Cookbook Project featuring Nancy F.

Nancy has loved to cook since she was a child. She’s passed on her love of cooking to the next two generations of her family. She’s submitted a recipe that uses Three Sisters crops, based on the Native American farming technique in which corn, squash, and beans are planted together so each plant can support and nourish the others.

Tell us a little about yourself and your background.

I’m originally from Maryland. I have five children and seven grandchildren. One son and daughter-in-law live in Colorado, and when they were expecting triplets, I moved west to help care for the babies. But, I still enjoy spending time back east.

When did you become interested in cooking?

I started cooking in the Girl Scouts and in 4H. I learned baking from my grandmother. My sisters and I loved spending the weekend with her and cooking with her. She was very specific and precise, and frugal about baking as she had grown up during the Depression. People couldn’t waste money on fancy ingredients. I learned to make apple pie, blueberry coffee cake, and banana bread - don’t waste the bananas! She baked traditional, basic recipes, and I learned a lot from her. 

My mother was more experimental with her cooking, rarely following a recipe. She used whatever she happened to have in the garden or what was on sale at the grocery store.

They both influenced my cooking as I enjoy cooking traditional recipes as well as experimenting with new techniques and foods.

Tell us about the recipe you submitted.

I travel once a year with a group of women to hike and bike at national parks. We were in a restaurant in Park City, Utah, when I saw a Three Sisters salad on the menu and thought it looked interesting. I wasn’t familiar with the term, but my friend was. After she described this theory of agriculture, I did additional research. First, you grow corn which is then used as a stake for the beans to grow on. The third vegetable is some kind of squash such as butternut, acorn squash, or pumpkin.

These three items grow well together because the elements they put into the soil help each other. Native Americans discovered that the flavors of these three vegetables complemented each other. You can make meals around hominy or roasted, sauteed, or grilled corn. Then add squash and beans.

I started playing around with different variations. My recipe includes wild rice in addition to butternut squash and corn, and black beans.

Who is your cooking inspiration, and why?

My mother and grandmother were my first inspirations. Later, I was fascinated by Julia Child, her history, and how she became a chef in a male-dominated profession. 

I was also recently re-introduced to Graham Kerr. My daughter was interested in going to culinary school in Oregon, and he’s on the board there. He has a very interesting story, and I respect his 180-degree turnaround in his philosophy of cooking with high-fat ingredients like butter and heavy cream. After his wife had a heart attack, the doctor told them she needed a healthier diet. He changed how he cooked and eventually led a movement to have restaurants include nutrition information on their menus.

What’s the most memorable meal that you’ve made?

After the kids grew up, they returned home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. One year I asked one of my sons if he had any requests. He sent me a bizarre menu that included ham hock terrine with red onion marmalade. He was joking, but I made it, and it was good!

I also host my brothers’ and sisters’ families at Christmas. I focus on a different country every year - England, French, Russian, Italian. One year my eight-year-old niece asked if we could have a “normal” Christmas dinner. I told her that she could choose the following year’s theme, and she chose Chinese. It wasn’t what I was expecting!

What’s the importance of sharing a meal around the table?

It’s just the best. It’s when everybody shares and it’s a time to come together. I have a rule that there are no phones at the table - they go in the phone basket. It’s a time to decompress and share your thoughts and feelings. It’s a time to nourish our bodies and our hearts. 

Have you ever taught anyone to cook?

I taught all my kids to cook. Not only is cooking an important life skill, I discovered that kids who help plan and prepare meals are more likely to eat a wider variety of foods. My sons are the primary meal preparers in their homes. My children are now teaching their own children to cook now that they’re old enough to help in the kitchen. 

Join Nancy as she co-hosts Plant-Based Eating: Recipe Spotlight with Deb, and learn how to make this delicious and nutritious dish.