Susan Apps-Bodilly
co-written with Jerry Apps
Wisconsin Historical Society Press
First published in 2017
320 pages
ISBN 978–0870208300
buy the book
Old Farm Country Cookbook
Recipes, Menus, and Memories
Return to an era when all food was local and farming was a family-run affair
When Jerry Apps was growing up on a Wisconsin farm in the 1930s and 1940s, times were tough. Yet most folks living on farms had plenty to eat. Preparing food from scratch was just the way things were done, and people knew what was in their food and where it came from. Delicious meals were at the center of every family and social affair, whether it be a threshing-day dinner with all the neighbors, the end-of-school-year picnic, or just a hearty supper after chores were done. As Jerry writes, “For me food will always be associated with times of good eating, storytelling, laughter, and good-hearted fun.”
Inspired by the dishes made by his mother, Eleanor, and featuring recipes found in her well-worn recipe box, Jerry and his daughter, Susan, take us on a culinary tour of life on the farm during the Depression and World War II. Seasoned with personal stories, menus, and family photos, Old Farm Country Cookbook recalls a time when electricity had not yet found its way to the farm, when making sauerkraut was a family endeavor, and when homemade ice cream tasted better than anything you could buy at the store.
Behind the Book
If you are looking for stories about farm life in the 1930’s and 1940’s, as well as recipes from the days of cooking on a wood stove — this book is for you! I worked on this project with my Dad, Jerry Apps.
The stories describe growing up on a farm, eating sauerkraut, strawberry sandwiches, and other tales of work and play in his farm community. I took my Grandmother Eleanor’s white recipe box and translated her recipes for today’s kitchen.
Honors and Recognition
- Midwest Independent Publishers Association Midwest Book Awards Winner
Reviews and Recommendations
“A delightful trip down memory lane, Old Farm Country Cookbook transports readers to an era when the food was local and farming was a family-run affair. Filled with forgotten recipes and thoughtful anecdotes, it’s sure to leave readers with an appetite for headcheese and an appreciation for indoor plumbing.” (Inga Witscher, fourth-generation dairy farmer and host of Around the Farm Table)
“This memoir-cookbook is a warm-hearted yet realistic study of food and farm life in days gone by, a time when the noon meal was called ‘dinner’ and families left the back door unlocked for the ice man … Susan’s family recipes – canned chicken, fresh peas in milk sauce, wild blueberry cobbler – channel beloved flavors and bygone techniques. From ring bologna and whisky slings to feed-sack aprons and green-stained fingers of cucumber pickers, Old Farm Country Cookbook is a literary way-back machine that vividly, lovingly, and deliciously details the food culture of a younger time.” (Terese Allen, Coauthor of The Flavor of Wisconsin and coauthor of the Culinary History Enthusiasts of Wisconsin)
““An interesting, educational, useful and comforting book. Thank You Jerry and Susan for your gift of recall and your writing talents producing books that keep the precious past alive for those who were there and those who wonder.” (Barb Steinhorst, The Larry Meiller Show website, Wisconsin Public Radio)