While Vern Berry was moving with her husband and family to Colorado in 1927, she thought of her ancestors on their pioneer journey from Kentucky to settle in the Heartland—Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa. The image of each woman doing her best to keep her family well fed and healthy in a pleasant home inspired her. Many years later, Vern, with the help of coauthor Connie Heckert, has compiled a wonderful collection of family recipes and history, the story of how those six generations lived and cooked in the Midwest.
Roots and Recipes: Six Generations of Heartland Cookery begins with poignant narratives of the way each couple met, married, and lived their daily lives, often under hardship. These stories verge on romances, so tender and loving are their accounts. And the details make it easy to visualize the past through this family’s eyes.
Sample menus from several generations are included, allowing the reader to see just what kind of dishes would have been prepared daily. And a wide variety of foods is covered, including old-time dishes such as Spoon Bread, Chicken and Dumplings, and Custard Pie as well as the less traditional Salmon Soup, Ham Strata, and Cranberry Candle Salad.
About the Authors
Vern Berry, born in 1906, is a volunteer writer for Manor Newsletter. Her cooking awards include Iowa’s Old-Time Recipe Contest and Senior Winner in the Pillsbury’s Fifth Bake-Off. Widely published in magazines such as
Nostalgia, Weight Watcher’s Magazine, and
Reminisce, Ms. Berry is a Member Emeritus of the National League of American Pen Women.
Connie Heckert is an award-winning author of seven books for children, teens, and adults. Dribbles, her children’s picture book, was selected by the Bureau of Education and Research in Bellevue, Washington, as one of the top 100 books published in 1993. Heckert has published feature articles in publications such as Des Moines Register, The Modern Woodmen, and Correspondent.