Cookbook Kit

This is not about flowers, but I had to include a picture. This is Pink Cloud Gaura from the raised flower bed.

EXCITING NEWS:
Today I received the cookbook kit from Morris Press.
There are so MANY options to choose from.
It will take a while to get it clear in my head before our first cookbook committee meeting.
I know it's hard to get everyone together for a lot of meetings, so the easier I can make it on the committee, the better.
I'll be pouring over the Cookbook Publishing Guide and then type up a page or two with options and prices for our consideration.
They sent 3 sample cookbooks and of course I like the one with all the bells and whistles.
I'm eager to know what the committee will think of the different options.

We can even have a contributor index as well as the recipe index.
Now I'm thinking I may have submitted too many recipes. (grin)
Decisions, decisions.

From the recipes we have so far, I know this is going to be the best recipe book ever!! I just hope no one later says they didn't know about it or they would have submitted some recipes. That happened with our last book, so be sure to tell your friends and relatives to send in their favorites. Or drop them off at the Winton Old Timers reunion on Sunday, Sept. 27.

Probably some people felt they sent in their favorites for the last recipe book. There are a lot of good recipes there also, but how could we justify having repeats?
I don't know how people would feel about that, one way or the other. We'll have a good sized book without repeats.

Too bad our "Hometown Recipes" is out of print. It is a cute book with 9 vintage pictures of Winton.
But, I am sure the committee will do a bang-up job with the new book. It's bound to be a treasured souvenir of the Winton Centennial.

Besides the recipe book, I need to get busy on the next newsletter. It has to be printed before September 30. But, we want to include reports / stories from the Old Timers. It feels like hurry up and wait. Or wait and hurry up.
It's making me nervous. I hope it all gets done in time.

A Re-Bloomer

This is "Autumn Circus" one of the Iris plants I purchased in Cathey's Valley last year. I don't have many re-bloomers, but I am happy with this one , it's very pretty and different.
Today, September 1st (the first Tuesday of the month) was the Winton Historical Society meeting.
Ten people signed up for the cookbook committee. I'm excited about that, things will really begin to happen now!
We will probably use the same publisher that we used last time. I just sent for their cookbook kit; can't wait to check it out and see what's new.
We have collected 424 recipes so far. I hope we get a lot more at the Winton Old Timers on September 27.
All of you Wintonites who haven't sent in your favorite recipes, there's no time like the present.
Send to Winton Historical Society, PO Box 554, Winton, CA 95388 or email wintoncookbook@aol.com
Please include your name and contact information. Thanks.

Overgrown

I never thought all the plants in the raised bed would get so big! Some of them will have to be removed. Joe the gardener will be here Saturday to work up the ground around the patio. Maybe this fall (or winter) a couple of the plants will be transferred there.
I'm still looking for the Red Coreopsis. I should have bought the sorry-looking plant I saw last winter! Oh well. I can always take a chance on that online nursery.
The newly planted Irises still look good, but I will be glad when new leaves start to grow, then I won't worry about them anymore.

The recipe book project is coming along nicely. We now have 410 recipes and I am getting anxious to look into publishing details. It's about time to form a cookbook committee to hash over the many options and make decisions. I'm ready!!
But we did give everyone until the end of December to submit their recipes and there are a lot of people who haven't sent in their favorites yet. We need a minimum of 500 and more would be better. So, send your favorite recipes to wintoncookbook@aol.com

I have another project going. I borrowed all the original newsletters from Andrea and I'm scanning them, making a jpeg out of each page; then insert them into WordPerfect so the pages in each newsletter will be in order and each newsletter will be one document. (And not each page a separate document) After that, each newsletter is made into the PDF format. I'm going to put them on CDs. Sometimes a new member of the Winton Historical Society wants all the back issues of the newsletter and we don't have copies left over. We will have these CDs available at the Winton Old Timers for $5.00 each. They can print out a hardcopy if they want or just read it on their computer.

Finally!

I finally tried that recipe for Cole Slaw that is supposed to taste just like KFC's. I went to Raley's to buy the Tarragon Vinegar that I couldn't find at Save Mart. Also bought Miracle Whip for the recipe, which I never use.
I had visions of doing a 'blind test' by buying some of the Real Thing and letting people have a taste of each.
Well, that wasn't necessary!! It just doesn't taste the same. I think I am through buying ingredients I don't usually use just to try out a new recipe.
Good news though, we now have 350 recipes!! Only 150 more to reach our goal. But if we go over that, so much the better!! No, I didn't submit the Cole Slaw recipe.
We're a little heavy on the sweets, but don't let that stop you from submitting your favorite dessert or candy recipe.

Another Finally here!! Maggie's litter box is no longer in my bathroom. I had cat doors installed about a year and a half ago, so I could put the litter box in the garage. I kept putting it off, thinking Maggie might forget where I moved it to and would go somewhere else in the house.
Then, one day I noticed she wasn't using the litter box any more. She prefers to go outside!! Wow! what an opportunity. I put the litter box in the garage and she still doesn't use it. Hooray!
She's a great cat! Here she is, in a playful mood.

Koehn Family Recipe Book

I just acquired this recipe book. It's packed full of good recipes.
These are from the Roy and Edna Koehn family of Winton.
They are all good cooks and they included all their favorites here.
I can't wait to try some of them.
Some of the recipes will be submitted to the Winton Centennial Cookbook,
but if you want ALL of the recipes,
contact Gail Iken at 209-394-7026.
This book originally sold for $7.00, but is now going for $5.
It has 106 pages of recipes of every category.
Sprial bound and published by the Morris Press Cookbooks.
It's a bargin to be sure.

Today

My sister, Carolyn and I went to the fund raiser for Grace Home in Livingston today. It started at 9 a.m., but we were there even earlier. We wanted to browse through the old books and get first chance at them. I was only looking for 2 particular books, so of course I didn't find them. Carolyn bought some books from the 'yard sale.' There was a lot to look at, but I only bought something to eat. The above picture is the ice cream machine. It sounds like a "Poppin' Johnny" one of the John Deere machines. The man had to oil it to keep it running smoothly.
It certainly made very good ice cream!!
We visited with quite a few people and had a good time. Next year, we may not go so early. And maybe it won't be so hot as it was today.
The two books I am looking for are, "Favorite Recipes From Our Best Cooks, Cookbook" and "The New Cookbook, Favorite Recipes of Our Best Cooks" by Women of the Atwater First Church of God. I do have a zerox copy of that one, but if I found an original, that would be good to have.
As you can guess, we are hot on the trail for recipes for the Winton Centennial Cookbook. We have permission from some relatives to submit a few of their recipes in their name. So, that is very helpful. We're hoping for 500 recipes, it's hard to get that many.