***Ex-library, has taped outer binding (see pictures) otherwise clean and unmarked pages This is a book of recipes for the 'Young at Heart'; those lucky people of all ages, who are so busy having fun making things happen, that they have neither time nor need to count calories. For some years I have been collecting very special recipes for a very special person: my daughter Catherine. The ideas came from all sorts of places: newspaper and magazine articles - advertising publications - product packaging - friends - old cook books and recipe collections - as well as spectacular dishes eaten in far away places and duplicated at home. As time went on, so many friends requested copies of recipes which particularly pleased them, that it seemed appropriate to print a collection of the recipes most frequently shared with others. My interest in cooking goes back to my New England childhood. During the World War I years, when food was scarce, my mother taught me how innovative methods can turn inexpensive foods and left-overs into savory dishes fit for any gourmet taste. For example: Common and inexpensive tripe, cut into one inch cubes, dipped in beaten eggs, rolled in flour and sauteed became 'oyster of the day'. If I didn't know better, l'd say that my mother probably invented casseroles; those fascinating dishes which lend themselves to a bewilderment of innovative techniques. By age 12, I was substituting as a short-order cook in my Uncle Bob's Puritan Lunch restaurant in Springfield, Mass., on those frequent occasions when the regular cook failed to show. At the University of N.C. in Chapel Hill, in 1930, I fed myself and another student three meals a day for one year, spending only fifty cents a day for food, and cooking the meals on a one-burner electric hot plate. In the summer of 1930, I met Ina Bishop from Jacksonville, N.C. She was, at the time, the graduate Home Economist for a University of North Carolina study-camping tour of the United States. Ina planned meals for eighty-five persons on the tour, bought the food in some of the most unbelievable places, and kept everybody well and happy for sixty-one days while traveling across plains and deserts, fording bridgeless streams, climbing endless mountains from North Carolina to California and zigzagging back over 12,000 miles of unpaved roads. A year later, as my wife, she was cooking our meals on a regular basis, and teaching me a thing or two about meal planning and food preparation. During the Great Depression of nineteen-thirty's, Ina demonstrated her innovative techniques in cooking by transforming the least expensive foods into glorious dishes out of which dreams were made. She prepared delightful meals for six, while being limited to a monthly food budget of less than a carpenter's helper today would consider a decent day's pay. This collection of recipes includes some of Ina's recipes and techniques of fine cooking. A necessary ingredient for the cook who wants to turn that innovative spirit loose is 'tasters'. The cook needs family and friends who will report their honest convictions about the quality of the product tasted. Fortunate-ly, in the Kitty Hawk area, the beaches and woods are full of highly qualified 'tasters', who, themselves, are good cooks. I can't possibly list all those who tasted these dishes while the recipes were being developed; but those who commented most frequently, offering useful suggestions and requesting copies of the recipes sampled, need to be thanked, at least by listing their names. (I'm sure that, although not mentioned, the husbands and children of all these women had something to say about the food, too, as did all the men who came to the house to shoot pool on Tuesday nights for the past seven years.) So, I thank my faithful 'tasters': Liz Hollowell Eleanor Via Beverley Steele Myra Ledyard Millie Oldfield Gertrude Rogallo Peggie Bakken Melba Perry Pam King Ann Owens Betty Johnson Anne McGuire Bettina Frazier Antoinette Robeson Lillian Oswald Shirley Barrett Edie Trost Mary Alexander I've had fun collecting and cooking these goodies for the past several years. I hope that you too will find these carefully tested and selected recipes tempting, exciting, attractive and delicious enough that you will not only enjoy them frequently, but will share them with those very special others who love good food, beautifully prepared and served. Wallace H. Kuralt Kitty Hawk, N.C. 1983 The Young Women's Circle of the Kitty Hawk United Methodist Church wishes to thank Mr. Kuralt for his donation of time and energy in compiling these recipes. All proceeds from the sale of this book will go to further the work of the United Methodist Women's Mission projects in the Church, the community, and the world. Our circle presents with pride a glimpse into the life of our generous friend and his hobby, which he has already shared with so many admirers. We hope that each reader will treasure this book as we treasure the friendship of Mr. Wallace Kuralt.