Isigny Ste Mère: The Global Butter Brands Game Created by Ruth Paget

Isigny Ste Mère: The Global Butter Brands Game Created by Ruth Paget 

Number of Players: 1 or Teams of 2 or 4 

Objective: 

Improve knowledge of world butter culture and production methods to make better purchasing decisions about elite butter brands. 

Game Tools:  

-Butter: A Rich History by Elaine Khosrova – available in hardback, paperback, or kindle 

-notebook paper

-index cards 

-pens 

-access to Google pronunciation tool with speaker function 

Game 1: 

Read about butter production techniques in Butter: A Rich History by Elaine Khosrova. Try to visualize each step taken in the production process. 

Write the name of each production method on top of a piece of notebook paper. 

List the steps needed to take in each production method with numbers. Cover up the steps for each production method and try to write them down to memorize them. Do this until you have memorized the steps in each production method. 

Knowing this information will allow you to make better-informed buying decisions about butter and get the best value for your money. 

The different butter production methods to research in Butter: A Rich History by Elaine Khosrova follow: 

-batch-churned and artisan sweet butters 

-continuous-churned sweet butter 

-European-style (higher butterfat) sweet butters 

-traditional vat-cultured butters 

-whey cream butters 

-goat butters 

-sheep butters 

-raw milk (unpasteurized) butter 

-canned butters 

-ghee, smen 

Game 2: 

Once you know butter production methods backwards and forwards, you can go to the next level in butter knowledge by learning the top brands for each production method and the countries they come from. 

Khosrova lists top butter brands by production method in an appendix. 

Step 1: Type the brand name into Google Pronunciation with the country language and learn to correctly pronounce the brand name. 

Step 2: Quiz yourself on brand names and production methods by flipping through the index cards. 

Step 3: Quiz yourself on brand names and country of origin by flipping through the index cards. 

Learning all the information in this game will help with buying butter and might interest potential employers in catering, restaurants, upscale grocery stores, and companies with in-house dining. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click for Ruth Paget's Books

Oklahoma's Route 66 Food by Ruth Paget

Oklahoma’s Route 66 Food by Ruth Paget 

You can see that Oklahomans enjoy eating state fair food year round as you read through Eat and Explore Oklahoma by Christy Campbell. 

The recipes in this cookbook are clearly explained and use ingredients that can be found in chain grocery stores. 

The following recipes look delicious and are relatively inexpensive to prepare: 

-cowboy caviar made with black beans, black olives, lime juice, cumin, red pepper, and cream cheese 

-raspberry punch made with lemon-lime soda, raspberry juice, lemonade, and raspberry sherbet 

-cold peach soup made with peaches, sugar, sour cream, lemon juice, sherry or white wine, orange juice concentrate, and fresh peaches 

-strawberry soup made with frozen strawberries, sour cream, grenadine syrup, vanilla extract, powdered sugar, and half and half 

-fresh veggie pasta made with tri-color pasta swirls, cucumbers, yellow squash, zucchini squash, green onions, carrots, celery, and dressing 

-carrot-macaroni salad made with curly noodles, grated carrots, condensed milk, and green pepper 

-beer bread made with self-rising flour, sugar, beer, and butter 

-Parmesan rice made with rice, green onions, cottage cheese, sour cream, milk, parsley, and Parmesan cheese 

-sour cream chicken made with chicken breasts, butter, mushroom soup, mayonnaise, sour cream, and crushed Ritz crackers as a topping 

Eat and Explore Oklahoma by Christy Campbell also lists may bed and breakfasts where you can sample these Route 66 dishes on vacation. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click for Ruth Paget's Books

Montana and Wyoming's Food Flair by Ruth Paget

Montana and Wyoming Food Flair by Ruth Paget 

On vacations to Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Glacier National Parks in Wyoming and Montana, I have seen the Big Sky with feathery cirrus clouds and cumulus clouds heavy with rain that sometimes made my vacations wet or snowy depending on the temperature. 

With the cookbook Best of the Best from Big Sky – Montana and Wyoming edited by Gwen McKee and Barbara Moseley, I can experience some of the life of Big Sky residents who shop once a week if weather permits. 

