Do you remember having green bean casserole, hutspot, Russian fluff or Jell-O salad with shredded carrots at a church dinner? How about porcupines, pigs in a blanket, or brown bread baked in a can? Were your holidays replete with Jan Hagels, speculaas, oliebollen, or banket? In this course, you will take a nostalgic walk through “grandma’s kitchen”—looking at the recipes that so typified the Dutch American homes and churches of her time. The presentation will be based on the study of a large number of cookbooks from midwestern CRC/RCA churches and schools, published between 1930 and 1960. In addition to the recipes, we will look at what the advertisements and “helpful household hints” revealed about everyday life in these communities. And, of course, we will have some of the recipes prepared for sampling—one taste after all, says more than a thousand words. Eet Smakelijk! 

Subject: nutrition, health

Burt VanderLaan is a retired physician, with a longtime interest in Dutch culture and heritage, and Kathy VanderLaan is a retired chemistry teacher and accomplished cook. They are both devoted foodies whose quest to collect vintage church cookbooks has taken them to all the major midwestern communities with a strong Dutch heritage.