Three Women in the Kitchen

The "Gifts in Good Taste" series kicks off with my Aunt Nan's Sherried Pecans. Wouldn't these be great on a holiday charcuterie board? Make a batch for the holidays and make someone smile 🙂

Sherried Pecans Glazed with sherry, sugar, and cinnamon, pecans halves are gently roasted to create an ideal food gift for the holidays. Download recipe!

Here's an easy side dish to make for Thanksgiving. A twist on classic sweet potatoes.

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Maple Vinaigrette Sweet potatoes, celery, and onions create a delicious autumn or winter side dish. Download recipe!

My Pumpkin Cheesecake Tart is a delicious, light twist to a favorite Thanksgiving ingredient. And the plus to this recipe is you can make it days in advance and store in the refrigerator.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Tart This twist on a classic Thanksgiving dessert will be a delicious addition to your holiday menu. My mother’s recipe box is a treasure. Just flipping through its cards while sipping a cup of coffee is a comforting activity for me. I’ll often find a recipe that trips a memory or makes me say someth...

Need a side dish idea to bring to your Thanksgiving dinner? Who doesn't love a good spoon bread? It's an economical side to bake at home (saves oven space for your host). https://www.threewomeninthekitchen.com/post/easy-spoon-bread-casserole.

Easy Spoon Bread Casserole Featuring sweet cornbread mix plus creamed and whole-kernel corn, Spoon Bread Casserole is an economical and simple dish to bring to your Thanksgiving gathering. If you received a late invitation to Thanksgiving dinner and are now scrambling to come up with a dish to bring, breathe easy my friend be...

Do you have your turkey yet? This is the week to purchase your frozen bird. Remember to allow enough time for the turkey to safely thaw in your refrigerator. Plan 24 hours for every 5 pounds of turkey. This doesn't include time for wet or dry brine, so build that into your schedule. Have more questions? Butterball's Turkey Talk Line has the answers. https://www.butterball.com/how-to

Here's a tip for you as we count down to Thanksgiving. This week, gather your recipe cards. This will help you to build your shopping list. And if you're growing tired of the same cranberry sauce, try my Lightened Up Waldorf that features crisp apples and sweet dried cranberries. It's a nice change!

Lightened-Up Waldorf Salad A creamy yogurt dressing updates this familiar salad of diced apples, celery, pecans, and cranberries. Download this FREE, simple recipe!

Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away! Now is the time to get out your china, crystal, and silverware. Make certain they are clean/polished and there is enough for your guest list. Where do those dessert forks disappear to??

Mashed potatoes. They're a staple side for many holiday tables. If you're looking for a new spin on a classic, check out these Horseradish Mashed Potatoes. Sour cream tones down the fire but make no mistake; these aren't your Grannie's spuds.

Horseradish Mashed Potatoes A familiar side dish of spuds gets a spicy kick from prepared horseradish and sour cream.

Today's weather is a little cooler, seasonal for November. That means soup for lunch! Grateful I have a bit left of my delicious Butternut Squash Soup. Give this recipe a try!

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup Sweet autumn squash is the star to this creamy, dairy-free recipe. A perfect Thanksgiving first course. Grab the FREE recipe NOW!

Every home cook should have a beef roast recipe. My Beefy Beef Round Roast features a funky dried mushroom rub that lends so much flavor to compliment the meat. Check it out!
https://www.threewomeninthekitchen.com/post/best-bottom-round-roast

Wrapping up a basket for St. Louis Artists' Guild and it’s upcoming Collectors Choice fundraiser. Hope it will make a coffee lover happy!

Here’s a good tip. Also soaking slices of onion in cold water can help reduce the “bite.”

Oompa bah, Oompa bah, it's Oktoberfest season! Dig into this German favorite, brats and sauerkraut! For a great day trip from St. Louis, Hermann, Missouri celebrates Oktoberfest each weekend this month. Check it out.

Bratwurst Braised in Sauerkraut Apple, brown sugar, nutmeg, onion, and caraway seeds balance the tart sauerkraut in this authentic dish. Download the FREE recipe now!