I liked the following recipes in the cookbook, because they are easy to recreate in other states: 

-white bean dip made with garlic, white kidney beans, lemon juice, olive oil, cumin, cayenne, and cilantro leaves 

-black bean salsa made with red peppers, onion, cucumber, celery, tomato juice, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, thyme, cumin, and cilantro 

-cheese and chile bread made with French bread, mayonnaise, Monterey Jack cheese, green chilies, and jalapeños 

-oat biscuits made with eggs in addition to traditional ingredients. Oats contain all of the 9 essential amino acids needed to make a full protein. They are also relatively inexpensive. 

-oatmeal sunflower millet bread made with honey, whole-wheat flour, safflower oil, oatmeal, sunflower seeds, and millet 

-cranberry walnut scones made with milk and maple syrup in addition to the main ingredients 

-old-fashioned potato pancakes made with eggs and flour 

-turkey-wild rice soup 

-Norwegian fish chowder made with carrots, onions, and cauliflower 

-Russian scalloped potatoes made with onions, sour cream, potatoes, ham, and Parmesan cheese 

-pierogi casserole made with lasagna pasta, potatoes, cheddar cheese, onions, and butter. Pierogis are a Polish dish. 

-Bourbon pork tenderloins made with bourbon and brown sugar and topped off with mustard sauce 

-Dutch oven chicken dinner – a one-pot meal made with potatoes, zucchini, carrots, cabbage, garbanzo beans, onions, and chicken. 

Cooks interested in finding out more about the cuisine of America’s great national parks will enjoy Best of the Best from Big Sky – Montana and Wyoming edited by Gwen McKee and Barbara Moseley. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click for Ruth Paget's Books

Texas Gold Star Cuisine by Ruth Paget

Texas Gold Star Cuisine by Ruth Paget 

I have visited Houston, Texas once for the wedding of a college friend from the University of Chicago. 

The sultry Gulf Coast air in Houston made the big Texan hair I had worked so hard to curl like Farah Fawcett’s for the wedding fall limply on my face despite hair spray. (Or, could it have been from dancing and singing to songs from the 1980s after the wedding?) 

If I count the times I have made plane connections in the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, I can say that I have been to Texas about 30 times on my way to various points in the Eastern United States from California. 

All these short stays in Texas piqued my interest in the state’s history and cuisine. 

I wanted to see how the large population of descendants of German immigrants to Texas mixed their love of meat with Southwestern ingredients when I bought The New Texas Cuisine by Stephen Pyles. 

Three meat dishes from this book that I thought looked especially good include: 

-veal medallions on wilted greens with pinto-wild mushroom sauce and spicy whipped sweet potatoes 

-pork tenderloin with dried cherry sauce and caramel pine nuts 

-roast beef tenderloin with roast tomato ancho chile sauce and wild mushroom enchilada 

Pyles also provides a nice collection of poultry dishes that are a little easier on the pocketbook to make such as the following: 

 -roast chicken in adobo sauce with black-bean prosciutto refrito 

-roast wild turkey with blue cornmeal-chorizo stuffing 

-pheasant braised in tequila with peaches 

The New Texas Cuisine cookbook by Stephen Pyles will surely expand what cooks think of as Texan cuisine as they cook and provide background information for trips to the state. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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The Food of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas by Ruth Paget

The Food of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas by Ruth Paget 

North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas are very important to the United States for grain production. 

North Dakota grows durum wheat, which is milled into protein-rich semolina flour that is used in pasta and pizza dough. South Dakota grows oats and rye. Nebraska grows corn. Kansas leads the country in wheat production. These four states are a breadbasket that feeds millions. 

These states also grow vegetables that mix with these grains to form protein combinations. (Basically, you are looking for seed and grain combinations.) These states are famous for meat eating, but protein combinations augment their protein consumption. 

There are absolutely terrific vegetable dishes in the cookbook Best of the Best from the Great Plains Cookbook – North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas edited by Gwen McKee and Barbara Moseley that go well with meat and form protein combinations with grain products. 

