Cooking in Community

collecting community cookbooks and modernizing the recipes

Menu
  • What is a Community Cookbook?
  • Why “Modernize” the Recipes?
  • About Me
  • My Modernized Recipes in Print
  • News & Events
  • Contact Me
Menu

Modernized Recipes

Cookbooks

A Taste of the Everglades

Posted on October 20, 2023November 24, 2023 by Rachel Rappaport

A Taste of the Everglades compiled by Everglades City School PTO 1994 Everglades City, Florida

There is no indication of what the book’s proceeds went toward, but I’m guessing it was to the Parents Teacher Organization general fund since it was dedicated to them by James E. Hall, principal and it seems like they collected the recipes.

The book opens with a chapter of “local favorites” which is always fun to see. Avocado, stone crab, guava, seagrape, coconut, calamondin (calamansi), snook, surinam cherries, oranges, tamarind, and conch are all represented.

I love it when a cookbook really leans into food that makes their community unique. Some community cookbooks don’t and could be from anywhere but this one is very clearly and firmly rooted in southern Florida. It’s a full 30 pages long! Even in other other sections there are some recipes, like Corliss Balkun’s Guava and Dumplings, that are clearly regional in nature.

Most recipes have a named contributor but there are a few that are missing names.

Some of the recipe names, like Kathy Doster’s Not Like Golf Ball Hush Puppies seemed to have a backstory I’d want to hear more about!

Outside of the regional recipes, there are also a lot of classic and familiar community cookbook dishes like Hazel Mitchell’s M & M Cookies, Cheryl Poyner’s New Ranch Dip, and Pauline Reeve’s Chicken and Rice Casserole.

No head notes but a few contributors snuck some tips in at the bottom of a recipe or in the ingredients list. Linda Penzo’s Overnight French Toast calls for “5 eggs (or use Egg Beaters or something like that)”. Other recipes are extremely simple–Cindy Krieder’s Soy Chops is literally just “Fry pork chops in soy sauce. Yum!” along with an unspecified amount of pork chops and soy sauce as the sole ingredients.

I updated and adapted Linda Penzo’s Buttermint Tuck-Ins from this book.

Tags: 1990s bookA Taste of the EvergladesbookCollier County Floridacommunity cookbookcontains recipe that was adaptedEverglades City FloridaEverglades City School PTOFloridaFlorida Cookbookhigh school cookbookmysterious recipe namesnamed contributorsPTA cookbookregional dishesspiral boundstock images only
Category: bookFlorida Cookbook

Post navigation

← Lemon Yogurt Cake
The Padre Cooks: Recipes from Sea and Shore Carmel-by-the-Sea →

I'm a cookbook author and recipe developer collecting community cookbooks from around the US and recreating the recipes so you can make them at home, today.

  • About Me
  • Contact Me
  • My Modernized Recipes in Print
  • News & Events
  • What is a Community Cookbook?
  • Why “Modernize” the Recipes?

Archives

  • June 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023

Categories

  • appetizers and snacks
  • Arizona Cookbook
  • Ark-La-Tex Cookbook
  • Arkansas Cookbook
  • bars
  • beef
  • biscuits
  • blondies
  • book
  • bread
  • Breakfast
  • brownies
  • cake
  • California Cookbook
  • candy
  • casserole
  • coffee cake
  • Colorado Cookbook
  • Connecticut Cookbook
  • cookies
  • crabs
  • Delaware Cookbook
  • Delmarva Cookbook
  • dessert
  • Florida Cookbook
  • Georgia Cookbook
  • Guam Cookbook
  • Hawaii Cookbook
  • ice box dessert
  • Indiana Cookbook
  • International Cookbook
  • Kentucky Cookbook
  • Louisiana Cookbook
  • main dish
  • Maryland Cookbook
  • Massachusetts Cookbook
  • Michigan Cookbook
  • Minnesota Cookbook
  • modernized recipe
  • National Cookbook
  • Nebraska Cookbook
  • New Jersey Cookbook
  • New York Cookbook
  • North Carolina Cookbook
  • Ohio Cookbook
  • Oklaholma Cookbook
  • Oklahoma Cookbook
  • Pasta
  • pasta salad
  • Pennsylvania Cookbook
  • quick bread
  • recipe
  • salad
  • sandwich
  • seafood
  • side dish
  • slow cooker
  • soup
  • Texas Cookbook
  • Unknown Location Cookbook
  • USA Cookbook
  • Virgin Islands Cookbook
  • Virginia Cookbook
  • Washington DC Cookbook
  • Washington State Cookbook
  • West Virginia Cookbook
  • Wisconsin Cookbook

Tags

1960s book 1970s book 1970s recipe 1980s book 1980s recipe 1990s book book church cookbook community cookbook community cookbook recipe contains recipe that was adapted craft recipes credits sources Delaware dessert helpful hints historical recipes illustrated local ads local histories local restaurant recipes Maryland Maryland Cookbook Maryland cookbook recipe modernized recipe mysterious recipe names named contributors no illustrations novelty recipes Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Cookbook photographs politician contributors quippy quotes recipe regional dishes religious organization cookbook spiral bound stock images only undated unnamed contributors Vashon Island Washington State Washington State wild game recipes women’s club cookbook

©2025 Cooking in Community