Have you seen this month's newsletter? We're toasting roasts all month, and the newsletter has recipes for classic roast chicken, a holiday pork roast, a roasted sweet potato and Pierogi side. Plus a quick pumpkin spice coffee recipe to start your morning! Check your inbox for details. Not yet a subscriber? Click below👇
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Winner, winner chicken dinner! Wouldn't a roast chicken be the perfect thing for your Sunday dinner tonight? Here's a simple, classic recipe for you. https://www.threewomeninthekitchen.com/post/deb-s-favorite-roast-chicken-recipe

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October is . While so many people are now going to the Internet to find recipes for cooking a dish or a full meal, we encourage you to pull out an actual cookbook and try a new recipe!

In honor of National Cookbook Month, we highlight Irma Starkloff Rombauer, author of one of the world’s most popular and most published cookbooks, The Joy of Cooking (1931). Irma was born October 30, 1877. She was the youngest child of a well-off St. Louis doctor, Max von Starkloff and his second wife Emma Kuhlmann. Her father, Dr. Starkloff, was the Health Commissioner for St. Louis, Missouri, from 1895 to 1903 and from 1911 to 1933. He is noted for closing all public venues and prohibiting public gatherings of more than 20 people in October 1918 during the 1918 influenza pandemic. His actions are credited as being an early instance in modern medicine of social distancing. Irma and her family lived in Carondelet, a former suburb of St. Louis, which had been annexed by the city less than a decade before Irma’s birth. When Irma was 12, her father took a government posting in Bremen, Germany, where the family remained for five years. In late summer 1894, the von Starkloffs returned to Missouri, settling in fashionable South St. Louis.

Upon returning to St. Louis, Irma took fine arts classes at Washington University in 1897. In 1899, Irma married Edgar Rombauer, a lawyer whose father was a St. Louis judge who had clerked for Supreme Court Justice John Harlan. The couple's first child, Roland, was born in 1900 but died before his first birthday. The two children who followed lived to adulthood: Marion was born in 1903, and Edgar Jr. (known as "Put") was born in 1907. During the first 30 years of her marriage, Irma was involved in civic and cultural organizations, and she eventually became president of The Wednesday Club. She enjoyed entertaining as a hostess, arranging luncheons for the women's associations to which she belonged to more formal dinners for civic leaders and political associates of her husband, who became Speaker of the St. Louis House of Delegates. She was a competent cook, but was an excellent baker, making and decorating decadent cakes.

Irma’s husband Edgar committed su***de after a severe bout of depression during 1930, widowing Irma at age 52. Their children encouraged her to compile her recipes and thoughts on cooking to help her cope with her loss. Irma was emotionally shattered and financially strained with no job and only a modest savings account. Irma spent much of that summer in Michigan, creating the first drafts that would later become The Joy of Cooking. During the autumn of 1930, Irma went to the A.C. Clayton Printing Company, a printer for the St. Louis shoe manufacturers. She paid them $3,000 to print 3,000 copies of The Joy of Cooking: A Compilation of Reliable Recipes with a Casual Culinary Chat” in November 1931. The Saint Louis Post-Dispatch covered the book's 1931 independent launch with a positive feature article in which the reviewer wrote “It does not insult my intelligence.” 

The success of the initial Joy encouraged Irma to seek an established publisher for an expanded edition. For several years, her inquiries brought only rejection letters. It was in 1935—on the third submission—that her manuscript was accepted by the Bobbs-Merrill Company, an Indianapolis-based firm. The second edition was published in 1936. It sold over 52,000 copies. between its initial publication and 1942.

When Irma self-published the first Joy of Cooking during the Great Depression, the book focused on cooking for the purpose of entertaining. Throughout the next 88 years, subsequent editions of Joy were amended to echo the culinary climate of that age. For example, in the 1943 third edition–known as the wartime edition–Irma included information in the book to help cooks cope with rationing, such as ways to replace or stretch meat and sugar. The third edition was revised and reprinted in 1946 to eliminate the rationed amounts in the recipes.

