted. Neither one of us have EVER seen some of those gems grace the family table in. The winning entry was one called "Summer Snow". Check out this ingredient list:
21 oz canned Beef Broth
12 oz. V-8 Juice
6 oz. Water
Dash Tabasco
Lemon wedges

And the instructions:
Chill beef broth at least 4 hours. Mix V-8, juice, water, and Tabasco. Freeze in ice cube trays. To serve, place 1-2 cubes in each glass, fill with beef broth. Serve with lemon wedges.

Note: can serve be mixing all ingredients except water and pour over regular ice.

Somehow, the name and the actual recipe just don't seem to go together.

MBC - I'd love your recipes you think your ward might not appreciate.

Anonymous said... [reply]

I'm totally embarrassed to admit that I've had little smokies with half grape jelly and half bbq sauce. My mom made them once and didn't tell me what the "sauce" was until after I'd eaten it and liked it (she knows I'm very picky, especially with extremes like this). My husband saw me reading this post and saw the picture of the jell-o at the bottom and I'm not even kidding you when I say that his exact words were:

"Is your grandma writing stories about her disgusting jell-o with $#!+ floating in it?" I laughed. A lot.

Kristi said... [reply]

The vegetable section also always includes green bean casserole.

And I don't think I've ever been so disgusted from reading the comments section of a blog post. Canned groundhog with brains? Frozen squirrels in the freezer? Yuck!

My favorite candy recipes all come from ward cookbooks. I'm often too scared to try some of the other things.

And I (unpopularly) maintain that not all things made with cream-of soups are gross or terrible for you. Why do people hate them so much anyways?

april said... [reply]

my two ward cookbooks from CT are FANTASTIC!!!! tried and true recipes. one of my faves is the chicken enchilada recipe W/OUT the cream of whatever soups (i think it tastes better). i even got a good recipe book from the spouse association for MBA students when we were at BYU (i know that already sounds pathetic). it's actually quite good too (although ended up being a total waste of $ as they were hard to sell), but did have some of those "sister monson _____ recipe". i think the church finally asked people to stop calling asking for general authorities favorite recipes.

have you ever read vintage cookbooks especially from the 50s? my sister-in-law uses clips of vintage magazines in her artwork so she's always reading old magazines. during superbowl season, she posted pics of jellied potato salad (potato salad with lemon jello and probably tomotoes on top) or canned peaches (halved not sliced) filled with ketchup and then grilled from some of these vintage stuff she reads. not sure which i would go for: baked squirrel in tomato sauce or jello on top of potato salad?

Megs said... [reply]

At the risk of being mocked, I want to throw out a defense for Little Smokies. Yes, that recipe is ridiculously lacking in specifics, but I make little smokies with grape jelly and BBQ sauce every year for New Year's Eve, and they are (amazingly) the hit of the party. Especially if I don't tell anyone that the secret ingredient is grape jelly. What I really want to know is who decided that adding grape jelly would be the answer. "Hmm. BBQ sauce just isn't quite cutting it for me. Maybe if I add a bottle of sugary, gelatinous spread to this crock pot full of tiny hot dogs and BBQ sauce, it will end up being something delicious." Genius, yes, but I wouldn't want anyone to know my thought process if I'd been the one who made the discovery.

Elsha said... [reply]

These are so awesome. Especially the part about adding salt to the frozen pot pies. Since frozen pot pies don't already have like 8000% of your daily sodium

jeri said... [reply]

If our old ward had a cookbook, I would have purchased it just to see what on earth people were thinking when they made treats for ward functions. 55 people would bring chocolate chip cookies which were made from flour, shortening, more flour and a handful of milk chocolate chips. They looked pretty and tasted like sawdust. My theory is that 'Mormon Cuisine" is food that uses the cheapest ingredients possible. Like way too much flour and no vanilla or spices.

emandtrev said... [reply]

Love this. Some of the comments are truly hilarious--or horrifying? Still laughing about the squirrel...

To my ward's credit (or the person who put it all together), we have the "usual" recipes for roasts and all things potatoes, but there are some great recipes for salads with actual real, fresh ingredients (i.e., spinach, strawberries, slivered almonds, brie, etc.).

Truth be told, I actually like most of the recipes in our ward's cookbook. As long as they don't involve bottled alfredo sauce or jello with carrots.

Anonymous said... [reply]

My mo-i-l adores jellied everything. Anytime 2 or more are gathered in His name, she'll make sure the jello attends too. Her eyes fog over a bit as she describes what makes THIS jello "salad" different from all previous incarnations. You're supposed to look properly astonished and amazed after each ingredient is listed.

"THIS one has pistachios!!!!!" or
"THIS one called for freezing the pineapple FIRST!!!"
or
"THIS one is mixed with sour cream, NOT cottage cheese!"

When I had our first baby she came over to cook a few meals for us. After burning fish in our teeny little condo, she followed it up with a vat (seriously, there was so much of that stuff it took all the tupperware I owned to store it) of Mormon Salad.

