IHAVE FAVORITE cookbooks, some are basic or expanded from famous chefs or restaurants, some are regional collections, some from small towns, as our own NorthfieldThe following recipes come from 2 volumes personally written by a friend who was welcoming to me when we moved to Yorktown Virginia in 1980. She wrote for a local paper, the Yorktown Crier. We had lots of things in common. She was an artist and a mother that had to cook faster than her boys could eat! Joan McCormick wrote and illustrated the cookbooks which were personal, practical and fun. I think of her often. Her voice is in her recipes.

Pork Barbeque

1 pork roast, either a fresh ham or a pork shoulder. Put roast in a large pot with enough water to cover. Add a chopped onion, a stalk of celery and a few peppercorns. Simmer slowly until the roast is very tender and about to fall off the bone, at least three hours.

Remove roast from broth, cool enough so you don’t scald your fingers and cut or shred the meat and put in a large baking dish.

Cover the meat with the following sauce;

1 cup bottled Barbeque sauce 1/2 cup soy sauce 1/4 cup white vinegar 1 teaspoon liquid smoke 1 teaspoon seasoned pepper

1/8 teaspoon tobacco sauce

1 tablespoon cornstarch, mixed with a little broth

1 teaspoon ginger

Dilute this sauce with about 1/4 cup broth from the pot that the roast was cooked in. Pour over meat and bake at 300 degrees for at least one hour. If you have a slow cooker, you can put this on low and leave it all day.

Mashed Potato Casserole

When I mash potatoes, I mash twice as many as I need. I put the leftover cold potatoes in the refrigerator.

1 bowl cold mashed potatoes (about 6)

1 egg 1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1 8-oz carton sour cram

1 Tablespoon finely shopped parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

Stir potatoes until they are not so stiff. Add beaten egg, and beat well. Fold in the rest of the ingredients. Put in a greased baking dish, and sprinkle top with bread crumbs and dabs of margarine. Sprinkle a little paprika on top. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes Serves 6 to 8

Spiced Peaches I probably should have a big Caesar salad, but I enjoy the taste of spiced peaches, especially with chicken.

1 30-oz. can peach halves 1/4 cup cider vinegar 1/2 cup sugar 12 whole cloves

1 2” cinnamon stick

Two days before serving drain the peach liquid into a sauce pan. Add the vinegar, sugar and spices. Stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Add peaches; simmer 10 minutes. Chill. That’s it. And everyone will be amazed how well you”can.”

Cheese Cake Pie

Graham Cracker Crust

3 Tablespoons powdered sugar

1/2 stick margarine

18 Graham crackers, finely crushed

Mix the sugar and margarine with the crackers. Place in a 9” pie pan and smooth out to the edges. Bake at 325 degrees for 5 minutes.

Filling

4 packages of 3-oz. size cream cheese, softened

2 eggs beaten 1/2 cup sugar Dash cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

Blend all the above ingredients together until smooth. Pour into pie crust. Bake at 300 degrees for 20 minutes. Carefully remove from oven and spoon over the top the following topping which as been mixed together

Topping: 2 cups sour cream 1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Be very careful when you spoon the topping. Bake at 300 degrees 5 minutes. This sould be made at least 6 hours before you plan to eat it. Chill pie in the refrigerator. It is really best if made the day before. Don’t count the calories

Raspberry Glazed Strawberry topping

1 package frozen raspberries 1 tablespoon cornstarch 1 tablespoon apricot preserves

1 pint fresh strawberries

Drain the liquid from the raspberries. Stir liquid into cornstarch until smooth. Mix raspberries, preserves and cornstarch. Boil 1 minute until it thickens. Chill. Fold in the strawberries. Pour over each slice of cheese cake serves 8 to 10

The cheese cake is so tasty, that you don’t have to make the topping, But, if you do like a fruit topping, this one is absolutely yummy. This can also be used on angel food cake, pound cake or desert crepes.

Note from pgg: the frozen raspberries “package” probably meant 10 oz. square box that many frozen foods came in at that time, rather than the bags that we purchase today. Therefore, you may have to adjust the amount of cornstarch used for thickening. When making French Strawberry Pie, the proportion is 1 cup of liquid to 3 tablespoons of cornstarch boiled with a portion of the berries and sugar.