Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Eat Eat Walla Walla

Dinner's ready!

Shannon Smith-McKeown has been collecting recipes ever since she was a little girl growing up in Walla Walla. As she remembers, one of her favorite things was listening to her mother and aunts talk about the food they grew up with, especially on their ranch located in the Walla Walla area. Her family had picnics, potlucks and even Saturday night "Kitchen Dances." This was the time when friends and neighbors would bring their finest from the oven.

She read cookbooks as if they were novels. Shannon even enjoyed the history, preparation and the possibility of menus. The more outdated the recipe, and the simpler, often the better; as far as she was concerned.

Throughout the years family and friends would share some of their favorite recipes with Shannon. She also enjoyed passing her recipes on to others. Soon she would have a collection - - in fact, a collection big enough to fill her own "novel."

"Eat Eat Walla Walla" is a collection of recipes, not only from Shannon, but also from other sources in the Walla Walla Valley. Shannon makes note that some of the "contributors" may look somewhat fictional as she has taken historical people, places, and things from Walla Walla to cleverly design "nom de plumes" for recipes by such authors as: Baker Boil, Rose Street, Milton F. Water, and Gary Son (aka Baker Boyer Bank, Rose St., Milton-Freewater, and Garrison Middle School).

Just pouring through these recipes will inspire you to cook and will especially make you hungry. There are over 299 recipes and everything from appetizers, breads, soups, salads, sides, main dishes, and desserts. There is quite a variety, too: Irish Chicken (yes, made with Irish Cream) and even Southern Bread Pudding (made with bourbon).

From the homestyle comfort food such as Walla Walla Pea Salad and Cow Pie Cookies to the sophisticated such as Coquille St. Dakota and Left Bank French Silk Pie.

To all of you lovers of Walla Walla, to those of you who like to "eat eat," and even you collectors of cookbooks, there is something in this book for everyone and especially to share as gifts. For more information about Shannon's book, please visit her website at Eat Eat Walla Walla.

2 comments:

gretchen said...

I love these kind of cookbooks! Grange and Church cook books are at the top of that list, too. When my aunt was planning on moving she asked me is there was anything I wanted- I asked for her cookbooks!

wild walla walla wine woman said...

Same here Gretchen. I love these old type of cookbooks. Stay tuned, if I make the deadline, the W5 will have one out in May.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...