BY LISA MILLER
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The life of a good recipe cannot be
measured. Once shared, you never
know how far it will go or how long
it will last.
That’s one key ingredient in the success
of The Daily Star Recipe Contest.
Every year for 50 years, people have
looked forward to perusing the pages
of the Cookbook, searching for familiar
faces and good eats. For many cooks, the
fun of sharing their favorite dishes has
been a bigger incentive to enter the contest
than the chance of winning a prize.
“I think lots of people really liked contributing
recipes to the cookbook,” said
Sandra Fentiman, who coordinated the
cook-off as The Daily Star’s community
editor from 1990 to 1995.
Fentiman, who lives in Utica and
works as manager of marketing, public
relations & government affairs at St.
Elizabeth Medical Center, still makes
the Shredded Sesame Chicken salad
that won Janet Pucci of Delhi the grand
prize in the 1991 recipe contest. And
Anna Elwyn, who coordinated the recipe
contest as The Star’s Family Page editor
from the late ’60s through 1990, remembers
trying the Spinach-Bacon Salad
recipe that netted Mrs. Raymond Baker
of Oneonta the grand prize back in 1962.
I have a unique perspective on the
recipe contest. As a kid growing up in
Oneonta in the ’70s and ’80s, I frequently
sampled new recipes my mother culled
from the annual Cookbook edition. And
as The Daily Star’s community editor
from 1996 to 2003, I coordinated seven
cook-offs, getting a behind-the-scenes
look at something I’d previously experienced
only as a newspaper subscriber.
Some of the recipes my mom tried out
were duds; others were so good that she
clipped them out of the paper and glued
them to index cards for future use. A few
even became family favorites that have
been passed down to the next generation.
I still frequently make Chicken a
l’Orange, known in my family as “Lisa’s
Favorite Chicken” because, apparently,
it was one of the dinners I liked best
when I was small. Just about every Valentine’s
Day, I bake Chocolate Cherry
Upside Down Cake in a heart-shaped
pan, just like my mom used to, and every
summer I bring Chocolate Zucchini Cake
to at least one family picnic.
Though the essence of The Daily Star
Recipe Contest remains the same, the
event has evolved over the past 50 years
to reflect cultural changes that have
influenced what and how we eat.
Many of the contestants in the inaugural
cook-off demonstrated traditional
family cooking (Tuna Cashew Casserole,
Manhattan Clam Chowder, Strawberry
Rhubarb Pie, Squash-Country Style),
while a few prepared fancier dishes
such as Chicken Liver Canape and Hungarian
Cheesecake.
Categories in the 1961 event included:
Vegetable, Dairy Dishes, Meat and
Poultry, Seafood, Desserts, Pastries,
Casseroles and a mysterious category
titled For Men Only, which I can only
presume was for recipes designed to be
especially appealing to men. (The winning
recipe, submitted by Mrs. Kenneth
Stalter of Franklin, was titled Old Fashioned
Man Size Ginger Cookies.)
Sweet-and-sour was the flavor of
choice in the late ’60s and early ’70s,
with three similar recipes taking home
the grand prize within a four-year period:
Sweet-Sour Spareribs by Mrs. Kent
Hagedorn of North Kortright in 1968,
Sweet and Sour Pork by Mrs. Charles R.
Weber of Oneonta in 1970 and Sweet and
Sour Chicken Dinner by Mrs. Alexander
C. Smith Jr. of Oneonta in 1971.
Over the years, entrees and desserts
have remained cook-off staples, and
categories such as soups and appetizers
have been popular in every decade.
A variety of more-specific
categories have
come and gone over
the years, including a
category for microwave
cooking and a hearthealthy
category, with
recipes analyzed by staff
from the Healthy Heart
Institute in Cooperstown.
In 1985, the 25th
anniversary Cookbook
included a New York
state foods category
featuring recipes that
contained ingredients
produced or grown in the
Empire State, including
maple syrup, zucchini,
potatoes, squash, corn,
tomatoes, apples, Swiss
chard, broccoli, spinach,
pears, strawberries and
peppers.
Ethnic flavors have
always been represented,
but in the first 25 years
of the event, many of the
ethnic dishes featured
at the cook-off were
family recipes reflecting
the heritage of the
contestants _ including
Berta Becker of Pindars
Corners, who won in 1966
with her Sauerbraten
with Gingersnap Gravy
and Spaetzle, and Dianne
Dirig of Oneonta, who
took home the grand
prize in 1984 with her
Armenian Cheese Turnovers.
In the past two decades,
recipes have grown more
diverse, incorporating
the Asian and Southwest-
style salsas, sauces
and spices reflected in
Americans’ broadening
cultural food preferences.
This year’s cook-off is
no different, with a lineup
featuring recipes with
Cajun, Japanese, Middle
Eastern and Mexican
influences or ingredients.
Over the years, some
contestants have given
new meaning to the
words “from scratch.”
For example, in 1997,
Fred Ballard of Davenport
won second place
with his Tomato Chicken
Sauce, made with chickens
he raised and tomatoes
he grew himself. In
2008, Bob Soules of Otego
made his own pasta for
his grand-prize-winning
Seafood Ravioli dish.
“That’s pretty ambitious
from where I sit as a
chef,” said Emily Popek,
Daily Star associate managing
editor and cook-off
coordinator for the past
seven years. “He was
done in plenty of time, he
gave a great presentation
_ he made it look easy,
and, I think by the time
he was done, a lot of the
people in the audience
were thinking, `Hey, I
could make pasta.’ And it
was delicious.”
In recent years, there
has been a greater emphasis
on presentation,
with some contestants not
only plating their entrées
with side dishes and
garnishes, but also serving
them to the judges
on elegant place settings
complete with fancy
dishes and silverware,
candles, beverages and
fresh flowers.
“Thank you, Food
Network _ sometimes I
say that through clenched
teeth,” joked two-time
grand-prize winner Kitty
Brennan, recalling the
year she raced around
the Hannaford supermarket
in search of last-minute
items to improve her
chances of winning, after
witnessing a “fabulous
presentation” by another
contestant. She arranged
tulips in a sundae-glass
“vase” to spruce up her
place setting _ but finished
eighth that year.
Brennan credits TV
chefs with increasing
interest in cooking and
respect for culinary
expertise. “People like to
come and see the competition,”
she said. “You’re
seeing chefs kind of as
rock stars right now.”
The biggest difference
between the 1961 cookoff
and today’s event?
“Now,” Brennan said,
“people are understanding
just how cool those
housewives were.”
