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Food That Really Schmecks
An updated edition of a bestselling book in the food writing genre from award-winning author and journalist Edna Staebler. In the 1960s, Edna Staebler moved in with an Old Order Mennonite family to absorb their oral history and learn about Mennonite culture and cooking.
From this fieldwork came the cookbook Food That Really Schmecks. Originally published in 1968, Food That Really Schmecks instantly became a classic, selling tens of thousands of copies. Interspersed with practical and memorable recipes are Staebler's stories and anecdotes about cooking, life with the Mennonites, family, and the Waterloo Region. Described by Edith Fowke as folklore literature, Staebler's cookbooks have earned her national acclaim.
Back in print as part of Wilfrid Laurier University Press's Life Writing series, a series devoted celebrating life writing as both genre and critical practice, the updated edition of this groundbreaking book includes a foreword by award-winning author Wayson Choy and a new introduction by well-known food writer Rose Murray.
From this fieldwork came the cookbook Food That Really Schmecks. Originally published in 1968, Food That Really Schmecks instantly became a classic, selling tens of thousands of copies. Interspersed with practical and memorable recipes are Staebler's stories and anecdotes about cooking, life with the Mennonites, family, and the Waterloo Region. Described by Edith Fowke as folklore literature, Staebler's cookbooks have earned her national acclaim.
Back in print as part of Wilfrid Laurier University Press's Life Writing series, a series devoted celebrating life writing as both genre and critical practice, the updated edition of this groundbreaking book includes a foreword by award-winning author Wayson Choy and a new introduction by well-known food writer Rose Murray.
360 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1968
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74 people want to read
About the author
Edna Staebler
27 books8 followersEdna Staebler who recently passed away in her 101st year was an award-winning journalist and a regular contributor to Maclean’s, Chatelaine, and many other magazines. She is the author of Cape Breton Harbour, Places I’ve Been and People I’ve Known and the Schmecks cookbook series. Must Write: Edna Staebler’s Diaries, edited by Christl Verduyn, was published by Laurier Press in 2005.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
June 19, 2020
So yes indeed, I am in fact reading and also reviewing the original 1968 edition of Edna Staebler's seminal Kitchener-Waterloo area of Southern Ontario cookbook Food That Really Schmecks (and the German and as such also the Mennonite dialect verb "schmecken" means to taste, so the book title of Food That Really Schmecks basically means that the food, that the recipes being presented and described by Edna Staebler really taste and of course that they taste good is basically an assumed given). And I mention this (that I am reviewing the 1968 edition) because I do know that there are more recent and seemingly also extensively updated versions of Food That Really Schmecks but yes, that my review does focus wholly and only on the original 1968 text (and which I read online at Open Library).
And while I have definitely in most ways very much both enjoyed and appreciated my reading time with Edna Staebler and her Food That Really Schmecks (enjoying in particular the many interesting stories and anecdotes about Kitchener-Waterloo and Mennonite history and culture and how the twin cities' often unique culinary delights and practices are such a wonderfully simple but always tasty and versatile combination of country-style food preparation from both Old Order Mennonite and Lutheran German traditions), not to mention that the included recipes are generally simple enough to prepare even for novice cooks (but that of course the baking section does rather heavily rely on mastering yeast doughs), I still cannot and will not and even though I have found Food That Really Schmecks totally delightful grant more than a three star rating. For I really do not understand why there are NO PHOTOGRAPHS of the end products, why Edna Staebler has not inlcuded even one picture of what the meals to be prepared are supposed to look like post creation, post cooking or baking, something that I really do hope has been remedied in the more recent and updated editions of Food That Really Schmecks but also something that I do tend to find totally and utterly annoying in ANY cookbook and enough so for me to deduct two stars for the original 1968 edition of Food That Really Schmecks.
And while I have definitely in most ways very much both enjoyed and appreciated my reading time with Edna Staebler and her Food That Really Schmecks (enjoying in particular the many interesting stories and anecdotes about Kitchener-Waterloo and Mennonite history and culture and how the twin cities' often unique culinary delights and practices are such a wonderfully simple but always tasty and versatile combination of country-style food preparation from both Old Order Mennonite and Lutheran German traditions), not to mention that the included recipes are generally simple enough to prepare even for novice cooks (but that of course the baking section does rather heavily rely on mastering yeast doughs), I still cannot and will not and even though I have found Food That Really Schmecks totally delightful grant more than a three star rating. For I really do not understand why there are NO PHOTOGRAPHS of the end products, why Edna Staebler has not inlcuded even one picture of what the meals to be prepared are supposed to look like post creation, post cooking or baking, something that I really do hope has been remedied in the more recent and updated editions of Food That Really Schmecks but also something that I do tend to find totally and utterly annoying in ANY cookbook and enough so for me to deduct two stars for the original 1968 edition of Food That Really Schmecks.
May 17, 2018
This is the book that started my life long love affair with cookbooks. I read them like novels imagining the meals I could be preparing. This book is immensely charming and fun to read. Her cookies are great and her Neil Harbour bread recipe is my favourite bread recipe of all time.
