Nothing says the holidays like a good meal.
So December is an ideal time for the release of a new cookbook.
While there are literally thousands of cookbooks out there, this one; 鈥楤aba Josie鈥檚 Kitchen鈥� will be of special interest locally, as it highlights recipes collected by the late Josie Matsalla of Canora.
Over Josie鈥檚 95 years, she amassed a lifetime of recipes from more than 90 friends and family, and now some 550 have been collected in the new cookbook.
Josie鈥檚 recipe collection stems from the communities surrounding Canora, as this is where Josie raised her family and made her home.
Josie was born in Hamilton, ON. She was the second of 11 children born to Joseph and Pauline (Belitsky) Zarazun.
鈥淛oe Zarazun worked in a factory, and following an accident at the plant he moved his family back to Saskatchewan within the Tiny and Rama area,鈥� reported her family.
鈥淢om grew up in this area and then met my dad (Joe Matsalla) and in 1943 they were married and moved to the Matsalla farmland north of Tiny, (SK.). This is where mom and dad raised their family of five children.聽 Mom and Dad continued to farm until 1972 and when Dad passed away, mom continued to farm with her oldest son, James until she retired in 1985 and moved into a home in Canora鈥�
In addition to farming Josie worked for homecare in the district well into her 70s.
She died in February 2020 at the age of 95.
Along the way, like many, Josie collected recipes.
But, why a book?
鈥淚 visited mom three years ago, and I told mom that I would like to take her treasured binder of recipes one day and type them into a digitalized version,鈥� said son Brent Matsalla. 鈥淚 explained that it would be online and a cookbook.聽 Mom asked if future generations will be able to use the recipes and she smiled when she heard that it would be there forever.鈥�
It was also a sort of tribute to their mother.
鈥淢om loved cooking and she cooked with love and we thought it was important to preserve the memories as well as the food with the world,鈥� wrote her family. 聽
鈥淪haring of the memories with our immediate family and extended families cherished our unity. Being together to share a meal and visit was always the most important.
鈥淢om and dad worked hard on the farm to provide for our immediate family but they would always take the time to share whatever was in abundance to provide to others.鈥�
So how did the family select the recipes?
鈥淢om passed away in February and Brent flying back to Nanaimo didn鈥檛 have room for the cookbooks to be packed with him, so I was going to take the books to him,鈥� said Theresa. 鈥淒uring the pandemic, I needed therapeutic fulfilment. I began typing the recipes from the binder and sending them to Brent. We collaborated our efforts and after many on-line hours (at least 1000 hours) we ended up with over 550 recipes. 聽
鈥淲e used all the recipes within mom鈥檚 collection as well as adding some that weren鈥檛 written down, and our family sent us their family favourites that mom loved.鈥� 聽
Some are of course Josie originals.
鈥淢any we had to document because she had the recipe memorized,鈥� said the family.聽 鈥淲e were fortunate that she was with us for 95-years. We were able to call her up and ask her advice to assist when we were cooking those recipes.
鈥淢om put her own spin on almost all the recipes creating a new taste that was more suited to who was attending the meal.鈥�
One example was her Russian borscht where she boiled the whole potato in the soup and then mashed it within the broth.
鈥淵ou wouldn鈥檛 think this is a big deal but it really enhanced the taste,鈥� they said.
The book also pays homage to all the people Josie collected from through the years.
A thank you area at the back of the book lists all 90 names of each contributor.
鈥淢ost of the recipes mom knew by the name of the person that shared the recipe with her,鈥� the family noted. 鈥淭hese recipes are noted in the cookbook at the bottom of the actual recipe with the person鈥檚 name that contributed the recipe.鈥�
There are 17 categories in the cookbook and over 550 recipes, including hints and tips.
The cookbook also includes conversion charts, substitutes, some pictures of the dishes, and recipes for a crowd.
They also added a fun section in the back that is called 鈥榟ow to speak Saskatchewanian Farm Kid鈥� and the translation (such as: bunny hug and vico).聽 聽
The collection is one the family is proud of.
鈥淵es we are, our intro to the book has 15 pages which covers our history and memories of our wonderful mother, farm life and Saskatchewan homesteading near Canora from the mid 1900鈥檚,鈥� they noted. 鈥淔ood, family and friends were very important to mom and sincerely hope you enjoy as much as we have, and will continue to enjoy for the rest of our lives and for generations to come.鈥� 聽
Baba Josie鈥檚 Kitchen is more than just a simple cookbook 鈥� it is a large format (8 陆鈥漻 11鈥�) 263-page archive which includes many cherished memories and pictures of the farm life of the Saskatchewan homesteaders during the early and mid-1900鈥檚.
The book was released just prior to Nov. 18, on what would have been Josie鈥檚 96th birthday.
Over Black Friday and Cyber Monday, sales catapulted the book into the top row of Amazon Best Seller鈥檚 in the Food History category.
The book Baba Josie鈥檚 Kitchen is available now for purchase online at Amazon.ca
One-hundred per cent of the profits will be disbursed to non-profit organizations that Josie supported most; for example: Canora Keen Centre, Canora Gateway Lodge Auxiliary and Canora Catholic Woman鈥檚 League CWL) depending on cookbook sales.
