Estate Sale Finds - Elder Road #4 ~ Trains and Kitchens & Gardens

From the Dining Car: The Recipes and Stories Behind Today's Greatest Rail Dining Experiences, published in 2004.  The recipes capture and share the culinary talents of railroad chefs of North America and beyond. All dishes were cooked and served on moving trains. Chefs were invited to submit recipes from a typical meal in the following categories: private luxury trains, private chartered rail cars, dinner trains, scheduled trains (Amtrak & VIA Rail Canada) and business cars - usually employed by railroad executives while on the job.

The first category covers the luxury dining of the Eastern & Oriental Express, the Blue Train in South Africa, the American Oriental Express and showcases delectable five course meals. On the Midnight Sun Express, Reindeer chili is a featured entree. In  regard to the second category, there are 150-160 privately owned rail cars that are certified by Amtrak and the chefs serve an eclectic array of meals from a simple butternut soup, an elegant broiled salmon with lobster cream sauce, a classic champagne & caviar service to  beartooth Bison.

On the dinner trains, the meals are still a bit fancy with a pate made in two stages , a Grand Marnier Flan, crown roast of pork,  lobster salad and basmati rice with edamame. The scheduled trains (the one most of us commoners would travel on) have a more subdued repast with New Orleans gumbo and Kentucky ham as a main course or you could choose the humble grilled cheese club sandwich, duck confit or an omelet. The railroad executives dine rather well on either tenderloin of beef or deep fried ravioli.

Garden & Kitchen Secrets Cookbook, published in 1992. Recipes were collected by the Savannah Area Council of Garden Clubs. There are only a few chapters in the book, but they cover all bases including appetizers & starters, main courses, desserts and baked goods. There is a slim section titled Potpourri which contains a recipe or two on making ACTUAL potpourri.

A few notable inclusions are in the main course section are the international recipes from Cuba, Greece, Italy and Vietnam, plus bread made with Tofu and the Jezebel sauce (pineapple preserves, apple jelly, dry mustard and horseradish) which is served with crackers.

There are hints and tips about garden plants scattered among the recipes.The last chapter offers information on cooking with herbs & herb flavorings as well as hints and tips on using and buying herbs.

The book was a gift to the former owner from her daughter. The owner had quite a large selection of cookbooks at the estate sale where I purchased this title.