Hungry for More...

My grandma Draeger passed away when I was 12 years old. About 15 years ago, I found myself (a new mother) longing to know more about Grandma Draeger. I'm positive that without the cookbook project, I would never have "connected" with her again, so the resulting book is a treasure to me. It is a cookbook like no other, filled with recipes, yes, but also with people's funny, touching stories of Grandma and the farm, and childhood memories of her four daughters and one son. We sold 300 copies of that book, and it is now (sadly) out of print.

I decided two summers ago (at our family reunion) that it was time for another cookbook! I got the ball rolling last summer, and our treasure rolled off the presses in June of this year. The title is, "Hungry for More: A Second Helping of Draeger Descendant Favorites With a Dash of Family History," and it, too, is special. Instead of a tribute to Grandma Draeger, however, this one pays tribute to her offspring (my mom and her siblings). Cousins sent recipes, along with memories of Uncle Bill, Aunt Charlotte, Aunt Pat, Aunt Mary, and of course, Aunt Elsie. Here's an excerpt (from my cousin, Jeanie):

"We lived on a gravel road years ago, and once, for a family reunion picnic, Mom had baked a cake with white frosting. She placed the sheet cake safely in the back of the station wagon, which was filled up with Carlin kids. Well, it was a hot summer day, and we took the back roads to our cousins. When we got there and went to unload our contribution to the dessert table, our white cake had a bit of a grey color to the frosting….what to do?! Our thrifty Mother said, “Go get the Nestle's Quick cocoa mix,” and she then did a little sprinkling over the top of the cake. And guess what? The cake with the cocoa sprinkled frosting was GREAT!"

So, you get the idea. Even if you don't like to cook, Hungry for More... is a good read. I'm sorry I don't have any extra copies left! :(