Before there was the Internet or TV networks devoted entirely to food, there was the annual Sioux City Journal cookbook.
"Every September, we'd ask readers to send in their favorite recipes," longtime Journal food editor Marcia Poole remembered. "Being selected to share their family recipes in the cookbook was like winning the lottery for many home cooks."
That's because the cookbook -- which was published as a newspaper insert from the late 1950s until 2000 -- became a keepsake that was continually referenced.
"Unlike the cookbooks that were left on coffee tables or on bookshelves, our cookbooks were used a lot," said Poole, now director of the Sioux City Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center.
After all, many of the recipes were tested by Iowa State University Extension Office nutritionists and winners were chosen by such national celebrities as Abigail Van Buren ("Dear Abby"), country music singer Janie Fricke and food writers Jane and Michael Stern ("Roadfood").
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"Winners might receive a small cash prize or a gift certificate," Poole recalled. "But the important thing was getting your photo and recipe in the newspaper."
The recipes -- which were categorized as hot dishes, soup/salads and desserts, among other designations -- offered a reflection of the times.
"Let me tell you, there were plenty of recipes for Jell-O salads and loosemeats," Poole said with a laugh. "After all, that's what we ate in the Midwest back then."
In subsequent years, categories for microwave, bread and low calorie options were added, all under the watchful eyes of Poole, Food section editor, and recipe coordinator Mary Miller, who typed in all the mostly handwritten recipe entries.
"(Mary) was the heart of our annual cookbooks and she was often the one who caught the big problem with the recipe," noted Poole, who joined The Journal in 1980. "(For instance) the rhubarb pie recipe with the crust that said it needed three pounds of lard. Three pounds of lard? Yeah, Mary saved us from total embarrassment on that one."
Perusing the 1986 pullout titled "A Country Cookbook," readers could learn how to make Mini Cheeseburger Roulettes, Saucy Ham 'N Beef Noodles and "Dream Steak" (hamburger mixed with Worcestershire sauce, a package of dry onion soup mix and canned mushrooms) while the 1988 "I Can't Believe It's Nutritious" edition offered recipes for fruit smoothies, veggie stir fries and "mock chicken loaf" (made with one pound of ground beef instead of chicken).
Poole can't help but smile at some of the recipes.
"Siouxland is represented by an extraordinary number of cultures and ways of life," she said. "Traditional recipes kept those cultural ties alive for families who've recently come to the area (as well as) for families who've live here for many generations."
Still, every good thing must come to an end. Poole suggested the end of The Journal cookbook came, in large, due to the downturn of home cooking.
"More women were entering the work force while fast food and convenient food began to predominate," she explained. "Meat and potatoes cooked in a cast iron skillet (began to seem like) an exotic meal for younger generations."
But those suddenly old-fashioned meat-and-potato recipes (along with the personal stories attached to them) helped generations of Siouxland residents dig deep roots into family and community traditions.
"People may have read the Journal cookbooks for the recipes," Poole said, "but I really loved writing the first-person stories behind the families'Â favorite dishes."
As she glanced through years and years of Journal cookbooks, Poole said she learned an important lesson.
"Food nurtures more than our bodies," she said. "It tells us who we are (as people) and records the memories (that we share) with family, friends and community."
