Dorrance Book Review Team: Good Eats, Good Treats

One of the most requested titles since we started the Review Team in 2009 is Theresa Thompson?s Grandma?s Back to Basics All Natural More Than Just a Cookbook. As one of the most reviewed books, we decided to talk to the author to find out all the whos, whats, wheres, whys, and whens behind the book.

Teresa Thompson was born in Metamora, Ohio, the third of eleven children. As a result, the author?s loving of cooking began at an early age. Having suffered from food allergies for many years. While she always hoped to overcome her food allergies, the additives and chemicals in foods have continued to limit her diet to organic foods. Ms. Thompson was inspired to share her experiences and recipes.

A resident of Michigan since the 1950s, Thompson has been an active member of the Elks auxiliary and the Kiwanis Club. She and her husband enjoy traveling and have visited all fifty states, six Canadian provinces, and several regions of Central and South America.

The creation of her cookbook wasn?t an instant idea. Theresa had wanted to write a cookbook for several years, she said, ?because I had several recipes that were very special to me that I got from my mother and they were either handed down from my great grandma, two grandmas, aunts, or friends.? During her childhood, she has always liked cooking and smelling the aroma of the simmering seasonings of food. ?I helped my mother cook from the time I was big enough to climb on a chair to keep the potatoes or other dishes stirred.? Her helpful hints that she includes with the cookbook came from years of practice in the kitchen with her mother and father.

Being one of eleven children also had an effect on her desire to create a cookbook. Sitting around the table with family, she remembers how their garden and their relationships with the neighbors always provided enough food for everyone. ?We had all kinds of fruit trees, chickens and rabbits,? she recalls, ?We got milk from the farmer down the road and farmers would bring us hampers of tomatoes, potatoes, and sweet corn.? She credits these experiences for her extensive gardening and canning habits that she maintains today. ?One thing that sticks in my mind,? she says, ?is how to make something go farther without spoiling the taste or to add something that will change or add a different flavor. Don?t be afraid to mix things together and add different seasonings.?

What began as a mild rash, which she thought was poison ivy, Theresa realized with her growing symptoms that she had allergies to additives and chemicals found in most store bought foods. After realizing she was suffering from allergies, her doctor, she says, ?told me that I had to go through the process of elimination to find out what I was allergic to. The only problem was that I was allergic to several chemicals.? These experiences further fueled her desire to write a cookbook with natural, additive free recipes for others who suffer from food allergies like hers.

?I have pretty much rid my shelves of cookbooks, especially if the recipes contain chemicals,? she says. She tries to substitute organic foods as much as possible when using recipes from other cookbooks, but it can be difficult when some recipes call for pre-packaged ingredients. Her cookbook, however, is full of delicious recipes with all natural, additive free recipes. Her goal for completing the cookbook, along with providing recipes for allergy sufferers like herself, was also to make ?people realize that a lot of foods that they were eating had chemicals in them.? By reading the labels, she points out, you will notice almost anything that you buy pre-cooked, pre-mixed, or pre-packaged will have additives and chemicals in it. And if the product contains a chemical or preservative that makes up less than five percent of the product, it may not even be listed on the label. While the FDA has cited that this is the standard policy, it still makes it difficult to find foods without additives if you?re an allergy sufferer.

Some of Theresa?s favorite recipes are the Grandma?s Soft Sugar Cookies on page 105, the Chicken Paprika on page 248, her mother?s recipe for Lake Erie Perch on page 279, and Rolachi on page 129. She says is she had to choose out of the recipes in her cookbook, her perfect meal would be Czechoslovakian Goulash (p235) with mashed potatoes, the Ultimate Salad (p207) and a slice of warm apple pie.

Overall, Theresa?s cookbook contains only all natural ingredients in every recipe. She is currently working on her second cookbook with even more recipes and tips for all natural cooking. For more information on Theresa Thompson, or if you have an additional questions, please send an e-mail to kubinger@dorrancepublishing.com.

Source: http://dorrancereviewteam.blogspot.com/2011/05/good-eats-good-treats.html

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