Jeri sent me a lovely old fund raiser cookbook from Landgrove, Vermont published in 1963. The cutest thing about this cookbook is there is a hand-drawn map of the town with a key indicating who lives where, and each recipe has a drawing of the contributor's house. It's a very small town, so they can get away with this, but it makes the book so special.

There aren't a lot of recipes, but they are all very interesting, and many I had not seen before, which considering how much I study recipes, is saying a lot. For example, the first recipe I looked at was for pot roast, calling for not just a cup of red wine, but also 2 tablespoons of whiskey, and 2 tablespoons of dry sherry.

Here's their version of stuffed green peppers, just a little different from the usual. I think skinning them is a good idea because sometimes the skin's a little tough after the peppers are cooked.

Chilies Dulce (Costa Rica)

4 large green peppers (or turned red from ripening)
1 tbsp. oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp. butter
1 lb. chopped chuck roast
1/4 cup raisins
1 egg, beaten
1 can tomato soup
salt and pepper to taste

Rub the whole peppers with oil and heat in the oven until the skin slips off easily. Brown onion in butter. Add the chuck and brown. Add raisins. Pack this mixture into the peppers. Dip the peppers in egg and brown in butter. Place in a baking dish and pour tomato soup over them. Bake 1/2 hour at 350 degrees, until heated through. Serve with steamed rice.

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I think this next one is from the local inn. From the title, I get the feeling it was frequently requested.

THE Casserole
1 lb. hamburger
2 small cans tomato sauce
16 oz. package wide noodles
1 pint sour cream
1 pint cottage cheese
1 large package cream cheese
3 small onions, chopped
1/4 cup melted butter
salt and pepper

Brown hamburger in a skillet. Add salt and pepper and tomato sauce. Cream together the sour cream, cheeses, and onion. Cook noodles and drain. Salt and pepper them. In a large casserole, put half of the noodles in the first layer, pour over half the butter. Cover with cheese mixture and rest of noodles. Pour the rest of the butter over the noodles and cover with a mixture of the hamburger and tomato sauce. Heat in a moderate oven (350 degrees) for 30 minutes. Serves 6.

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Here's a recipe for cucumbers served hot. The contributor's last name was "Comfort."

Cucumbers Odessa

4 large cucumbers, sliced 3/4 inch thick
1 large onion, minced
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
Small clove mashed garlic
1 tbsp. butter
1 1/2 cups meat stock
a roux of 1 tsp butter, 1 tsp flour
1 small container sour cream

Brown the onions, mushrooms, and garlic in butter. Add cucumbers and stock. Thicken with a roux (melt the butter, stir in the flour, cook a few seconds). Simmer gently until tender. Add salt and pepper and the sour cream. Bring to a boil and serve.

Carrots

Melt 2 tbsp. butter in a sauce pan. Add 4 cups shredded raw carrots and 1 tbsp. grated onion. Salt and pepper to taste. Add 1/2 cup dry white wine. Cover and cook over low heat about 15 minutes, until carrots are tender. Chopped parsley optional. This is a fine change and good.

Yes, that last sentence is in the recipe.

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Change of subject: did you see Paula Deen on the Dr. Oz show today? He was challenging her to make more healthy versions of two of her favorite recipes - fried chicken and macaroni and cheese. The oven-baked chicken was a success, but the mac and cheese, made with whole grain pasta was extremely dry, and they had a good time demonstrating this - hockey pucks. But like Paula said, "Ah cain fix they-ut."