Books of Life...

Leisa and I sat at the table thumbing through old cookbooks. The Shaker cookbook had the recipe for the corn pudding we were eating for our Labor Day picnic. The recipe begins the ingredient list with two cups of green grated corn. I used the frozen creamed corn mama and I put up this summer. The corn pudding was wonderful. I bought the cookbook when we lived in Kentucky and visited the restored Shaker settlement there. It is a living history book
The other cookbook, an old Rumford cookbook held together with rubber bands, belonged to Michael’s mother and is the same one my mama has, also held together with rubber bands. Ann’s cookbook is stuffed with the gold standard recipes from her life as wife and mother. Banana nutbread, sour cream pound cake, Bible verses,14 day pickles, stuffed turban squash, orange Jello salad (with Cool Whip, mandarin oranges and nuts), Billy Graham columns, spiced tea, chocolate chip cookies, newspaper articles... all the special foods she loved to prepare for family and friends as well as trail markers for what she valued in life. Leisa’s mom left her a cookbook stuffed full, like Ann’s and mama’s, with special recipes and little articles. When we open these books, we hold them reverently, turn the pages carefully and remember all the good times we shared these foods so lovingly prepared for us.
When I was young, before you got married, you got your cookbook and your recipe file. Friends and family gave you their favorite recipes for your new life as wife. My first cookbook was the Betty Crocker cookbook, everyday cooking with a flair. I thought cantaloupe halves filled with ice cream ranked right up there with the finest French cuisine. My recipe box was filled and filed and in order. The Betty Crocker cookbook is stained and cracked now, a little like me, showing signs of its importance in my life.
I know this is the age of the internet recipe. I used one myself last week... Chicken Burrito Filling. And I don’t begrudge the quick and easy access to just the right recipe. Good food prepared with care will never go out of style as an expression of love. And food as an exploration into different ways of experiencing the manna gift is now, as it has been, an occasion for laughter and celebration. The popularity of the movie “Julia and Julie” affirms our soul connection to food, the possibilities that come with food preparation.
The importance of the book, the guide, whether it is a cookbook or a sacred text, is marked by how much of our life is invested in its pages. Underlined passages, other writings, fingermarks, bent down corners... all are mute testimony to the life lived with the help of this book. They become living trail markers, like the trees marked on the Applachian Trail, that show where you have been and how you got there, what mattered to you, what was savory in your life and perhaps shows those left behind how to find their way.
The Psalmist says, “Thy Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path...” I wonder what stories the books I leave behind will tell. I hope they reflect the good and gracious gifts I have been given, the faith I have claimed. And when my children open these battered old books of their grandparents and parents, I pray laughter and good food are present, a party time, thanksgiving for all that has been and all that is yet to be.

Crockpot Salsa Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts 1 can corn 1 can black beans 32 ounces salsa
flour tortillas Sour cream guacamole lettuce
tomatoes Cheese salsa

Put first four ingredients, corn and beans drained, in crock pot. Cook on low 6-8 hours.30-60 minutes before serving, remove and shred chicken. Return to crock pot. Serve with condiments in tortillas.
Recipe #16687 at Recipezaar Home Page.

Green Corn Pudding

2 cups grated green corn 3 eggs 1/4c. Sugar dash nutmeg ½ tsp. Salt 1/8 tsp. Pepper 2 cups rich milk
½ c. buttered bread crumbs 2tbsp butter

Grate uncooked kernels from fresh corn. Put in buttered baking dish. Beat eggs well; add sugar, nutmeg, salt, pepper and milk, and blend. Sprinkle top with buttered bread crumbs and dot with butter. Place in a dish of boiling water and bake in a slow (250 degrees) oven for one hour. Serves six. Amelia’s Shaker Recipes from The Shaker Cookbook

To quote Julia... Bon appetit!!!!