About Generations at the Table
What is it...
Info on sourcing and citations...
About the cookbook...
A very short bio...
Generations at the Table
In 2023, while browsing through my mom's pantry, I found a cookbook called, Company's A-Comin', a regional cookbook published in 1951 in the Santa Maria Valley. Having grown up in the area, I was initially drawn to the historical elements of the book: recognizable names, business advertisements, recipes noted as being from pioneer families. I flipped through page by page and studied the advertisements for businesses that no longer existed, and my mom and I took turns looking up addresses to see what existed in those spaces now. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it seemed as though most addresses were now parking lots or had been demolished and rebuilt into something new.
The next day, I made my first recipe from the book: Portuguese Sweet Bread contributed by Anna Triguiero. The recipe was big enough for six loaves, the instructions were sparse, and some terminology was outdated. It was challenging and felt a little over my head. But while the dough was proofing, I decided to try to research Anna (no doubt inspired by my genealogist mother) and was able to piece together the story of an immigrant from Portugal who just happened to make Santa Maria her home. It felt as though I was breathing a little bit of life back into her story.
Thus, Generations at the Table was born...
I want to bring forward the details of these individual's lives while also connecting with them through their recipes. Through genealogical research, we are able to rediscover the lives and personal stories of these early citizens of the Santa Maria Valley, which otherwise may have been lost to time. And through the re-creation of the personal recipes that they've contributed, we are able to have a shared experience with them that surpasses that time. Not only are we able to revisit who these contributors were during their lifetime, but we are also able to make anew the recipes that they would have made in their own kitchens.
More than seventy years after Company's A-Comin' was published, our world looks much different than the world these individuals would have known, but their personal stories still have a chance to resurface and to resonate. I hope you'll join me as we make our way through these recipes and become acquainted with those who contributed them so many years ago.
Companys A-Comin'
Companys A-Comin' is a cookbook that was compiled by the Minerva Club of Santa Maria, California. Initially, published in 1951, the Minerva Club used the proceeds from their cookbook sales that year to initiate their scholarship fund, which was first awarded in 1952. The scholarship fund still exists to this day, with annual scholarships being awarded to students at multiple local schools.
The recipes that we recreate and individuals we research here are those included in the original 1951 cookbook.
Recipes
A lot of the recipes printed in Companys A-Comin' are limited in regard to their instruction. The recipe contributors were all regular, local people in the Santa Maria Valley, and my assumption is that they wrote out a simple instruction based on what they thought was necessary as well as what was typically common kitchen knowledge at the time. I will be creating these recipes in a modern kitchen, trying my best as an adequate home cook (I am so very far from a professional chef) to interpret 70+ year old instructions and terminology.
Part of what makes these recipes appealing to me is that they are, quite literally, a taste of the past. Maybe these were recipes that were made frequently in the contributor's homes, and maybe they weren't. Regardless, they present an intimate way of connecting with these individuals; by recreating these recipes, we are able to share a tradition and an experience with them. We can smell and taste and feel these recipes as they did. Much like how we connect with family and friends at a dining table, we can also connect with the past through these recipes.
The Contributors
The individuals who contributed recipes for the cookbook were local to the Santa Maria Valley and would have included Minerva Club members as well as their friends and family. Many names in the book are recognizable if you've spent any time in Santa Maria: Mrs. Allan Hancock, Mrs. Paul Nelson, Battles, Tunnell, Silva, Tognazzini, Dana... These names are recognizable because they are now the names of city streets, elementary schools, and various city organizations or buildings. They are the names that were important to the founding and early development of the area, which is in turn a solid testament to the importance of the Minerva Club in early Santa Maria Valley history.
Regardless of how recognizable a name is, each contributor added something to the culture of the Santa Maria Valley during their lifetime. Many were pioneers of the area, first or second generation in the U.S., and all have a story to tell.
The Minerva Club
The Minerva Club is an extraordinary living piece of Santa Maria Valley history. Founded in 1894, the club is the oldest continuing women's club in California state history. Initially started to not only enrich its members but the town as well, the club first focused on appreciation of literature and quickly expanded into spearheading projects that developed the budding town and boosted its growth as well as the growth of its citizens. Philanthropy became a huge part of the clubs identity, helping to create public parks as well as the town's first library. They also supported various local and national groups by donating their time and various goods as well as providing financial assistance when needed. Today, the Minerva Club is still active and continues to support the community in the Santa Maria Valley through its philanthropy.
If you are interested in learning more about the Minerva Club, I would recommend visiting their website at www.minervaclubofsantamaria.org.
Sources & Notes
I do my best to provide thorough genealogical citations for all of the biographies that I include here. Accuracy is important, but there are also oftentimes many specific details that represent something special and intimate in the life of someone's parent, grandparent, or great grandparent. For example, an article about a baby shower being thrown or an article about someone being in a high school play. I want to make it easy for those sources to be found and cherished if the desire exists. Those sources give a glimpse into the daily life of our relatives that we would not have otherwise known.
Things I don't include: names and specific information on anyone I suspect to still be living or exact street addresses for any property that is still in use as a home. I wouldn't want those details shared about me, and I want to be respectful of privacy.
In addition to the genealogical element here, there is also significant time spent in the kitchen to recreate these recipes. I am not a trained chef by any means, and I'm also attempting to decipher recipes that are sometimes light in direction or need modification for what's available in the modern world. I certainly won't have perfect technique and will probably have plenty of recipe fails. It's all part of the process.
About the Author
Hi. I'm Jennifer.
When I'm not looking up people in the past or trying out their recipes, I'm working my regular 9-5 job, parenting my 4 year old, or trying (and usually failing) to catch up on sleep. I currently live in the northern Bay Area of California with my husband, daughter, and cat.