Sarah: Welcome back to Eating the Past. I'm your host Sarah Berry. Today we are going to continue our conversation with Sara Szobody, the online learning librarian at USU Libraries. Last week we discussed Sara's experience growing up in a Mennonite community in Northwestern Pennsylvania. Told Northwestern PA,
Sara: Gotta say PA. You're from PA. You say PA.
Sarah: PA. Welcome back, Sara.
Sara: Thanks for having me.
Sarah: So, I know you've mentioned before you've got some family cookbooks. So yes, tell me a little bit about those.
Sara: Yeah. So, both of these cookbooks are published by the Valley View Mennonite Church. The first one is “Mennonite Cooking,” and that was done by the Valley View Mennonite Youth Fellowship. And then the “Mennonite Favorites” was done by the Women's Missionary and Service Commission, which is part of the Valley View Church, and Valley View is the church that my dad attended, and it's where my grandparents are buried, and we attended it as kids as well.
Sarah: So, how old are these cookbooks? They go back a ways, right?
Sara: Well, one has my aunt Lisa's name in it, so that would be maybe 1970. Could have been like when she was a teenager. The other one I don't know, and I don't know that they have years published in them as well.
Sarah: So, do you have favorite recipes from these cookbooks?
Sara: You know, I don't know if there are any bad ones in there. I mean, I'm sure there are, but I am thinking back and thinking about when we would pull these out, and we always went to the same recipes.
As a child, I was like, "I need the chocolate chip cookie recipe." I don't remember ever really deviating from our staple ones that we would make. The pages in these books are so worn; you can tell what recipes are the most favorite because there's like stains splattered on them, probably like extract or who knows what's on those pages.
Definitely the staple I would say is the cream cheese sugar cookie recipe. That one is in the “Mennonite Favorites,” and that recipe was Grammy Chris.
Sarah: Okay, yeah, that was that one's next on my list. I bought the ingredients.
Sara: It's perfect for, well, it's perfect anytime you want to do a like a sugar cookie, I guess. But I like it during the holidays because you can just get your Christmas cookie cutters and cut it all out and ice it however you want.
And then I used to do a recipe. The title of it is Jan's Chocolate Chip Cookies, but this is a recipe that I chose to make every year for our county fair, and I'm not gonna brag, but got a couple first places.
Sarah: Wow!
Sara: And I make it to this day. And the one thing about it that I really liked was that you add peanut butter.
Sarah: Oh, is it soft? Is it really like? Are these chewy cookies or they?
Sara: No, they're more crunchy.
Sarah: Okay. All right.
Sara: And then instead of I don't know I guess I like roll them almost like you would be doing like a peanut butter cookie, so then when they bake in the oven they kind of form like a mound and you bite into it and it's just like a really thick chocolate chip cookie.
And then I remember looking through the book for like zucchini bread recipes.
Sarah: So, I mean, I know it's all subjective. Are there any other kind of fun little gems in there that you're like, what is this? Why is this here?
Sara: Well, actually, my great grandma Fern, she has a recipe, and I think it's in the “Mennonite Favorites” book, and it's rhubarb coffee cake. Isn't that interesting? I don't remember ever having it, but she submitted the recipe and it is in the book. So, I would assume that it was something that maybe she was well known for. Of course, as a kid, I'm like rhubarb, but now it's of course delicious.
Sarah: So, you know, we talk about our food culture, and there's so much nostalgia. I think built into the foods that we eat, it almost doesn't matter if it's good or not. It's just it. There's so many memories associated, people associated with these foods, and so I guess what food is home to you?
Sara: What food is home to me? I think that maybe changes seasonally for me. So, like right now, it's really chilly outside, and so back in Pennsylvania next month is opener of rifle season for deer. And my mom every year makes a giant pot of chili and chocolate chip cookies.
So that feels like home to me. And I had chili today for lunch.
Sarah: Okay, well now you need cookies,
Sara: And now I need cookies. Perfect day for exactly.
Sarah: Oh, well I am so glad that you were able to come in and chat with me.
And thank you to everyone for joining us today. Until next time on Eating the Past every Sunday at noon before the Splendid Table on your UPR station.
