Nancy Dunn, manager of the Artesia Historical Museum and Art Center, is pleased to announce the arrival of a cookbook titled “Artesia’s Most Wanted! Pioneer Recipes from 1900 – 1960.”
The recipes in the cookbook were procured by museum employees and were found written on old recipe cards and scribbled in the margins of old letters.
According to Dunn, recreating an early recipe can help people connect to their roots in a way photographs cannot.
“Smell, touch and taste sensations are very powerful,” Dunn said. “These senses can jump-start our imaginations as we empathize with early pioneers.”
The recipes in the cookbook have all been used by Artesia’s earliest residents and are written in their own words. Dunn claims the only editing done to the recipes was measurement-related, but all other words, quirks, grammar, punctuation and spelling are verbatim.
Some recipes from the cookbook include “Yankee Plum Pudding” from the 1900s, “Hokey Pokey Ice Cream” from 1912, and “Roosevelt Salad” from 1933. With each decade, Artesia residents had to adapt to change. For example, food rationing and shortages caused challenges for home cooks as they were forced to use inexpensive ingredients and what could be found at home.
Dunn stresses none of the recipes have actually been tested and states in the cookbook’s introduction, “Some of the recipes were included just for fun and others because they are so unusual and different from anything we would choose to eat today.”
Sprinkled throughout the book are food-related pictures from the different decades, such as the Joyce-Pruit Company Mercantile Store in 1909 and an interior shot of the Coney Island Café on Main Street from 1947.
All proceeds from the cookbooks will go directly toward funding the Artesia Historical Museum and Art Center’s future travelling art exhibits. The first travelling art exhibit set for Jan. 9 – April 9, 2016, is a recycled fashion show titled “Re-Dress: Upcycled Style.”
The cookbooks are available for purchase for $19.95 each at the Artesia Historical Museum and Art Center during their normal business hours, 9 a.m. – noon and 1-5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 1-5 p.m. Saturdays. For more information, contact Dunn at 748-2390.