Some of the great vegetable recipes from this cookbook include: 

-radish dip made with cream cheese, butter, celery salt, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, radishes, and green onion 

-hot potato skins served with shredded cheese and crumbled bacon 

-skorpor (Swedish rusks – a kind of Swedish biscotti) 

-cauliflower salad made with cauliflower, chestnuts, mayonnaise, ranch dressing, onion, sour cream, and dill 

-broccoli salad made with broccoli, almonds, cherries, onions, green peppers, and crumbled bacon 

-spinach salad made with spinach, eggs, celery, onion, and cubed cheese 

-wild rice salad made with white chicken breast, rice, green grapes, cashews, water chestnuts, mayonnaise, and curry powder 

-onion salad made with onion slices, vinegar, sugar, mayonnaise, and celery seed 

-pear and walnut salad made with blue cheese 

-carrot-apple salad raisins and sunflower seeds 

-company potatoes made with cream of chicken soup, sour cream, grated American cheese, butter, and a crust of crumbled cornflakes 

-stuffed squash made with baked acorn squash with onion, turkey, apple, and raisins 

-Swiss green beans made with French onion dip, green beans, and Swiss cheese. My mom made this dish for Sunday meals for years. 

-rice and sour cream casserole with green chilies 

-rice casserole with onions and mushrooms 

Cooks interested in a variety of vegetable recipes might be interested in the recipes The Best of the Best from the Great Plains Cookbook – North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas edited by Gwen McKee and Barbara Moseley. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Alaska's Food Lessons by Ruth Paget

Alaska’s Food Lessons by Ruth Paget 

I have not visited Alaska, but enjoy the seafood from its frigid waters that run in Alaska Current off Monterey Bay (California) where I live. 

Some of the delicious seafood from Alaska that my family has enjoyed over the years include: 

-Sweet Alaskan King Crab legs, which I steam in a little water with white wine 

 -briny shrimp, which I turn into garlic shrimp with a sprinkling of hot red pepper flakes 

-Large, chunky Pacific cod, which Californians eat deep-fried in IPA beer batter with thick curly fries 

-Salmon, which I bake with green beans and seasoned butter 

My family and I have very good impressions of Alaskan food based on those dishes alone. To complete my knowledge of Alaskan food, I turned to the Best of the Best from Alaska Cookbook edited by Gwen McKee and Barbara Moseley. 

There are recipes for walrus meat in the cookbook, but I chose 5 dishes to represent what Alaska cooks that the continental US can also try:

-raspberry liqueur made with mashed raspberries, lemon peel, vodka, and sugar syrup

-salmon spread made with gelatin, white wine, sour cream, chili sauce, and canned salmon 

-cranberry apple nut bread 

-Swiss scalloped potatoes made with Swiss cheese, green onions, butter, flour, salt, pepper, milk, cream, and thinly sliced potatoes

-Celery custard made with diced celery, onions, milk, salt, pepper, and eggs. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. (Celery is a major crop in Monterey County California) 

For cooks interested in dishes for cold weather climates Best of the Best from Alaska edited by Gwen McKee and Barbara Moseley has great pantry recipes. 

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Wyoming's High-Altitude Food by Ruth Paget

Wyoming’s High-Altitude Food by Ruth Paget 

On the way to and from Wisconsin, my Californian family drove over the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming to go to a family reunion. The top of the Rockies around Laramie, their highest point, have rounded, black peaks devoid of snow and antelope grazing way up high in the 2020s. 

On visits to Yellowstone National Park, my family has also discovered that the high altitude whets the appetite, especially after hiking and alters baking times. 

I found several dishes that all go well with coffee, the always acceptable drink in Wyoming, in my souvenir cookbook entitled A Taste of Wyoming: Favorite Recipes from the Cowboy State by Pamela Sinclair that might interest other cooks: 

-blueberry kuchen or coffee cake brought by German immigrants to Wyoming, who make up the largest immigrant group in the state 

-ten-grain pecan pancakes with sautéed apples 

-mushroom risotto to go with the states beloved meat dishes 

-roasted garlic mashed potatoes to go with meat dishes -wild rice salad 

–a Native American dish made with chicken, celery, apple, cranberries, and walnuts 

-Basque lamb stew made by descendants of immigrants from the Basque country in Spain and France 

-Yellowstone drug store vanilla shake – a great way to end a day of hiking 

Cooks interested in expanding their repertoire might enjoy A Taste of Wyoming by Pamela Sinclair to relive grand moments in Wyoming and eat well, too. 

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click for Ruth Paget's Books