Okay, let me admit up front, the headline is a total lie, but I thought it was a good intro for today’s cookbook. I picked up Dorothy Horn’s Christmas Treats Cook Book from Guam U.S.A. during this weekend’s monthly quarter sale. Okay, I guess the title isn’t technically being deceptive. It was indeed penned by Dorothy Horn. It does contain dozens of recipes for Christmas treats. Oh, and, Dorothy is famous as a Guam based food writer. In fact, I’ve been told by a friend from Guam, that Dorothy’s SPAM cookbook is a must (sigh, something else to look for).
But make no mistake, this is not a Guamanian Christmas treat cookbook. It is not a bad Christmas treat cookbook, but it was not what I was expecting. Okay, the bad news is out of the way … there are no low carb cakes & donuts here and there are preciously few Guamanian recipes.
Ah, but it IS a pretty fair little Christmas cookbook.
I Picked four recipes to share.
These Stained Window Cookies are a version of a cookie we make almost every year in our house, but we call them Cathedral Windows. The “stained glass” effect is due to the multi-colored marshmallows that comprise the bulk of the cookie. They are pretty and delicious but alas, around here brightly colored marshmallows seem to have been forever replaced with pastel. Still nice, but not like they used to be.
This page was a two-fer, mostly because they are at such widely divergent sides of the spectrum of reality.
ITALIAN RUM CAKE … okay, I can see that as a holiday treat. But on the same page with SCRAPPLE? I picked these just because of the complex association of these two recipes in close proximity. Must be a Guam thing.
This last recipe was chosen just for the name … who could resist something with a name like AUNT BEAT’S BORSHCH? Get it? Beat’s? Borshch was her spelling, not mine. Who knows, it might be Aunt Beat’s spelling.
So, in short, if you want a Guamanian cookbook, get another one. Sure, I’d still like to get my hands on that SPAM cookbook but for a quarter I guess this one will do.
I’ve mentioned my “must buy” categories before. Texas is one. Signed is another. I guess I don’t need to add sesquicentennial to the list since that would be Texas but there are others .. I think I reviewed a Canadian one a while back. Hmmmm. Anyway, picked up The Texas Celebrity Cookbook and … yay, it is signed by one of the compilers, Chris Farkas. The other compiler was Russell Gardner. As is common with anything “celebrity” they asked around and got quite a number of Texas celebrities to send in recipes, whether they still live there or not. Lady Bird Johnson was always a good choice. Football players and famous coaches, mayors and senators, representatives and newsworthy people. The list is way too long to give but I’ll share a few that struck my fancy.
Like — Dave Ward. If you haven’t lived in Houston for like the past 50 years the name means nothing but Dave has been a news anchor on Houston’s channel 13 for almost 50 years. He still is, although his health has suffered a bit in recent years he’s still trying. I don’t know if his Green Grape Delight has added to his longevity but here it is for you to check out.
Famed heart surgeon Denton Cooley included a Crab Curry sort of dish … you know, it looks pretty heart healthy too. Why would I include this? Easy, I went to school with his daughter. I also mentioned him in my other blog recently over at 
Celebrate San Antonio, A Cookbook was published for the Sesquicentennial by the San Antonio Junior Forum, whatever that is. It is an impressively done hard cover book … very nicely done. If you are interested in the history of San Antonio it has it all, from the early Canary Islander immigrants through the republic and statehood. Yes, Canary Islanders. Not many people realize that many of the flavor combinations common in TexMex came from these very settlers. Don’t take it from me, read the book.
TCC-GUY 