Event to show history and traditions of Routt County through recipes
Courtesy Photo
Historical tidbits
From the "Fair Family Favorites Cookbook"
Wisdom corner (Page 433)
■ Before chopping raising, rub a little butter on both sides of the chopping knife.
■ To prevent icing from running off while being spread, lightly dust the cake with Kingsford's cornstarch.
In making gravies and sauces, use Kingsford's cornstarch for thickening — not flour. Cook thoroughly, and the improved taste of the gravy or sauce will please you.
Courtesy of the Tread of Pioneers Museum. From Woman's Auxiliary of St. Paul's Episcopal Church Cook Book, Steamboat Springs, Colorado, 1912.
Household hints (Page 430)
■ When sponge cake becomes dry, it is nice to cut in thin slices and toast.
■ Cranberry jelly mixed with cold water makes a refreshing drink for the sick.
■ If the oven is too hot when baking, place a small dish of cold water in it.
■ To remove tea stains from cups and saucers, scour with ashes.
■ To brighten or clean silver or nickel-plated ware, rub with a woolen cloth and flour.
■ To remove ink stains, soak in sour milk overnight.
■ The wings of a turkey, geese and chickens are good to wash and clean windows, as they have no dust or lint as cloth.
■ To brighten old carpets, sprinkle with salt before sweeping.
Courtesy of the Tread of Pioneers Museum. Found in Mrs. Porter's New Cookbook (1871)
Useful hints for today's cook (Pg. 437)
■ Navel oranges with the biggest hole/navel tend to be the sweetest.
■ Don't store cucumbers near fruit in your refrigerator. Fruits tend to emit ethylene gas while ripening. This gas unpleasantly hardens cucumber seeds.
■ Place an apple in a bag of potatoes before storing and close. This will help them "keep" close to eight weeks without sprouting or wrinkling. Store in cool, dry place.
Steamboat Springs — When entering a grocery store, the eye beholds aisles upon aisles of produce, canned goods and myriad household labels.
Years ago, it was a vastly different picture.
Before technological advances with kitchen appliances such as refrigeration and the addition of preservatives, there was a need to rely on methods of canning and preserving food in order to have it in the winter.
“Back in the day, we didn’t have things on the shelf like fresh veggies and fruits or things with preservatives,” Linda Long said over the phone Wednesday afternoon as she was canning her home recipe of raspberry jam. “It’s a different world today, and a lot of people take what we have for granted.”
The Tread of Pioneers Museum will host an event at noon Friday to look back on the traditions and family recipes developed in Routt County. Showcasing the “Fair Family Favorites: Celebrating 100 Years of the Routt County Fair” cookbook, the event also will feature cookbook contributors concocting their recipes and discussing how those have changed throughout the past 100 years.
“Family recipes are part of our history and part of what we do here in Routt County. It’s important to keep those traditions alive and well,” Long said.
A group of women connected to the Routt County Fair voiced their interested in developing a cookbook in 2010 to get the word out about the fair’s 100th anniversary and to create a lasting commemorative piece.
More than 700 were collected from 400 contributors during three years in order to create the book released at the 2013 fair. The content of the cookbook has eight sections, including appetizer ideas, beverages, salads, soups, main dishes, desserts and more.
Unique to some cookbooks, this one has a historical component to it. With the recipes, there is a story from its creator, tips for young cooks and directions on how to preserve food and can various fruits and vegetables.
“Through this process of looking back, it brings it home to me in a big way,” said Nancy Mucklow, one of the women who helped create the cookbook. “Some women made their own eggnog or canned salads so their families could eat healthy meals all year long. These women were pioneers and even give you tips about where the recipe was from or how to make it better.”
At the event, there will be retrospective discussions about how cooking has changed with the advent of the Internet in addition to how recipes changed with new advances of kitchen products.
“I think it’s important to appreciate those who have done before us and the types of lives they led,” said Mary Kaye Schoeneman, another woman who helped in the creation of the cookbook. “It wasn’t as easy as our is today and I think we should appreciate what they had to go through.”
The cookbooks will be available for purchase at the free event Friday with contributions benefiting the exhibit hall at the Routt County Fairgrounds in Hayden.
To reach Audrey Dwyer, call 970-871-4229, email adwyer@ExploreSteamboat.com or follow her on Twitter @Audrey_Dwyer1
Historical tidbits
From the “Fair Family Favorites Cookbook”
Wisdom corner (Page 433)
■ Before chopping raising, rub a little butter on both sides of the chopping knife.
■ To prevent icing from running off while being spread, lightly dust the cake with Kingsford’s cornstarch.
In making gravies and sauces, use Kingsford’s cornstarch for thickening — not flour. Cook thoroughly, and the improved taste of the gravy or sauce will please you.
Courtesy of the Tread of Pioneers Museum. From Woman’s Auxiliary of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Cook Book, Steamboat Springs, Colorado, 1912.
Household hints (Page 430)
■ When sponge cake becomes dry, it is nice to cut in thin slices and toast.
■ Cranberry jelly mixed with cold water makes a refreshing drink for the sick.
■ If the oven is too hot when baking, place a small dish of cold water in it.
■ To remove tea stains from cups and saucers, scour with ashes.
■ To brighten or clean silver or nickel-plated ware, rub with a woolen cloth and flour.
■ To remove ink stains, soak in sour milk overnight.
■ The wings of a turkey, geese and chickens are good to wash and clean windows, as they have no dust or lint as cloth.
■ To brighten old carpets, sprinkle with salt before sweeping.
Courtesy of the Tread of Pioneers Museum. Found in Mrs. Porter’s New Cookbook (1871)
Useful hints for today’s cook (Pg. 437)
■ Navel oranges with the biggest hole/navel tend to be the sweetest.
■ Don’t store cucumbers near fruit in your refrigerator. Fruits tend to emit ethylene gas while ripening. This gas unpleasantly hardens cucumber seeds.
■ Place an apple in a bag of potatoes before storing and close. This will help them “keep” close to eight weeks without sprouting or wrinkling. Store in cool, dry place.
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