By the mid-1940s, The Joy of Cooking truly became an unmitigated success. Irma had become a national celebrity, a status in which she delighted. But by the time the 1946 edition was printed, Irma was nearing 70, and her health was beginning to decline. She then turned over future revisions of The Joy of Cooking to her daughter, Marion Rombauer Becker. The fourth edition was released in 1951. In keeping up with the times, this edition included a section on frozen foods and the largest selection of stuffed tomato recipes in any edition—23 variations, hot and cold! This edition also included new chapters on pressure cookery and electric blenders.

On February 23, 1956, Irma received a Founder's Day Award from Washington University, where she had attended classes in 1897, although she did not complete a degree program.

On October 14, 1962, Irma died in St. Louis, Missouri. She was 84 years old. Irma was cremated and her ashes were buried here at Bellefontaine Cemetery and Arboretum. During that year, a revised fifth edition of Joy of Cooking was published. This edition was released without her daughter Marion's consent. Subsequent releases of the book during 1963 and 1964 were essentially massive corrections, and Marion arranged for the publisher to exchange copies of the 1962 edition for later corrected versions upon request. Marion wanted this edition to be an American kitchen reference, the go-to source for culinary knowledge. New chapters focused exclusively on ingredients and cooking methods. There were also some European dishes included, like paella, pesto, lasagna, and tacos.

In 1975, the sixth edition of The Joy of Cooking was released. Irma’s grandson (Marion’s son), Ethan, became a contributor to this edition. Famous American cooking teacher, author, and television personality Julia Child gave it a glowing review: “It is and should continue to be a staple in any good culinary collection because Irma’s voice is there with you in the kitchen giving guidance and encouragement.” This is the first edition to give directions for making tofu as well as other do-it-yourself projects like walnut catsup and Worcestershire sauce. Also included were international recipes including West African beef stew, Ghanian peanut soup, and hummus.

The seventh edition released in 1997 included a new kind of recipe for the first time: those created by paid food professionals. The new edition kept the concise style of its predecessors, but it eliminated the conversational first-person narration. Much of the edition was ghostwritten by teams of expert chefs. This version is comprehensive; however, it no longer contained much information about ingredients or frozen desserts. Upon its publication during January 1997, the edition was titled "The All-New, All-Purpose Joy of Cooking". During November of that same year, it was reissued with the title “The 1997 Joy of Cooking”. In 1998, Irma was posthumously inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

In 2006, the 75th anniversary edition was released, containing 4,500 recipes that reproduced much of Irma’s original style. This version removes some of the professionalism of the 1997 edition and returns many simpler recipes and recipes assisted by ready-made products such as cream of mushroom soup and store-bought wontons. This eighth edition also reinstated the cocktail section and the frozen desserts section and restored much of the information that was omitted from the seventh edition. The edition included a new index section named "Joy Classics" that contains 35 recipes from 1931–1975 and a new nutrition section.

Irma was portrayed by Frances Sternhagen in the 2009 film Julie & Julia. Julia Child learned to cook from The Joy of Cooking and Gourmet magazine. She enjoyed "'Mrs. Joy's Book" and believed it taught her the basic principles of cooking.

In 2012 the Library of Congress named The Joy of Cooking as one of the 88 books that shaped America.

In 2019, the ninth edition was released by Irma’s great-grandson John Becker and his wife Megan Scott. This version of Joy of Cooking included 600 new recipes, plus updates and improvements to the existing 1,200 pages and over 4,000 recipes. The updates kept in line with Joy's long history reflecting the current, modern home. It included consideration for vegans and vegetarians, explainers on food waste, and organic vs. non-GMO foods. Recipes include gluten-free breads as well as instructions for curing bacon, fermenting kombucha, and charring shish*to peppers. A new chapter called “Streamlined Cooking” includes how to meal plan so that dishes can be repurposed and supplemented throughout the week. 

2021 marked the 90th anniversary of the first release. For all these decades, The Joy of Cooking remains in print, edited by members of the Rombauer–Becker family. More than 20 million copies have been sold. Home cooks for generations have been able to reference the book for information that made their lives easier.

