Memories of Mama and Huntsville Heritage Cookbook's Vegetable Salad

I chose the cookbook - Huntsville Heritage Cookbook - to play Eeny Meeny Miny Mo with this go round.  This cookbook was first published in 1967 by a group of women in Huntsville, AL who were members of the Grace Club Auxiliary.  It is not only a cookbook but also a history book.  It has original artwork, and at the beginning of each chapter gives a little history lesson.   One example is how the town of New Market, AL received its name.  In 1813 George Smith bought over 600 acres in northeast Madison County and opened a "new market" where settlers could buy vegetables.  When he died, they named the town New Market.  I did not know that!!

When I got married in 1979, one of my most treasured wedding gifts was one of these cookbooks.  However, when my mother passed away three years ago, I found her HHC cookbook which happens to be a first edition.  I brought it home and put it in a treasured spot and gave my wedding copy to the Food Police. 

You can see all the "stuff" my mother had stuffed in that cookbook.  It was so comforting to sit down with the cookbook after she passed away.  It was like she was still there with me.   I found lots of treasures in that book.

On the inside cover, she had handwritten her recipe for "Red Velvet Cake" which she always made at Christmas as well as her "Coconut Cake" which my Dad requested for his birthday every year.

Look at all the recipes she had collected and that somehow all fit in that one cookbook.  She had recipes written on the back of envelopes, those little pink memo slips to call someone, and a bank statement.   She had recipes from magazines and newspapers and from the back of boxes.

I found a recipe on the back of this piece of notebook paper and looked on the other side and lo and behold, it was a letter written to my mother and grandmother from my GREAT-GRANDMOTHER Mamaw.  How cool is that.

My mother worked at the Huntsville Public Library for over 30 years, and here she has written a recipe on the back of one of those cards that used to be in those little pockets that told you when to bring the book back.

This is her recipe for her "Peanut Butter Crisscrosses" that she made for us every get-together.  Those were some of my favorite cookies. 



Now a little about my "Mama".  She was one of the bravest people I know.  She went through breast cancer, heart disease, a broken hip and hip replacement, and finally pancreatic cancer without one complaint.  She was one of the most gracious women I have ever known.  She showed me how to be a good "Mama".  She believed in the thank-you note.  You would have hardly given her a gift before you went to the mailbox and had a thank-you note from her. 

She loved her grand-children.  "Mimi" was her given grandmother name.  One of the funniest memories I have of her and Food Police was shortly after Baby Food Police was born.  Mama came to stay with us for a week to help out.  We were both extremely nervous that first week, and somewhere along the line, she was changing Food Police's diaper and noted that she had diarrhea.  She immediately ran out of the bedroom screaming that she needed a thermometer.  I asked "Why?" and she told me about the diarrhea.  I thought to my RN self "Don't breast-fed babies usually have a loose stool?" but I got the thermometer.  I handed the old-fashioned glass thermometer (remember it is 1983) to her, and she proceeded to shake it down.  She was so wound up that the thermometer slipped out of her hand and shot across the nursery breaking when it hit the WALL!  "Now Food Police is going to get mercury poisoning" she screams.  I told her to go sit down and relax.  That was easier said than done.  I proceeded to clean up the mess and call Food Police's pediatrician.  He chastised me for not knowing that breastfed babies had loose stools.  (Remember I am an RN, and I worked with him at the hospital...He never let me live that one down...Whoops!) 

She loved Christmas, and I guess, that is where I get my over-the-top love of that holiday.  She loved to decorate and entertain during the Holidays.  She loved the beach, and some of my fondest memories of her include times at the beach.  She loved working at the Library, and when she passed away, the city closed the Library for a few hours so that the staff could attend her funeral.  She loved to read, and I could always depend on her to give me the title of the next greatest book to dive into. She loved the murder mystery, and so do I.  She loved my Father fiercely and was able to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary at the beach with her family.  She loved to cook and the food that I miss the most from her are her Banana Bread, Vegetable Beef Stew, and those Peanut Butter Crisscrosses.  I always make her Butterscotch Brownies with Cooked Caramel Frosting for celebrations as well as her Fruitcake Cookies and Fudge for Christmas in her honor.  When she became ill this last time, it became my mission to cook and cook and cook and try to tempt her to eat so that she could maintain her weight.  That was when I realized what cooking really is.  It is the ability to show someone how much you care for them.  Period.  I miss her very much.

Here is a picture of Mama and Daddy on one of our last trips to the Beach.

Now on to the recipe.  The "Game" chose Vegetable Salad.  It is absolutely yummy.  I plan to use it as a side dish for my Labor Day Cookout.  I will do this one again for sure, and again, I would have never fixed this recipe without the Game.

You will need French-style green beans, English peas, an onion, green pepper, celery, small jar of pimentos, salad oil, sugar, vinegar and paprika.

Chop up onion, green pepper, and celery.  You can see by the amounts which one I like the most.

Add the green beans, peas, and pimentos to the chopped items.  This is one of my better pictures.

Whisk together the oil, sugar, vinegar, water, and paprika.  I think I put too much paprika in.  Whoops! 

Pour the dressing over the other ingredients and there you have it!!  You let it stand for 24 hours in the fridge. 

Here is the recipe....

Vegetable Salad

Huntsville Heritage Cookbook

1 can French-style green beans, drained

1 can English peas, drained

1 onion, chopped

1/2 green pepper, chopped (I used a whole one)

1 c chopped celery ( I used 1/2 cup)

1 small jar pimentos, diced

Salt to taste

Dressing:

1/2 c salad oil

1 1/4 c sugar

1 c vinegar

4 tbs water

Paprika

Combine dressing ingredients and pour over mixed salad ingredients.  Let stand for 24 hours in refrigerator.  Serves 6-8.

Now go have a great day.....