Queenie’s Cuisine compiled by Bruce Patterson on behalf of the Peninsula Regional Medical Center Foundation 2008
This is an interesting cookbook. It caught my eye on eBay thanks to its eye-catching cover featuring a photograph of a woman in an apron cooking at the stove. Photographs are fairly uncommon in the community cookbook arena and the title Queenie’s Cuisine and the subtitle “Dedicated to the one we love” is rather unusual and doesn’t give a lot of information.
The back of the book features a picture of the back of the same woman (I suppose “Queenie”) on apparently the same day as the cover photo was taken with the tagline “It’s all behind us”. There is also a logo on the back that says “Peninsula Regional Medical Center Foundation 2008 Cookbook” which gives me a little more of a clue. Peninsula Regional Medical Center Foundation is located in Salisbury, Maryland on the Eastern Shore.
The forward is written by Bruce Patterson talking about his wife (educated guess as he refers to the Patterson/Wagner household) Debbie Wagner who I would think must be Queenie and her style of cooking. He goes on to say that the recipes were contributed by friends and family and some were Debbie’s own recipes. The impression I get is that Debbie Wagner had died and was either an employee of the Peninsula Regional Medical Center Foundation or a beneficiary of the Foundation during her lifetime. I could not find any info online about this book at all, despite it being relatively recent.
Pictures of the same woman from the covers are on the dividers of the book in many poses and even costumes. She seems like a real character.
There are a lot of familiar German recipes here like we find in a lot of Maryland cookbooks like schnitzel and beef rolls (rouladen), crab imperial makes an appearance along with other seafood dishes like paella and jambalaya. Many desserts including Beaumes-de-Venise Cake with Grapes and Raggedy Robins Cookies.
The recipes are marked either with the contributor’s name (and occasionally profession like Cathy Moore–Medical Librarian) or with “Deb’s Collection”. It’s a very personal feeling cookbook for what seems a like fundraiser for a medical facility. If anyone knows anything about the cookbook, let me know!