Your Kuchen Friend
THE church cookbook to have.
This church cookbook is regionally famous and has been reprinted multiple times since its original publication in 1949. It was still in print all the way up until last year.
My edition, bought at an estate sale because relatives of mine1 won’t give up their own copies, was printed in 1983.
In the meats and main dishes section are many of the types of meals that have damaged the reputation of Midwestern cooking for three generations.
I’m not sure what is Russian about that dish. I can’t tell what’s “fluff” about it, either. Most of the casseroles are very similar: a lot of white carbohydrate (rice, noodles, or potatoes), a bit of cream soup, not too much onion, and perish the thought of using an entire green pepper, even in a dish meant to serve 8-10 people, as in the photo below. There are no spices other than black pepper and salt, and nearly every vegetable involved comes from a can.
The salads chapter does, yes, contain a lot of “salads” involving Jell-O. Some are seriously questionable. Lemon Jell-O and tuna should never be together. But how about an orange Jell-O Ice Cream “Salad”? That sounds pretty fun.
I have made the recipe below myself, with one change: I used diced red pepper for the tomato. I think I may have also added some dill or, you know, something from the spice cabinet.
But none of the above reasons are reasons to own a cookbook like this. The real treasures are in all the rest of the chapters.
These ladies were serious about baked goods.
If you’d like a copy of this cookbook, good luck on eBay. The last printing was last year. Or, you could hit up some southeastern Wisconsin estate sales this summer. I’m not giving up my copy. It’s too entertaining.
I’m teasing. I’m not sure if this is one of the church cookbooks in my mom’s collection or not. She has several church cookbooks.
I think "Fluff" is probably anglicized "Plov," the Russian version of pilaf
I love that the recipes are handwritten!