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SCHEDULE FOR 2007 -
2008
February 9, 2008 -
Saturday afternoon Book Signing at Covered Treasures Book
Store in Monument, CO
December 1 & 2, 2007 - Sale
and Book Signing at Daugherty High School Christmas Craft
Fair.
November 2,3 & 4,
2007
- Sale and Book Signing at the Holiday Food and Gift
Festival at Phil Long Expo in Colorado Springs, CO.
Photos from our 2006 booth...
October 6-7, 2007 - Sale
and Book Signing at the Apple Festival in Cederedge, CO
September 15 - 17,
2007 - Sale and Book Signing at the Rock Ledge Ranch Country
Christmas Craft Fair, Colorado Springs CO
September 3, 2007 -
Labor Day - Sale & Book Signing at the Fountain Fall
Festival in Metcalf Park, Fountain, CO
July 19, 2007 - Book
Signing at Peterson Air and Space Museum
June 15, 2007 - Book Signing
at Peterson Air and Space Museum
The Gazette Telegraph
- Colorado Springs, CO write up on our first book: AS TIME
GOES BY: WW II COOKBOOK
February 22, 2006
sentimental journey
By TERESA J. FARNEY
World War II wasn’t what you would call a
joyful event, but some elements of the time — the music, the
USO entertainers, the pulling together of a nation — evoke a
warm and fuzzy nostalgia, even for people who weren’t around
in the ’40s.
Woody Allen’s “Radio Days” is a love letter to the music and
radio shows of the time. “A League of Their Own” gave a nod
to the women’s baseball league that sprang up in the vacuum
created when the men went off to war.
Radio stations, including KCMN (1530 AM) in Colorado
Springs, still broadcast the Big Band music of Tommy Dorsey,
Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman.
And now, JoAnn Schuh of Colorado Springs,
a former caterer for Benet Hill Monastery, is doing her part
to keep the World War II era alive. Schuh has written a
cookbook, “As Time Goes By WWII Cookbook — More Than Just
Another Cookbook,” a compendium of recipes and song lyrics
from the 1940s, coupled with wartime memories from local
veterans and their families.
The World War II theme,
she says, was inspired by her experiences growing up. The
second youngest of nine children, Schuh had two older
brothers who served in the war.
“I loved to hear their stories about the war as I grew up in
Manitowoc, Wis., surrounded by the war effort from 1941 to
1945,” she says. “When they were away (in the war), my
mother always had music playing on the radio. I grew up
loving big band music and still do.”
Her mother also inspired Schuh’s love of cooking.
“She made dumplings as light as a feathery cloud and as
large as half a dinner plate, swimming in rich brown gravy,”
Schuh says.
After her mother died in 1987, Schuh went through her
belongings and found a lot of recipes from the ’40s and some
of her old 78 rpm records. The idea started to gel: She
would put together a cookbook that featured wartime recipes
with stories from the era sprinkled throughout.
“I wanted to do a cookbook honoring the women who stayed
home, worked in factories and raised the children while the
men were overseas,” she says.
However, Schuh, a single mom, was busy raising her two boys
and three girls, and sometimes working two jobs. Years
passed, and she continued to collect ’40s memorabilia and
music.
But still, there was no time for a cookbook. She was working
as an assistant to Sister Ann Steadman, the prioress at
Benet Hill.
“I did all sorts of things for Sister Ann and the other
sisters who I worked for,” Schuh says. “Several years ago,
Sister Ann wanted to have a special party for one of the
retiring sisters. I suggested we have an afternoon tea.
Sister Ann wondered who would do the cooking and
arrangements. I told her I thought I could do it.”
Schuh went on to cater other occasions at
Benet Hill
Monastery, and then, in June, she retired after 12 years.
She was finally free to turn her attention to the cookbook.
Schuh got input on the book cover from one friend, then
enlisted the help of another, Barbara Lynette, who also
worked at Benet Hill.
“I like her because she is so positive and passionate about
life,” Lynette says. “She draws you in with her enthusiasm
and it just mushrooms. She’s just a good, kind person — a
whole bowl of goodness. You get drawn to her.”
Schuh’s enthusiasm mushrooms over to her cooking, too.
“When it comes to doing a party, no matter how big or small,
JoAnn goes overboard,” says Lynette. “She puts her heart and
soul into it. She’s always got some new idea about how to
get things done to make an event even better.”
The friendship had its other rewards: Lynette is a “computer
whiz” who did all the layout and graphic design in the book.
The 125-plus recipes are arranged on pages with verses from
wartime songs… (trivia, household tips and movie information
from the 1940’s. Scattered throughout the recipe pages are
wartime memories from veterans or their family members.)
“I went to the Senior (Life) Center to talk to anyone who
had memories of World War II,” she says. “Mostly I talked to
the women, but there were a few veterans who told me
stories, too. We’re losing our World War II veterans and
their families, and I wanted to do something to preserve
their memories.”
The recipes are organized into six chapters: Appetizers &
Snacks; Soups & Salads; Main Meals; Casseroles; Side Dishes;
and, Desserts & More.
One page, for example, has a recipe for Great Chicken Salad
along with a verse from Bing Crosby’s “I’ll Be Seeing You.”
On another page, there’s a recipe for Summer Meat Salad and
this bit of trivia: “Nylons for women were unavailable
because the material was used to make parachutes. Women used
eye-liner to paint a seam up the back of their legs to look
as though they were wearing nylons.”
The book is likely to appeal to today’s time-strapped cooks,
Schuh says, because recipes in those days had to be simple.
“During the war there was rationing,” she says. “A lot of
ingredients normally used were not available, like sugar and
butter.”
The recipes also have something for the health-conscious
cook.
“We ate more fruits and vegetables that were grown in
victory gardens at that time,” Schuh says, “so I think our
overall diet was more healthy than today. We didn’t have
fattening snacks or fast food restaurants, so people ate at
home more.”
Following the advice of her lawyer-daughter, Schuh and
Lynette will self-publish the first 500 copies of their
cookbook.
“My daughter felt that if we self-published the first
copies, we could send it to a publisher and maybe stand a
better chance of getting them to pay attention to it,” she
says.
She’s confident there’s a market for the book.
“We know that nostalgia is still alive,” she says. “From
word of mouth we’ve had requests from all over the country
for copies of the book when it’s in print.”
Schuh isn’t sitting around, waiting for publishers to
notice. She and Lynette are already plotting the next
cookbook, based on their Benet Hill experiences: “Secrets of
the Monastery and Recipes, Too.”
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AS TIME GOES BY: WW II COOKBOOK
contains stories, 1940 movie - music trivia, useful tips,
recipes and lots of old photos!
Read what our customers think...
This new cookbook
SECRETS OF THE MONASTERY
was written up in the
Gazette
Telegraph. It
contains:
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Traditional & ethnic recipes
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Cooking
hints
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History, facts trivia from many faiths
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Inspirational quotes
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Humorous stories
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Photographs from around the world
This is
another unique Cookbook that the entire family will enjoy
reading.
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