It’s said that if you go back far enough, we’re all related. That feels true on many levels, particularly when you see someone walking down the street who reminds you of a beloved aunt or long-gone grandparent. We are one big family going about separate lives on a giant ball of earth we call home. This blog is for all of us, but brought to you by one segment of our greater family: The grandchildren of one amazing cook originally from Iowa, Elsie Mae Brown Marshall.
Elsie raised seven children, five of them during the depression years. While her husband Walter brought in a regular salary from the Rock Island Railroad, it wasn’t enough for the growing family. They rented a farmhouse in Keokuk, Iowa where Elsie cooked for the farmhands, in addition to her family. Elsie learned to stretch her ingredients so that she provided plentiful servings of tasty and nourishing food. In later years, Elsie moved to California where she drew on her experience cooking at the farm in a new job as chief cook for a large ranch in Escondido. She went on to cook at several restaurants through the years. One restaurant in particular, The Royal House in Ontario, Calif., was located right off an exit of Interstate 10, about half-way from Los Angeles to Palm Springs. The restaurant was a favorite stopping point for people headed to the desert. Celebrities often stopped at The Royal House on their way to and from Palm Springs and sometimes snuck into the kitchen to compliment and kiss the cook. (Elsie never deemed herself a chef, she was a cook.)
Elsie was my grandmother and we lived with her for a year after my mother and father divorced. She worked at The Royal House six days a week then; her only day off was Monday. You would think that on Mondays the last place she wanted to be was in the kitchen. Not so, my grandma. She cooked dinner for my aunt who also lived with us, along with my mother, two sisters and me each Monday night. Salmon patties, meatloaf, roast beef, fried chicken, pork chops… comfort foods from her years cooking on the farm in Iowa. These were the foods I associate with my grandma.
Having cooked large portions for so many years, Elsie found it hard to cook only one portion for herself after she retired. All of her recipes–the ones she’d written down–made servings of eight or more. A point of Midwest hospitality, she kept a canned picnic ham in the refrigerator for drop in visits from family or friends. “You should always have something on hand to cook when people stop by,” was her motto.
Elsie baked nearly every day during the holidays. She had specialties brought out year after year—her butterscotch pie, pecan dainties, fudge—but she was not afraid to try new recipes. I remember the first year she made the coconut bon-bons and they were so perfectly round and enrobed in chocolate everyone thought she’d bought them at a fancy candy shop. She was the only one I’ve ever known who made mincemeat pie with real meat. Somewhere I have her recipe.
From her 7 children, Elsie was blessed with 32 grandchildren. This blog is not about Elsie, but the legacy she passed to her family. My cousins and I, along with our children, want to share to our greater family (those of you in the global village) the love and legacy of good food prepared with imagination, inspiration and of course, love.
In the weeks ahead you’ll meet the Cousins. We’re beginning with Pamela Marshall and her daughter Sarah Cook; Audrey Barrios and her daughter Summer Baroody; Lori Gottschalk; Robin Richardson and her daughters Darah Willey and Lisa Richardson; Susanne Reed; Kelly Batt and her daughter Lauren Babin, and my daughter Elisabeth Udyawar. I am the instigator, Carolyn Bass. We have more cousins, and you’ll meet them as they get on board Cousin Cuisine.
