Recipes

As in other industrialized countries, this century has seen vast changes in our diet, and the process may even appear to have speeded up in recent years with fast food and ready-to-serve products. Some people seem to find eating almost a nuisance, something to be got out of the way. But we can also see a reaction, in a renewed interest in food and delight in good meals and the art of preparing them - especially at weekends. With Norwegian consumers seeking pure foods, Norwegian manufacturers are seizing the opportunity to do what they are best at, and producing food from the world's purest raw materials.

Just in time for the Cloquet Centennial, the Carlton County Historical Society introduces a cookbook of 200 “Timeless Recipes” compiled by Harriette Niemi from cookbooks of Carlton County that date from 1902 through current contributions.
The book includes everything from “Grandma’s home cooking” to wild game, ethnic traditions, time-tested favorites and the truly unusual. Find them all in this unique cookbook with an historical twist.
The cookbooks will be available at the Carlton County Historical Society, 406 Cloquet Avenue, and Cloquet, starting during the Centennial. They can also be ordered by mail at the same address. Cost is $8 per copy.

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It's hard to believe but Serendipity 3, the legendary New York City restaurant with the whimsical decor and over-the-top desserts is celebrating its 50th birthday.

Founded in 1954 by three friends, Stephen Bruce, Calvin Holt and Patch Caradine, Serendipity attracted a celebrity clientele from the get-go. Now Bruce, the sole surviving founder, tells the trio's story and reveals long sought-after secret recipes in a new cookbook, ``Sweet Serendipity'' (Universe Publishing, 2004).

My two associates were from Little Rock, Ark., and they brought all their Southern recipes with them when they came to New York to seek fame and fortune as theater dancers and performers - that's how I met them,'' recalled Bruce over the telephone from his New York home. ``When we opened in 1954 we were the first to use food and restaurant as theater.

The basic restaurant (at the time) was probably Italian with brick walls and a Chianti bottle with dripping candle wax and a red checkered tablecloth,'' he explained. ``We banished all of that - painted everything white. The floors were white hexagon tiles and then we hung Tiffany lamps over our marble tables - no linens, no tablecloths or napkins. That became quite a shock and quite a look. When people came in they felt like it was falling down a rabbit hole in `Alice in Wonderland,' full of delight and wonderful surprises.''

They both had a lavish hand with food preparation and entertaining,'' Bruce said. ``One scoop would never do for them; it was always five or six scoops. A little dab would not do anyone at Serendipity.

The restaurant always zealously guarded its recipes. When then-first lady Jacqueline Kennedy asked for the recipe for Serendipity's famed ``frrrozen hot chocolate,'' Bruce turned her down.

I said that I would take it to the White House, but unfortunately it was one of those last-minute things and we couldn't get clearance,'' he remembered. ``We protected it because it was our claim to fame. It was a lot of hard work, generating excitement about something that turned out to be made very simply in the blender. But that was our secret.