Edna Staebler’s Food That Really Schmecks is a collection of anecdotes and recipes for all to enjoy.
Published in 1968, the book takes the readers on a journey through ‘city’ recipes that she grew up with, made by Staebler’s mother and a friend, Bevvy, from the Mennonite community, as well as through a moment in local history.
It also includes a few recipes from people she met or places she visited. Each recipe is portrayed in a warm and familiar way.
This is a cookbook for amateur cooks looking for mostly local recipes who just like to eat food and whose mother was a great cook.
“You probably know more about preparing asparagus than I do,” the first sentence in the asparagus recipe on page 79 reads.
Cooking and baking may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but this cookbook makes it so that nothing needs to be perfect. The book encourages people of all baking and cooking capabilities to give the recipes a try.
The measurements are written from the heart and not in perfect ratio. Staebler encourages people to take their own liberties while using the recipes depicted as a guide with room to alter as necessary. Variations are available and, for recipes like pies, there is a base to add different flavours too.
In place of some recipes and to accompany others, there are anecdotes or stories about a recipe being someone’s favourite or least, who created the recipe or a time that Staebler got to enjoy it herself.
Reading through the cookbook was a lot like being in the kitchen with my Nonna, being told that I needed to add a pinch of salt or when my sister was just supposed to know when the batter looked right to start baking.
You can’t completely master the recipe the exact same way every time, but you have fun making it.
The anecdotes that are included make the readers feel like they are there at the table with Staebler and whoever she was enjoying food with at the time. They make the book feel less serious and therefore less discouraging to try some of the more complicated recipes.
Other cookbooks that are overcomplicated can have readers not wanting to attempt recipes if they believe they will fail.
While there are not many things that I would change about the book as a whole, there are some things that someone approaching the project from a modern mindset might have done differently.
The way that the recipes are written is not easy for people who need exact measurements and ingredient lists. That would turn some readers away from choosing this book for recipe ideas and guidelines.
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