A Cooking Adventure with Debby Miller

Debby Miller is a Trustee on the Schaumburg Twp. Library Board, something she has done for over 35 years! I've had the pleasure of getting to know Debby through her great support of teen services, her fabulous acting in the staff mystery dinners, and of course her love of cookbooks! Her collection is a little larger than mine, so I knew I had to have her guest blog. Plus I knew she has a great sense of humor. Enjoy! - AA

I am what could be called a "foodie." I love to cook and have amassed, over the years, a collection of almost 400 cookbooks of all sorts. Although I have quite a few vintage cookbooks (considering my age), I tend to rely on my old standbys: The Joy of Cooking, in all its iterations, James Beard's fish cookbook, The Victory Garden's veggie book; the Settlement Cookbook and my variety of restaurant cookbooks. I love the old cookbooks, especially those done by church ladies, as they remind me of my mother.


To me, cooking is an adventure. I have a very large freezer and I like to wake up each day, think about what protein I have and create a dinner around it. My fortune is that I have a husband who will eat whatever I serve him.

This is from a 1956 Pet Foods meal planning guide. I liked this one:


PORK CHOPS WITH MILK GRAVY

Roll 4 pork chops 1/2" thick (1 pound) in a mixture of..................
3 T. flour
1 t.salt
1/8 t. pepper

Sprinkle over chops any flour that is left.
Brown on both sides in 1 1/2 T. hot fat.
Add 1 C. water
Cover and cook slowly 30 minutes, or until tender. Remove chops to warm platter.
Stir into skillet 1/2 C. PET evaporated MILK
Heat until steaming hot, but do not boil Serve with the chops. Makes 4 servings.

NOTE: Can you imagine making this today?