Cooking in the Chesapeake Country. Galena Volunteer Fire Company, Galena, Maryland 1967
This is not my first book from Galena! Or Kent County for that matter. This one was “prepared by the women of the community for The Galena Volunteer Fire Company” and all proceeds went to the Galena Volunteer Fire Company Building Fund.
They thank contributors in the beginning for their history knowledge and contributions of local background. The book has some (credited) photographs of the area, maps, and local histories. It’s a pretty informative book! The introduction boasts there are 394 “culinary masterpieces” inside and that it is not the work of one woman but many in Galena and the adjacent communities. The introduction talks about the “receipts” in the book (which they say is the Eastern Shoreman’s way of spelling “recipe”) aren’t new or invented but became famous in their own right.
The book has a few essays about the area, including one that takes you on a virtual tour of Galena along the Augustine Hermann (sp) Highway. That is a stretch of Maryland Route 231 named after Augustine Herman.
The recipes are a mix of historic and near historic (Mrs. William Sproates, Senior’s Dandelion Wine) and Howard Claude’s Snapping Turtle Soup (there are some apparently male contributors despite the introduction) to Kate Alfree’s Pumpkin Chiffon Pie which calls for instant coffee. There is a recipe for Maryland Beat Biscuit (Elva Camp) that calls for one to beat the dough with a heavy object for 25-30 minutes. A Maryland classic one rarely sees!
It really is a pleasant book to read. Some of the recipes have little notes or serving suggestions. I would not attempt making wine from these vintage recipes but other hints are welcome. I was intrigued to find a recipe for Grasshopper Pie that did not call for alcohol.
Many local dishes using crab, shad roe, turtle and oysters. Fair number of wild game recipes—including local favorite muskrat.
