Tastes and Treasures by Historical League, Inc.

Arizona, the 48th state, admitted to the Union on Valentine’s Day, 1912. The capital city is Tucson, and it is quickly surpassing Nevada, as the number one state in growth, and why not??

The weather is wonderful, hot summers, mild winters, forests, mountain ranges, home to the Grand Canyon, Indian Reservations, and The Phoenix Zoo, and the beautiful Sedona, with it’s art colonies, Arizona has much to offer.

Arizona now has one more thing to add to her crowning achievements…"Tastes and Treasures.”

I happened to be wandering around the internet and came across the site for the Historical League of Arizona where they were featuring their new cookbook, “Tastes and Treasures.” I was very interested in the cookbook because it was the 2007 regional winner of the Tabasco Awards given by the McIlhenny Co. for the most outstanding Community Cookbook. That automatically piqued by interested because I love to collect Community Cookbooks. Usually, the books that win these awards are the best of the best, and this book proved to be no exception. I immediately looked at the book and knew that FRP (Favorite Recipes Press) had to have a hand in this book. The book just had “the look.” FRP produces most of the Junior League Cookbooks in the United States. I was fortunate enough to have taken their Cookbook University Course, in Nashville (unfortunately, I found out about them after I published my cookbook.) The do a wonderful job with the organizations that they work with, and every cookbook is a work of art.

Tastes and Treasures was designed to be a “storytelling cookbook of the Arizona Historical Society.” As with most community cookbooks, the recipes reflect a particular group of people or segment of the population. In this cookbook, divided into four main sections, “Northern Arizona Treasures”, “Central Arizona Treasures”, “Southern Arizona Treasures”, and Lunch at the Museum.” Within those sections are recipes from Inns, Hotels, Restaurants,
Arizona Companies and the museum itself. While there is a very heavy Hispanic and Indian Population in Arizona, I thought that the book maintained an excellent balance of recipes, not favoring one type of cuisine over another, and giving the purchaser a wonderful array of recipes to choose from, to say I was more than pleasantly surprised would be an understatement.

Contents:

Acknowledgment
Early Arizona Hospitality
Let’s Make History
Welcome to Arizona Historical Society Museum at Papago Park
Meet the Historical League
About the Book

Table of Contents:

Northern Arizona Treasures:
Cameron Trading Post – Cameron
The Cottage Place Restaurant – Flagstaff
El Tovar – Grand Canyon
Garland’s Oak Creek Lodge – Oak Creek
Hassayampa Inn – Prescott
La Posada Hotel – Winslow

Central Arizona Treasures:
Camelback Inn, a JW Marriott Resort & Spa – Paradise Valley
El Chorro Lodge – Paradise Valley
Four Peaks Brewing Company – Tempe
Hermosa Inn – Paradise Valley

Southern Arizona Treasures:
Arizona Inn – Tucson
The Copper Queen Hotel – Bisbee
Rancho de La Osa – Sasabe

What is a Historymaker?

Lunch at the Museum

Cookbook Development Committee
Historic Property Contributors
Recipe Contributors and Testers
Index
Order Information

The beautiful photographs of the recipes in the book, balanced by the incredible history lessons, for me make it exactly what I look for in a cookbook. I want to be able to read it like a novel, yet be intrigued enough to try the recipes. I think my favorite part of the book was the chapter entitled The Historymakers. The Historymakers Gala and Recognition Program is a program that honors men and women who have succeeded in many different fields, such as arts, athletics, education, and still maintain their ties to Arizona. Some very recognizable names appear here; Erma Bombeck, Bil Keane, Barry Goldwater, just to name a few. They (or their families) have also contributed recipes to the book…what a treasure chest of recipes are included.

Some of the recipes included in the book are Mesquite Grilled Filet Mignon with Garlic Butter, Lemon Soufflé Pancakes, El Chorro Lodge Famous Sticky Buns, Pork Chop with Chorizo Black Bean Stuffing, Chruscikis, just to name a few.

If you are a cookbook collector, or a history buff, make sure you purchase this book, you won't be disappointed.

Recipe from the Book: I always choose one recipe from each book I review.

The recipe I chose from Taste and Treasures was the Southwestern Breakfast from the Arizona Inn Breakfast Menu. I selected it because the picture of the recipe intrigued me, it was so colorful, it almost look like all the colors of the Southwest, bright with yellows, reds, and greens…it literally look good enough to eat!


Southwestern Breakfast

4 blue corn tortilla, heated
4 (6-inch) flour tortillas, heated
1 ½ cups refried beans, heated
Tomatillo Sauce (see below)
8 eggs
1-½ cups (6 ounces) shredded Cheddar Cheese
4 scallions, chopped
1 cup chopped tomatoes
4 chorizo links
4 lime slices
4 Serrano chiles

Place one blue corn tortilla, one flour tortilla, and one-fourth of the refried beans next to each other on one of four serving plates. Ladle the tomatillo sauce over the tortillas. Fry the eggs in the skillet to the desired degree of doneness and place one fried egg on top of each tortilla. Sprinkle with the cheese, scallions and tomatoes. Cook the sausage inks in a skillet until cooked through. Place a sausage link, lime slice and Serrano chile on each plate.
Serves 4

Tomatillo Sauce

12 small tomatillos
1 white onion, chopped
1-tablespoon olive oil
¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon ground cumin
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons water
Salt and pepper to taste

Remove the husks from the tomatillos and chop coarsely. Sauté the onion in the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until soft but not brown. Add the tomatillos, cilantro, coriander, cumin, garlic and water. Cook for 7 to 10 minutes or until tender. Process in a blender until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.


Book Title: Tastes and Treasures
Author: Historical League, Inc.
Category: Community Cookbooks
ISBN: 0-9768363-0-0
Publisher: Favorite Recipes Press (FRP)
Publishers Address: P.O. Box 305142
Nashville, Tennessee 37230
Website: http://www.frpbooks.com/
Published: 2007
Edition: 1st
Description: Hard Cover
Illustrations: No
Photographs: Black and White Historical Photo, Color Photos of Recipes
Price $24.95
Reviewed by: Elise Feiner
Date of Review: January 11, 2009


To order Tastes and Treasures click the link at the top of the blog...