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Kids & Family

Club Cookbook Features Resident Recipes

"Recipes We Proudly Share" is practically a culinary history of Sierra Madre. The cookbook features recipes that residents and their families have been cooking, baking and frying for decades.

Press Release:

What's for dinner? The answer is easy if you have your own copy of the Civic Club’s Cookbook “Recipes We Proudly Share.”

Every delicious recipe is a time-tested, family-approved dish of love passed from friend to friend, family to family and generation to generation. The test kitchens were those of grandmas and aunties, friends and neighbors and are included in this collection because they are requested repeatedly at celebrations, holidays, and gatherings.

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Grandma’s Chicken Casserole was contributed by Jeanne Peterson. According to Peterson, “Virginia ‘Grandma’ Peterson’s family is a direct descendent of the Mayflower and… her family settled in Sierra Madre 70 years ago. According to Grandma, this recipe is about 80 years old. This recipe is always a hit with kids… it’s really good!”

For an easy BBQ recipe try the Bourbon Glazed Salmon submitted by Gail-Ann Skiles. Made with Alaskan wild salmon, marinated in a blend of lime juice, bourbon, brown sugar,  ginger and other savory seasonings, grilled up and then topped with sesame seeds, tomatoes and onion, she says, “One of our favorites - great for entertaining.”

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Or serve up some award winning 5-Alarm Texas Red Chili submitted by Amy Putnam. Elmer Dills picked this as his favorite at the 2006 Sierra Madre Chili Cook-off. “I used meat and Miller High Life because it was the only beer in cans in Billy’s cooler. I used conventional chili powder but I added unadulterated New Mexico red chili powder.”  Stand by to sound the alarms!

Comfort food abounds in this book, both in taste and memories. Linda Wochnik contributed her recipe called Mom’s Spaghetti Sauce, an easy, from-scratch sauce that brings back tasty times. “Mom’s spaghetti sauce was delicious – only to be matched by the tantalizing aroma while it was cooking.”

There’s Tagliarini, a casserole dish of ground beef, noodles, vegetables and cheese added by Sue Quinn. “This was a favorite of my aunt, Alice Jones, and I enjoyed it many times at her home on Orange Grove.”

Is crunch what you want? Gloria Giersbach’s Killer Coleslaw will fill the bill with a blend of crunchy cabbage, apple, pineapple, cranberries and a handful of sunflower seeds, pine nuts or walnuts, sure to satisfy. Giersbach notes “This is a favorite that is served during family reunions in Vancouver BC each visit.”

You’ll find many more recipes for appetizers through desserts and beverages, all presented with pride and warm affection by the members of the Civic Club, and just in time for summer entertaining!

You can find “Recipes We Proudly Share” on sale for just $15.00 at and or by calling (626) 792-0852 or (626) 355-7880.  All proceeds from the sale of the book go back into the community in the form of educational scholarships and community grants.

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