Throughout this cookbook, I have referred to different people, usually family members, whom I haven’t identified.

Some of them are:


Mom: My mother was a professional pastry cook. During her career she was employed by the University of Montana, Carroll College, and the Clancy School District. Long after she left the Clancy school, she would meet former students who asked her for recipes. She baked all the bread they used at the school as well as the daily dessert, usually cake or cookies. In addition, she prepared the entire school lunch for up to 100 kids each day. She was christened “Cookie Grandma” by her granddaughter Jennifer, and that’s what she became to the entire family. There were always cookies at her house and when we traveled, a pail of cookies always went with us. It got to be a family joke, but no one ever refused a cookie when offered. In the recipes that follow, she is referred to simply as “Grandma.”

Dad: My dad was the provider, and not much of a cook, except for his famous boiled dinners. He did cook mutton on occasion—mostly because he liked it and my mother refused to cook it. He had a theory that if you ever washed the coffee pot the coffee would be ruined forever. One of my first recollections of my dad is him cooking scrambled eggs for me in a little steel frying pan that I still have. He raised beautiful gardens—and chickens.

Jim: My husband of 28 years, best friend, caretaker, and dishwasher loader. He brings me coffee each morning and cooks breakfast. His cooking is inclined to tend to the more modern stuff like stir fry, and at times I am tempted to hide the garlic. He is happy as long as I keep him supplied with homemade sourdough bread, and supper is on the table somewhere in the neighborhood of six o’clock each night, except on Friday when the cook goes on strike and we usually eat out.

Barbara : My daughter who moved to Alaska just when we were beginning to become good friends. She is a good cook. However, I remember one occasion when we visited them at Juneau, when Barb was in the back yard chopping wood, and her husband Bill was in the kitchen baking a pie which was darn good. [Note from daughter: It’s typical of Mom’s optimism and generosity that she would call me a good cook. To be honest, I’d rather be doing just about anything but cooking. Bill will vouch for this. I’m giving him my copy of this cookbook.] With the extended daylight hours in the subarctic summer, she raises a garden and beautiful flowers. They also take advantage of the numerous wild berries that grow in Alaska and the abundant seafood. We had delicious fresh Copper River salmon on our last trip. Thinking that I didn’t like crab, I changed my mind when Barb fixed Dungeness crab on one occasion, and we had king crab, together with fresh salmon, taken from the ocean that afternoon, on another occasion.

Ted, David, Jimmy, and Jeff : My sons are all hunters, fishermen, and accomplished cooks. Ted does catered fish fries for different groups. He is an active member of Walleyes Unlimited and walleye is on the menu often at their house. He makes a great variety of very tasty sausages. He is also pretty handy with his turkey deep fryer. We were invited to their house for dinner one night and, when we arrived the turkey was still in the sink. Less than an hour later we were eating a well-done, very succulent, Cajun-flavored turkey. David has a problem with his cholesterol level so he is very careful about what he eats. He does a good job with his rice cooker and crockpot. Recently he informed me that when you cook noodles in the crockpot, it’s not a good idea to add them in the morning and cook them all day, as the result is a pot of glue. Jimmy batches at our house when we travel during the winter. He is becoming quite experienced using the barbecue, and ribs, wild game, and fish are often on his menu. Jeff’s cooking has taken a decidedly southwestern slant since he moved to Arizona. He is quite conscientious about seeing to it that he and his six-year-old son, Brock, eat properly. I think that means not too many meals each week at McDonald’s. When we visited them in Arizona last winter Jeff fixed several very good meals for us, but the best was some spareribs he cooked on the barbecue. He recommends that root beer should always be served with ribs. Lately, Jeff and Ted have been experimenting with dutch oven cookery.

Fred : The father of my children, to whom I was married for 18 years. He was a hunter and terrific fisherman, and taught the kids those skills as well as a love of the outdoors. (Well, I don’t think Barb is much of a hunter, but she does fish.) Fred’s sense of humor often showed up while he was cooking. Thanks to him, my children have impeccable table manners.


Karen : My favorite daughter-in-law, Karen is married to Ted. She can always be depended upon for just about anything. She is the one who always remembers special occasions, and cooks Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, and birthday dinners for Jim and me. Her lasagna is famous. Several of her recipes are included.

Todd : Jim’s son-in-law who is married to his daughter Shannon. Cooking is a shared responsibility in their home and we have shared many good meals with them.

Mary Jo : Jim’s oldest daughter. We always look forward to receiving a box of home-prepared goodies from Mary Jo and her girls at Christmas. These are very much appreciated.

Jordan : Jordan is the oldest daughter of Jim’s son, Bobby, and his wife, Karen. This Karen is my favorite step-daughter-in-law. Bobby spent a lot of years when he was in college working in upscale restaurants in the Tetons and in Missoula, and I have been expecting to receive some great recipes from him –but they haven’t arrived yet.

Veronica, Roxane, and Rebecca ; William and Jaden Paddock; Jordan, Sarai, and Joshua Grace. These are our very special grandchildren on Jim’s side of the family. They aren’t all mentioned elsewhere in this book, but I just couldn’t leave them out.

Alyssa : Barbara’s daughter. Our oldest granddaughter is married to Gary , and now lives in England. She is probably the only person in the entire world who could convince her Grandpa Jim to eat lamb twice in one week–and like it. I have made a special effort to include mashed potatoes in this book just for her.

Jennifer and Casey . Brock, and Ben : Our other grandchildren on my side of the family, together with Alyssa, who are also very special to us.

Arly : My first cousin, very dear friend, and the closest thing I have to a sister. Her mother was my dad’s sister, Jenny. Recipes are exchanged between us on a regular basis.

Alana : Arly’s daughter who holds her own special place in my heart.
She designed a lovely hat, cowboy style with roses, for me to wear to Alyssa’s English wedding! Unfortunately, there just wasn’t room in my suitcase for me to take it along and I had to make do with something less.

Norman : My cousin Myrl’s son, who is a talented musician and also a good cook. He now teaches vocal music at Renton, Washington, but formerly sang with the Frankfurt Opera in Germany. He is another of the special people in my family. (Oh, heck, they are all special.) Myrl is Arly’s brother.

Joy : Married to my cousin, Royce, who is Norman’s brother. Royce, my deceased cousin Ray, and I spent most holidays together when we were growing up as one of our aunts or mothers was most likely cooking dinner for the entire family. We were approximately the same age and had some good times. Arly, Vernon, Gene, and Myrl were the “older” cousins. Norman was the “baby.”

Cloey : Married to my cousin Vernon, son of my dad’s sister, Dora. Everything she cooks is wonderful and always served with joy and laughter. We can always look forward to a good session of dominoes when visiting them.

Annie : Annie was married to my son, David. They remain friends and I am sorry we weren’t able to keep her in the family. Thoughts of us making lefse or antipasto always make me smile.

Aunt Emma: Jim’s aunt on his mother’s side of the family. She and Uncle Ed Schmidt visited us regularly when they were able to travel. They now live in a senior citizen’s facility at Ritzville, Washington. They always directed us to the best places to buy fruit when we traveled through Washington.

Aunt Katy : My children’s aunt, who was married to their uncle, Clarence Bauer, who was their dad’s half brother. Katy raised seven children on a ranch on Warm Springs Creek, without the benefit of running water or electricity. We all loved spending time at the ranch.