May 17, 2018
It’s sunny today but cool. Only 3 degrees C right now which is 41 degrees F. I made baked beans yesterday and decided to bake bread today to go with it. So I hunted around and found this cookbook ( no easy feat, Brian is in renovating mode and my living room is full of scaffolding and all of my cookbooks are taped up behind huge sheets of plastic). I could have found this recipe online ( I looked, it is online) but I love this cookbook. My copy was a birthday gift from my sister but I remember my mother and grandmother had copies as well. I’ve had it since 1990. It is battered. There are coffee stains on it and it pretty much falls open to page 138 and the Neil’s Harbour white bread recipe. I love this bread recipe.
I loved be Edna Staebler’s advice on making bread:
“Dough seems to rise better on a sunny day than on a dull one.”
And on rising the dough:
“The ideal rising temperature for bread dough is between 80 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit; if it is much cooler the rising is sluggish, if very much hotter the yeast might burn itself out. If the thermostat in your home is set at 80 you can put your bowl of dough anywhere. If your temperature is normal, a warm spot or high shelf in your kitchen might do, or you could turn on the heat in your oven at its lowest setting for five minutes, then turn it off and put the dough in. A friend puts hers in the warming oven, set at its lowest. My mother puts her bowl of coffee-cake dough on a board on top of a radiator. I put mine on a sunny window ledge. In winter I put it on a shelf above an electric heating unit.
While visiting at a summer cottage I found the perfect rising place on a cool day was the seat of my car parked in the sun. And one shivery morning in September I mixed my bread dough at dawn and went back to my warm welcome bed. Like a slap of frosty wet fish the thought struck me that dough won’t rise well in cold. I got up, brought the covered bowl to my bed and tucked it under the electric blanket. Of course I slept again. Of course the dough rose. Very quickly.
You can see that finding a warm place to let your dough rise is no problem at all. “
There is more bread making advice but you should read the book. Also I know eating bread isn’t fashionable but I don’t care. I love bread, baking it and eating it. To all of the keto/paleo killjoys out there I give a big fuck you.
May 17, 2018
It’s sunny today but cool. Only 3 degrees C right now which is 41 degrees F. I made baked beans yesterday and decided to bake bread today to go with it. So I hunted around and found this cookbook ( no easy feat, Brian is in renovating mode and my living room is full of scaffolding and all of my cookbooks are taped up behind huge sheets of plastic). I could have found this recipe online ( I looked, it is online) but I love this cookbook. My copy was a birthday gift from my sister but I remember my mother and grandmother had copies as well. I’ve had it since 1990. It is battered. There are coffee stains on it and it pretty much falls open to page 138 and the Neil’s Harbour white bread recipe. I love this bread recipe.
I loved be Edna Staebler’s advice on making bread:
“Dough seems to rise better on a sunny day than on a dull one.”
And on rising the dough:
“The ideal rising temperature for bread dough is between 80 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit; if it is much cooler the rising is sluggish, if very much hotter the yeast might burn itself out. If the thermostat in your home is set at 80 you can put your bowl of dough anywhere. If your temperature is normal, a warm spot or high shelf in your kitchen might do, or you could turn on the heat in your oven at its lowest setting for five minutes, then turn it off and put the dough in. A friend puts hers in the warming oven, set at its lowest. My mother puts her bowl of coffee-cake dough on a board on top of a radiator. I put mine on a sunny window ledge. In winter I put it on a shelf above an electric heating unit.
While visiting at a summer cottage I found the perfect rising place on a cool day was the seat of my car parked in the sun. And one shivery morning in September I mixed my bread dough at dawn and went back to my warm welcome bed. Like a slap of frosty wet fish the thought struck me that dough won’t rise well in cold. I got up, brought the covered bowl to my bed and tucked it under the electric blanket. Of course I slept again. Of course the dough rose. Very quickly.
You can see that finding a warm place to let your dough rise is no problem at all. “
There is more bread making advice but you should read the book. Also I know eating bread isn’t fashionable but I don’t care. I love bread, baking it and eating it. To all of the keto/paleo killjoys out there I give a big fuck you.
December 24, 2021
If you don't fall in love with Edna Staebler when reading her books, then you are dead inside.
June 9, 2016
I have no idea how many times I have read this book! I have a version of it on my PC and I have used the recipes for years. Edna Staebler books are always a great read! Lots of good stick to your ribs delicious food, and wonderful, humourous and often thoughtful anecdotes that make you feel all "homey" and "cosy". A cook book that you can read for the joy of it, as well as for the great time test recipes that will make your taste buds sing and your tummy round, and pleasantly full. If you like good home cooking, and a happy palate both for yourself, and your family, you cannot go wrong with this book! I've been reading this book since I was a teen. I used to have a hard copy of it that was well spattered as I used it so much. I wish I knew where it went! Happy reading, and happy eating! :)
September 29, 2008
classic, mennonite cook book. The canadian culinary award is called the Edna.