"Did you try it? Isn't it WONDERFUL? THAT one was different, it called for CHOPPED coconut instead of flaked!!!!"

Bah!

(Word Verification: fiersle
Christian Siriano says Mormon Salad is not fiersle)

Kiersten said... [reply]

"squish boiled eggs on top"???? That really made me want to throw up. Ugh.

Science Teacher Mommy said... [reply]

One of my favorite cookbooks is the one from the ward where I grew up. When it went into its second printing (really) my mom bought two extra copies so that my sis and I could each have one for a wedding gift. There are some really great things that remind us of all of those wonderful people we grew up around. (Take, for example, LouElla's Lickity-split Brown Sugar Muffins. How can you NOT love them?)

But, alas, the cookbook also contains this beauty: A green jello mold, filled with baby shrimp and served with tarter sauce.

I also find it highly interesting how many Mormon women don't know that you can actually make amazing cream-based sauces without using the solid sodium that is found under the guise "condensed soup." And Sherry is absolutely right--Jell-O is dessert, as any English speaking non-American rightly knows.

Mumsy said... [reply]

So yesterday I get this e-mail from another food blogger who is requesting recipes that remind you of your hometown. And I'm thinking to myself, "What can I possibly add that won't get me blackballed from food blogging forever???"

Ha, ha, ha. I loved this post, Miss Nem. I have to read through the other comments now.

I think pretty much everything in ward cookbooks is strange.

Anonymous said... [reply]

Wow! When did you even post this? One year we were visiting Uncle Lee in "Virginia" where he proceeded to take the boys out into the back yard, shoot a squirrel, skin it, and put the meat in the freezer. The surprising, or maybe not so much, thing about it is there is very little meat on one of those little guys, like a hamburger size patty. Anyway, one of the boys still has the tail in his scrapbook!

Anonymous said... [reply]

By the way, these comments are priceless! I've never laughed so hard in my life! The only thing I want to add is that good, Southern cooking (minus the varmits!)is the best ever. And we have lived all over.

Nemesis said... [reply]

Mom, that was ME who had the squirrel tail. I used it for my 4th-grade state report on North Carolina. Because we were classy like that.

Heather said... [reply]

I'm not sure if this is because the cookbook didn't come from a Utah ward, but my sister gave me her ward's cook book. I really like it.
The cookbook your friend is compiling BLOWS MY MIND. I would NEVER submit a recipe to a cookbook that didn't actually involve cooking. The only thing I can think of is that someone suggested they have a section for "quick" or "easy" meals?

Barefoot Cassandra said... [reply]

My Mom's Mom's ward cook book contained no less than TEN "Better than Mrs. Fields Chocolate Chip Cookies" all different. Yes, TEN or more of the recipes in the cook book were for chocolate chip cookies. A bit excessive, no?

Also there was "Tomato Soup Cake", which just reading the title, put the fear of god in to my heart.

And several cakes with mayonnaise as the main ingredient. Gag.

daltongirl said... [reply]

This recipe can never compete with squirrel and groundhog, but I'm sharing it because (I'm not even kidding) it was posted by another friend on her blog at the EXACT same time you posted this. Coincidence?

Tomato Bacon Tarts
* 1 can of flaky refrigerator biscuits
* 2 med. tomatoes, chopped & seeded
* 1 T mayonnaise
* 2 T chopped basil
* 1/2 of a medium onion, chopped very fine
* 6 oz Mozzarella cheese, grated
* 8 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
* 1 t garlic
* 1/2 t oregano

Preparation

1. Place a single biscuit into each cup of a lightly greased muffin pan and form to shape.
2. Mix all the ingredients together and fill each muffin.
3. Bake according to biscuit instructions on package.
4. Makes 8 fabulous filled biscuits.

And that pretty much sums up the type of recipes I have in both my ward cookbooks. Totally useless in my house, but probably taste pretty good under the right circumstances. Not sure what those are, exactly.

It always astounds me how many people use a ton of processed and/or prepared foods in their cooking. I assume it's made from scratch (which to me means using your own flour, butter, baking soda and salt to make biscuit dough), and a couple of hours later, after I've consumed an entire roll of Rolaids, I'm realizing that was a pipe dream.

Once I asked my mil to bring a green salad to dinner, and she brought a green Jell-o "salad." She couldn't understand why I laughed until I cried. She still can't understand what I mean when I say that anything with Jell-o and Cool Whip in it is NOT salad. It's dessert. Unless there are carrots in it, in which case, it's trash.

Cali said... [reply]

Are you kidding...what ward is this?

Spitfire said... [reply]

Ok already, I get the hint about no salads can contain fruit or cool whip. But if that were true, then the "Pink Stuff" wouldn't be considered a fruit salad anymore. I just can't live with that. And that would also mean that Ed would be right about it falling under the dessert category. I can't live with that, either. What do you think, Nem? Fam?

Nemesis said... [reply]

Spitfire, I am making an executive decision that the pink stuff is a "fruit salad." I think it falls within the parameters. It could also be considered a frozen fruit dessert, if Ed wants to be like that. This in no way rescinds its fruit salad status.

quippish endeavor said... [reply]

uh... i think you meant better than seminary cake. psh. thank you for reminding me the hilarity involved in a ward cook book.

xo

Polly said... [reply]

I just have to add my two cents- My favorite part of the Joy of Cooking (in my opinion the Old Testament of cookbooks) is the section with illustrated pictures of how to skin rabbit and squirrel. Saddly, I think it has been removed from the more recent editions.

Also our ward (the one my husband and I grew up in) just reprinted the ward cookbook from 20 years ago as a fundraiser. A sister was flipping thtough her copy and said "I don't think I know most of these people." My husband leaned over and replied "Because they are dead." And amazingly there were still hurt feelings over people submitting other peoples recipes in their name ect. 20 years later.

Desmama said... [reply]

It was the "Young Woman's Journal" November of 1924. Do you remember the story about the lemon rinse? There are also instructions on making a bag or purse out of inner tubes and leather.

Of the recipes section there are several international recipes, including French Carrots (carrots, onions, cream, butter, sugar, and salt) and American Chop Suey (sausage, boiled macaroni, boiled rice, tomatoes, and cayenne pepper). Mexican salad includes cabbage, green pepper, and pimento. There is also potato cake and plum pudding.

Desmama said... [reply]

I do quite like the section on etiquette, entitled "The Right Thing at the Right Time" and has advice on behaving oneself at ballroom dances, theatre parties, and "conduct in large crowds." It also has a section on "Good manners in church." It probably wouldn't hurt to have a good brush-up on our manners in church, eh?

Unknown said... [reply]

Barefoot C.: since mayo is just oil and maybe some egg, looked at in the right way, it's probably ok. I wonder if you could use the fat free versions? I mean, if you wanted to.

Bridget said... [reply]

Wow, those are hilarious "recipes."

Lady Steed said... [reply]

I think you should have a look at this cook book
that my current ward put out a few years ago. It's great. Sure, there are a fair share of cream-of-whatever soup based recipes and the Mormon standards, but otherwise, it's full of interesting, tasty and gourmet type recipes. A few examples: Roasted & Marinated Green Beans, Israeli Cosucous Salad, Orzo with Black Bean Sauce, Etouffee, Salmon with Couscous and Vegetables (this is one of four salmon recipes), Bacon Wrapped Shrimp and Scallops, Coconut Basmati Rice and Peruvian Quinoa Stew. I use this cookbook a lot and there are a few things from it that I now make regularly. So, now you know that there are actually good and useful RS cookbooks in existence.

Eva said... [reply]

Garlic Bread
Ingredients
Cheddar cheese
mayonnaise
Butter
Sliced french bread

Melt butter, mix with cheese and mayo. Spread on bread and toast in the oven.

Seriously? Garlic? Bread?

AmandaStretch said... [reply]

In my 7th grade Texas History class, one of my classmates gave a presentation about hunting and game, and had her hunter father supply the entire class with little squirrel legs.

Tastes like chicken.

Is it sad that sometimes I use ward cookbooks from my family ward to look up some of my mom's recipes so that I don't have to call her and ask her for them?

Anonymous said... [reply]

For a view of food within middle class England please look here. In particular look at the comments section at the bottom!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth

Mad Hadder said... [reply]

My old ward cookbook (Where is it???) had great recipes for homemade window cleaner and some home remedies as well. So why do you think one of the most popular Olympics pins was the green jello one??? Hello! And how come nobody has commented on the recipes for "Finding and Keeping a Man"??????

Jillian said... [reply]

Lil Smokies w/grape jelly? Really? Wow. Thought I'd tried them all...trying not to barf at my desk. Also, yes, why does cream soup and or cream cheese thus immediately make a casserole? I really do think you've got it covered though! Oh, add butter. Lots of butter. I think Paula Dean stole that from LDS Moms :)

Brooke said... [reply]

Mormon food rocks! I agree that the recipes here are a little...shall we say interesting?

kaylene said... [reply]

i laughed until i cried and then i laughed and cried some more. seriously?!!

Best Wishes, Marie said... [reply]

the problem is that many of our husbands were raised by mothers who cooked from and or created those cookbooks. my husband likes his spagetti noodles cooked so they get all fat and soggie. when we first got married i cooked pasta al denter. he said it is not cooked enough. and i said, it is al dente. and he said what does al dente mean? is that french for half cooked? (i know it is italian). so i have to pull out what i will eat and let the pasta cook another 10 minutes. and .... my mother in law has actually created a cookbook of just their family recipes. including eggs ben with a cheddar cheese sause. (at least it was not cheese wiz, but that would have been to expensive).

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