To learn more about Irma Starkloff Rombauer and other historical figures eternally resting at Bellefontaine Cemetery, visit https://bellefontainecemetery.org/history-soc.

What does a beautiful Apple 🍎Galette have to do with George Clooney???? You can get to the "bottom" of that question in my latest recipe post and download the recipe for this perfect autumn dessert! 👇
https://www.threewomeninthekitchen.com/post/apple-galette-with-pecan-topping

Here are some helpful tips to help you plan a spooktacular Halloween get together. Party ideas: game night (Halloween Scrabble), favorite Halloween movie night (do scary or campy), witches night in (a fun evening with your girls that might include home manis in fall colors). We got you covered!

10 tips for a Spooktacular Halloween Party These simple decorating and menu ideas will help make your celebration, no matter how large or small, frightfully fun. Recently I was surprised to hear my daughter (now in her mid-20s) say the Halloween party I held for her and the neighborhood kids remains an important memory. I had food and games....

Hey, tomorrow (September 29) is National ☕ Coffee Day. Raise your hand 🤚if you can't start your day without it! Let's take a moment to be grateful to the growers, roasters, distributors, and baristas out there who keep all of us going. Y'all ROCK! And if you want a savory application for unused morning coffee, try my outstanding recipe for Coffee Braised Beef Roast.

Coffee-Braised Beef Roast Braise a chuck roast in brewed coffee low and slow for a simple, flavorful Sunday night supper. Download the FREE recipe now!

It’s fall, y’all and we’re looking forward to a season of comforting meals. New subscribers will receive 5 of my favorite autumn recipes for FREE through October. You know what else is free? A monthly newsletter made exclusively for subscribers. https://www.threewomeninthekitchen.com/subscribe
Skillet s’mores • Sheet Pan Bratwurst and Veggies • Spiderweb Popcorn Treat • Creamy Corn Chowder • Coffee-Braised Beef Roast

This is not your granny's Waldorf salad recipe, but I'd bet she'd approve. Light, tasty and a perfect bite for fall, this storied salad goes back to 1896 and yes, was first served at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel.

Lightened-Up Waldorf Salad A creamy yogurt dressing updates this familiar salad of diced apples, celery, pecans, and cranberries. Download this FREE, simple recipe!

How did Monday get here already? Need an easy, budget-friendly idea for dinner tonight? You probably have most of the ingredients in your pantry. It's a meatless, satisfying supper that's ready in a snap.

Penne with Cannellini and Greens Feed your family for under $10 with this pasta dish featuring beans, tomatoes, fresh greens and herbs. Download the FREE recipe now!

It's hard to believe that Pumpkin Spice Latte (the coffee drink you love or hate) turns 20 this year! And Starbucks reports that in those two decades, 600 million PSL have been sold. Where are you on the PSL debate: Yes, No, it's OK? I'm more "meh" than "yeah" but I do love a slice of Pumpkin and Chocolate Chip Quick Bread with a cup of tea in the afternoon😋Check it out 👇
https://www.threewomeninthekitchen.com/post/pumpkin-chocolate-chip-quick-bread

It's all about apples this month in my kitchen 🍎Who's gone apple picking this month? I'm guilty of having so much fun and purchasing way too many apples. But here's a delicious (and easy) solution to that problem—Slow Cooker Apple Butter. Yes, please!

Slow Cooker Spiced Apple Butter Apples, cinnamon, clove and other warm spices slowly come together to create a comforting condiment for your autumn table. Midwestern folk are serious about apple butter. Often cooked outdoors over a wood fire in large caldrons and stirred with long wooden paddles, making apple butter takes time and...

Hey, tomorrow (September 20) is National Pepperoni Pizza Day! Why not bake my easy French Bread Pizza for dinner? Add a glass of your favorite red wine and Italian movie and you've got a great evening to enjoy! What's your favorite Italian film?