March 29, 2025
Home cooking recipes from the 70s. I feel like I grew up with these and the dishes from our lunch were good. But I don’t really cook this way on the regular and I think I have a lot of these elsewhere. Still, good German food.
The personal comments add color but also… there are some entries that are just nonsensical. Like talking about “tired carrots” for example. And the “recipes” that don’t have enough information to actually make, like sauerkraut.
The personal comments add color but also… there are some entries that are just nonsensical. Like talking about “tired carrots” for example. And the “recipes” that don’t have enough information to actually make, like sauerkraut.
January 6, 2017
Love this book! It's like having a wise friend in the kitchen with you! When in doubt, just ask Edna. Not only a great reference, but such an entertaining read! A great cookbook is one that you want to read, even when you have no immediate plans of cooking! Page 154 - finding a warm place to let bread dough rise - is s favourite !
July 2, 2013
If you love to bake this book is a must for your kitchen bookshelf. I have literally made hundreds of recipes from this book.
January 8, 2014
The original of this book did influence the way I've recorded recipes. The sidebars are such an important part! Upon rereading I felt Stablers writing was not as heart warming as I had thought but it was of huge interest to read that she was a writer who took this on as a project!
October 29, 2019
I've loved this cookbook since I was a child. I used to read through it for the stories between the recipes. It was such a thrill later to be working for the publisher who reissued the new edition and I also put together the app version in 2012.
December 26, 2020
I adore these old, home-cook style cookbooks. There's a line in this book regarding bread-making, but I think it captures the essence of this cookbook completely: "It makes one feel like a primitive, pioneer woman - unstarvable, self-sustaining and joyful." (p. 136)
A few recipes in here have me intrigued to try them:
- Baked Carrots (p. 75), which are grated and seasoned with ginger and pepper before baking.
- Fried Potatoes (p. 84-85), where she notes that if you don't have quite enough potatoes you can add in chunks of buttered bread as well - a fried bread and potatoes combo sounds brilliant to me!
- The sour cream dressing for Lettuce Salad (p. 92). "Sour cream salads" are brought up frequently throughout the book, and since I had all the ingredients for it I made it last night for supper. It's super easy and it tastes similar to (and better than) ranch salad dressing. Would be easy to play around with by adding spices. It's likely to become my new go-to dressing recipe.
- Mustard Hot Bread (p. 162), which is described as a gingerbread where instead of ginger, use dry mustard. A bit bizarre but I'm intrigued.
- Sauerkraut Chocolate Cake (p. 201)
- Rum and Date Cake (p. 206)
-Apfelstrudel (p. 248)
Like many of these pioneer home-cookery books, there's a chapter at the back of odds and ends recipes, for cheese, soaps, cough syrups, etc. Some are hilarious, like the cough syrup called a "sure cure" that lists rum, glycerine, lemon juice, and rock candy as ingredients and then states "There are no directions for making or taking it."
A few recipes in here have me intrigued to try them:
- Baked Carrots (p. 75), which are grated and seasoned with ginger and pepper before baking.
- Fried Potatoes (p. 84-85), where she notes that if you don't have quite enough potatoes you can add in chunks of buttered bread as well - a fried bread and potatoes combo sounds brilliant to me!
- The sour cream dressing for Lettuce Salad (p. 92). "Sour cream salads" are brought up frequently throughout the book, and since I had all the ingredients for it I made it last night for supper. It's super easy and it tastes similar to (and better than) ranch salad dressing. Would be easy to play around with by adding spices. It's likely to become my new go-to dressing recipe.
- Mustard Hot Bread (p. 162), which is described as a gingerbread where instead of ginger, use dry mustard. A bit bizarre but I'm intrigued.
- Sauerkraut Chocolate Cake (p. 201)
- Rum and Date Cake (p. 206)
-Apfelstrudel (p. 248)
Like many of these pioneer home-cookery books, there's a chapter at the back of odds and ends recipes, for cheese, soaps, cough syrups, etc. Some are hilarious, like the cough syrup called a "sure cure" that lists rum, glycerine, lemon juice, and rock candy as ingredients and then states "There are no directions for making or taking it."
October 16, 2022
It’s good. It’s from 1960s so that is important to understand first and foremost.
Second, expect to wing it with your own seasonings. The book can be vague with just the term seasonings. So this is not a good book for beginners but it is a good book for those confident in the kitchen
Second, expect to wing it with your own seasonings. The book can be vague with just the term seasonings. So this is not a good book for beginners but it is a good book for those confident in the kitchen
October 18, 2020
home cooking recipes
mennonite cooking
mennonite cooking
January 19, 2022
It really schmecks
July 28, 2022
I can never consider this book completely read. This is not only a cookbook but a book full of stories about Mennonite life and their love of food.
July 15, 2024
See my review at https://canadiancookbooks.ca/food-tha...
February 18, 2015
I have had this book since my university days in the late 1970's. Great recipes accompanied by wonderful stories and anecdotes.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews