BY DEBBIE KOONTZ
LANCASTER It seems like
everyone is writing a cookbook
days. Take a look in your
local bookstore and try to make
one trip through without tripping
over at least one copy of a “the
best recipes ever” book, or “this is
the only way to cook" book.
Perhaps the influx of cookbooks
is due to the fact that cooking is
taking an upward swing on the
positive scale.
And perhaps this is because
cooking., once looked on as
“woman’s work,” has been
rediscovered after many liberated
and frustrated housewives ignored
it and ‘refused to do it’ for a time.
Suddenly, the art of cooking is
considered just that an “art.”
And for the many cooks who made
it through the ‘refuse to do it’
period, your skills in the kitchen
now make you a trend setter, a
person swinging with the tunes, a
person m the know, a hobbyist and
‘amateur chef,’ and just a ‘plain ol
9 r But one person and yes,
another cookbook writer who
seems to be displaying a unique
approach to the cookbook scene is
Mitzi Ayala, a nee grower, farm
columnist, and hostess and
producer of a farm television show
in California.
r — :
IPO 80X219
CHAMBERSBURG, PA1?201.
PHONE 717-263-9111
Ryder supply
Farmer's Cookbook offers first-hand advice, recipes
Ayala recognized that the people
who grow a crop are the most
qualified to tell what to look for
when buying it, and how to cook it.
Doesn’t that seem to make sense?
To her it did. So, with this in mind,
she interviewed fanners all across
the country to get the most
nutritious and tasty recipes for her
Hie Farmer’s Cookbook.
The result is a mouth-watering
collection of recipes that reflects
the remarkable diversity of
American agriculture from
avocados to zucchini and a
proud tradition of home cooking,
from clam chowder of the Nor
theast to tostadas of the Southwest.
A 15-second leaf through the 267
pages of this book, produces such
recipes as California Rice Torta,
Salmas Bean Bake, Strawberry
Pie, Zucchini Walnut Bread, and
Chicken Blossom Salad.
Sound tempting? It should.
Ayala has taken a slightly different
and intriguing approach to her
compilation of recipes. While most
books are divided into appetizers,
soups, salads, entrees, desserts,
etc., this rice farmer’s book
concerns herself with oranges in
Chapter 1, Peaches in Chapter 5,
milk in Chapter 19, and pork in
Chapter 23.
Each chapter is devoted to a
particular food and is introduced
Something new for too
with anecdotes, special tips,
folklore, and a menu to highlight
that particular commodity, for fast
and easy finding.
Of course, Ayala keeps one
chapter set aside for nee dishes
a commodity close to her heart as
a rice producer. She poured
through the 4,113 rice recipes she’s
collected over the years and in
cludes 10 of them in her book.
Ayala herself, as well as her
book, is of a slightly different style,
and is therefore a very astounding
farm wife personality.
With a list of credentials that
would make you fall into your
chair in exhaustion just reading
them (and make you mumble “oh
no, not another woman who can do
everything and well”), Ayala is
Exelusivi to Uneitfir Firming
Name
St reet
Ci ty
Please send
at $l3-00 each
MAIL WITH YOUR CHECK TO Mitzi Ayala, P. 0 Box 10, Sacramento, CA 95801
Postage and handling price included FREE
FIBERGLASS REINFORCED PLASTIC PANELS & ROLLS
• GLASBORD* IS TOUGH
-ACID SCRATCH AND ABRASION RESISTANT
• GLASBORD* INSTALLS EASILY
-MILKING PARLORS. HOLDING ROOMS, OFFICES.
SLAUGHTER HOUSES
• GLASBORD
RESISTS DIRT
- WILL NOT STAIN.
CORRODE
- RESISTS ANIMAL
WASTES
-CLEANS WITH
ORDINARY
METHODS
the perfect farm wife and farm
woman to write a farmer’s
cookbook.
She is married to a man named
Francisco, a native of Spam who
teaches genetics at UCD. She
manages a 1,400-acre farm m
southern California, and writes a
weekly farm column for 300
newspapers based on information
gathered from her TV show
“Focus on Farming.” She has been
vice president of Central
California’s Educational TV
station, lay representative to the
National Public Broadcasting'
Service, Director of Com
munications for California Women
for Agriculture, and was hostess of
the Coast-to-Coast Radio Net
work’s “Tips from the Farmer to
You.”
State Z i p
copy (ies) of THE FARMER'S COO
GLASBORD'
ELIMINATES THE EPOXY AND OTHER YEARLY
COSTLY MAINTENANCE TO WALLS AND CEILINGS
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 3,1982—813
$2.00 OFF!
FOR
FARM
BUILDINGS
"CCLEANABLE
DURABLES
IN STOCK - AVAILABLE NOW
3/32 & 1/8" THICKNESS.
4 x 8 FT. PANELS
3/32 & 1/8" • 4 x 40
AND 4 x 45 FT. ROLLS
ALL CORNER n n /a
MOLDING AND n M I U
FASTENERS
VINYL MOLDINGS ARE AVAILABLE
TO GIVE A FINISHED APPEARANCE
& A WATERTIGHT INSTALLATION.
Currently she is a director of the
California Exposition and State
Fair, and is a member of the
National Association of Farm
Broadcasters and the Agricultural
Communicators in Education.
Whew.
If, after reading this list of ac
complishments, you stDl have
energy to write a letter, you may
want to send for The Farmer’s
Cookbook.
For ordering it through Lan
caster Farming, you can receive |2
off the regular purchase price and
can bypass any postage and
handling charges. But take note
that after ordering, it may take
quite a few weeks to receive your
book, as it did for us at Lancaster
Farming.
TOTAL