Looking Back: Sharing Their Best

The Holy Spirit Catholic Women’s League in Coleman saw many years of service to the community and to the Holy Ghost Church in Coleman.  Whether it was catering to weddings or special events, children’s parties, assisting with catechism, cleaning the church and flowers for same on special occasions, they could be counted on.  I recall that in July of 1971,when Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau flew into the Pass in a Chinook helicopter for a visit and a banquet,  it was the Coleman CWL that put on that special international food fair, dressed in ethnic costumes.

That same CWL compiled a special home-grown cook book that they had published in 1975, some 50 years ago. It is a lovely compilation of recipes, broken into distinct sections and interspersed with the occasional side page that cover things like birthstones and flowers for each month, wedding anniversaries, helpful hints, understanding meat grades and so on. 

To delve into this charming compendium brings a smile as I recognize many names of the contributors like Agnes Montalbetti, Lorraine Aiello, Irene Filafilo, Sophie Baruta, Josephine Kulig, and a whole raft of other amazing women. It is filled with great recipes with a bit of a personal touch, unlike the internet which can overwhelm you with ad choked options. 

So I say just give me the straight goods on  how to do barbecue spareribs okay? Alright then, turn to page 68 where there is a dandy rib sauce combination.  It uses 1/4 tsp ginger, 3/4 cup molasses, 3 tbsp soya sauce, 4 lbs spareribs, 3 tbsp cornstarch, 1/2 tsp dry mustard, 1/2 cup vinegar (whaa!), 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, and here’s the zinger, 1 cup of pineapple juice.  Helen Pickering put all this together with a final note to grill over hot coals, brushing the remainder sauce until well browned.  Gonna hafta do this one for sure.  

There were dozens of business’s that chose to advertise in the booklet and it is a nostalgia trip unto itself to see their ads. Names like Zak’s Meats and Groceries, Leslie Owen Clothing, Natal Forest Products, Blairmore Radio and TV, Phillips Cables, Slide-Vue Confectionery,Liska’s East End General Store, Pass Dairy, Ed’s Little Chief Esso,Graham’s General Store and so on. They are all gone now,  but in their day they,along with dozens of others, were part of a very diverse retail community that made the Pass truly unique.  

The very first recipe in the booklet came from none other than Father Tim Connolly, an Irish priest that is remembered well for his time spent here in the 70’s and his sly humour. His offering (no pun intended) is for something called Gaelic Coffee.  It reads,” Pour Irish Whiskey into a glass. Add percolated coffee. Add sugar and stir. Pour Pass Dairy whipped cream over the back of a spoon so that it floats on the coffee. Do not stir. Sip coffee through the cream”. Percolated coffee evokes nostalgia for many, as it was the standard before that pre-drip business came along. Can you see the top of the percolator bubbling away? And the smell of fresh perked coffee wafting through the house.  No Keurig can do that I’ll tell yah.  

Amazingly enough, Connolly also put in a recipe for Quiche Lorraine! It also gives a plug for Pass Dairy milk as part of the quiche.  Wasn’t it wonderful to have our own dairy and know that the milk was so fresh.  Does anyone remember buying plastic milk tickets from the milk man and putting them on top of empty glass milk bottles outside your door as payment for his delivery.  In winter if you didn’t get to the bottles in time they would freeze and push out the top of the bottle. Milk icicles for the kids! 

There are about ten categories of recipes that covers just about every food type.  I did notice that the ones for cakes, cookies and desserts took up a pretty good section of their total offerings.  

I mused over Mitzi Fekete’s Yugoslav Walnut Roll, Mrs. Truch’s Medivnyk (Honey Cake), Alice Feregotto’s Yum Yum Muffins and Helen Dancoisne’s delicious sounding Jello Raspberry Dessert Loaf.  I will definitely try making T.A. Garvey’s scotch cabbage rolls and Lorraine Aiello’s curried shrimp a la Ceylon!  I think Grace Raffin’s recipe for “Campout Chicken is kind of intriguing. It says place two frying chickens, cut up, in a roaster and add a mixture of: small jar apricot jam,1 pkg. Lipton onion soup mix and an 8 ounce bottle of Miracle French dressing. Cook for 1 1/2 hours at 350.  Wow. Gonna try that too. Incidentally,  French is the very first dressing Kraft ever introduced back in 1925. In 1945 it became Miracle French and had a hint of garlic in it. I am remembering back when there were only three options for salad dressing; French, Thousand Island and Oil and Vinegar.  All in all the booklet is really a treasure of CWL members recipes. There is one special recipe that I absolutely must share in its entirety . In the section labelled Fish and Game I found this unusual note. It is entitled, “How to Preserve a Husband”. And it reads, “ Be careful in your selection; do not choose to young and take only such as have been reared in a good moral climate.  Some insist on keeping them in a pickle, while others keep them in hot water; however, this tends to make them sour, hard and sometimes bitter. Even poor varieties may be made sweet, tender and good when garnished with patience, sweetened with smiles and flavoured with kisses. Then wrap them in a mantle of love, keep warm with a steady fire of domestic devotion and serve with peaches and cream. When thus prepared, they will keep for years”.