The September news from the kitchen was sent last week and featured a bonus recipe for Chopped Chicken Taco Salad. Have you subscribed to my FREE monthly newsletter? If not, click below 👇
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Want a dinner-for-two idea? Grab my recipe for Pork Tenderloin with Apples and Maple Butter. Juicy pork and sweet apples bathed in butter are perfect for a cozy almost autumn meal.

Pork Tenderloin with Apples for Two This simple autumn dinner for two features juicy pork tenderloin and baked apples bathed in sweet, savory butter. Download the FREE recipe!

May all who are celebrating Rosh Hashanah this weekend with family and friends have a peaceful, happy New Year.

Thinking of this wonderful lady today, my grandma Dorothy. Born in this day in 1904, my Bubba always made time for me, especially in her kitchen. Tough as nails sometimes but a kind and loving heart, Bubba’s daily hospitality was a huge influence in my life. Happy heavenly birthday, Bubba 🥰

Plans for an end-of-summer cookout should include my St. Louis-Style Street Corn! Click below for this EASY recipe!

St. Louis-style Street Corn A zesty spice blend puts the zing into this summer side dish that comes together in a snap. Certain foods say summer to me. I remember eating watermelon off paper plates in the back yard. Freshly picked tomatoes from Dad’s garden were sliced for sandwiches. Corn on the cob was eaten from the green...

Surplus of tomatoes? Roast them for the perfect pizza sauce in my updated French Bread Pizza recipe!

Easy French Bread Pizza Update classic French Bread Pizza with roasted tomato sauce, tender Italian bread, turkey pepperoni, and fresh basil. Download FREE recipe!

Before the sweet corn is gone this summer, make my Spicy Succotash with Edamame! So simple to make and, thanks to the Korean gochujang and edamame, deliciously different from the classic Southern dish. Grab the recipe below!

Spicy Succotash with Edamame Korean gochujang adds umami to this redo of a classic corn and bean dish. Download the FREE recipe now and enjoy!

Here's a recipe for National Relaxation Day that's on the table in 30 minutes. And my low country foil boil showcases sweet summer corn to boot! 👇🌽

Shrimp and Sausage Foil Boil Shrimp, corn, smoked sausage and potatoes cook in foil packets in an easy version of the Lowcountry boil.

The August newsletter dropped last week! Are you a subscriber to this FREE, short, fun and tasty newsletter designed for home cooks? Check out the current issue and, if you like it, subscribe to automatically receive your monthly copy.
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| From Three Women in the Kitchen | The Summer Swoon August signals that summer is waning, so like many of you, I’m trying to squeeze pool time, cookouts, and maybe a quick day trip somewhere into my schedule. And don’t forget to put fresh summer fruits and veggies into your meal plans. This month’s newsletter has ideas to help you enjoy the las...

Panzanella Salad with Fennel and Mozzarella is a delicious way to use up some of the tomatoes in your garden or on your kitchen counter! It's a favorite in my house. Recipe in comments below. 👇😋

👇😋Here's a back-to-school lunch idea your littles will love. Click below for the recipe.

Corn Dog Muffins This quick and kid-friendly recipe is just in time for back-to-school lunches. As schools prepare to open next week in my area, I’m hoping for the best for everyone involved in education during these unprecedented days. A tip of my cap goes to all teachers, teaching assistants, support staff, chil...

Have a lonely couple of zucchini in your refrigerator like I do? With a full simple pantry pulls, you can have an easy, light dinner on the table. Try my Easy Zucchini Quiche!

Easy Zucchini Quiche By using a premade pie crust, you’ll have this savory pie out of the oven and on your table in under an hour. Dad meant business when it came to his garden. Each year, the garden came together starting in February when he sprouted ideas for what he’d grow. Once the ground was thawed (usually ear...

Aug. 8 is National Sneak a Zucchini on Your Neighbor's Porch Day (no kidding). Better yet, fry up a batch of these yummy Zucchini Fritters and your house won't be TP'ed on Halloween!! 👇😋

Tasty Zucchini Fritters Recipe Tasty Zucchini Fritters fry up crisp in no time. Download this FREE recipe and you'll love this summer veggie again!