Mix wisdom, experience and a dab of humor. The result: a cookbook perfect for sharing

The old saying “idle time is wasted time” does not have to prove true, especially while sitting in the waiting room of a doctor’s office.

On a recent trip to the doctor, I grabbed a handful of small spiral-bound cookbooks I’d collected from here and there to provide my reading material during my hour-long wait. We cooks can always use a new recipe to perk up humdrum daily meals, so these little cookbooks, some that are the only collected souvenirs I allow myself to purchase when traveling, have come in real handy and sport a lot of dog-eared pages for future reference.

One interesting cookbook, titled “What’s Cooking with the Pairs & Spares,” features a couple stirring a pot on the stove saying, “Kissin’ wears out — cookin’ don’t!” In the section of stews and soups, an recipe called Elephant Stew caught my eye with these simple ingredients: 1 medium elephant, 2 rabbits (optional), salt and pepper. Cut the elephant into small, bite-size pieces. Add enough brown gravy to cover. Cook over kerosene fire for about 4 weeks at 465 degrees. This will serve 3,800 people. If more are expected, 2 rabbits may be added, but do this only in an emergency; most people do not like “hare” in their stew!

I haven’t been elephant hunting as of late, so haven’t tried that recipe, but I have tried a recipe for quick hard-boiled eggs found in the “Pleasures from the Lord’s Good Earth” cookbook by the Sunshine Ladies of St. Luke’s UMC in Bluffton. It’s the perfect trick when you’re in a hurry or are mixing potato, tuna or chicken salad. Ingredients listed: eggs, microwave-safe bowl and microwave. Break one or more eggs in a microwave-safe dish, beat with fork and microwave until soft set. Dice, and presto! You have a quick, peeled, boiled egg for your salad.

Another unique but not edible recipe in the same cookbook was submitted by Lois Willig. The ingredients for Cinnamon Christmas Ornaments are cinnamon, applesauce, paints and ribbon or ornament hangers. Instructions are: Mix equal parts (2 cups) of applesauce and cinnamon. Spread out on a workspace dusted with cinnamon, cut out ornaments using cookie cutters, place a hole at the top of each for a hanger, move to a cookie sheet and let air-dry. When cured, they will be hard as a rock and will smell great. Decorate with paint and use hangers to place on your Christmas tree year after year!

Appearing in the 1998 edition of “Sandlapper Cooks” featuring recipes of South Carolina cooks — but posted in other local church cookbooks since then — this recipe by my son, Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner, called “Tanner’s Seasoning with Muscle” is a seasoning mix that comes in handy for meats or seafood. Ingredients listed are: 3 cups iodized salt, ½ cup ground black pepper, ¼ cup ground red pepper, 3 tablespoons garlic powder, 1 teaspoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon ground thyme, 2 teaspoons basil. Instructions: Place all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Use as you would salt when seasoning any meats or seafood. For future use, store remaining mix in shaker containers in a cool, dry place.

A sure-to-please recipe for our Lowcountry seafood lovers coming out of a souvenir cookbook from Cedar Key, Fla., titled “Keys to Good Cooking” is Oysters Wrapped in Bacon. Ingredients: 1 quart fresh oysters, 1 pound sliced bacon, 1 box toothpicks and 1 deep fryer of hot grease. Wrap bacon around oyster, secure with a toothpick and fry until golden brown. Serve hot!

Here is my own adjusted go-to recipe when I’m out of ideas for lunch. Cheeseburger Pie is quick and easy to prepare. Ingredients: 1 lb. ground sirloin beef or venison, ½ cup chopped onion, ¼ cup chopped green pepper, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoonblack pepper, 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, ½ cup Bisquick Baking Mix, 1 cup milk, 2 eggs. Instructions: Cook ground meat, onions and peppers until brown and stir in salt and pepper. Spread in a greased 10-inch pie plate and sprinkle with cheese. Stir remaining ingredients until blended. Pour over beef and cheese mixture in pie plate and bake for 25 minutes at 400 degrees.

A handy tip from Bluffton’s First Zion Missionary Baptist Church cookbook, “Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread,” that comes in handy: Keep a recipe card upright by placing it in the tines of a fork and putting the fork handle in a glass. This tip keeps your recipe card clean and ready with just a glance.

I love this “Recipe for a Happy Home.” Ingredients: 4 cups of love, 2 cups of loyalty, 3 cups of kindness, 1 cup of friendship, 5 spoons of hope, 2 spoons of tenderness, 4 quarts of faith and 1 barrel of laughter. Mix love, loyalty and kindness with friendship and tenderness. Add hope and faith, sprinkling abundantly with laughter. Bake it with sunshine and serve generously each day!

This story was originally published August 10, 2017 at 12:50 PM with the headline "Mix wisdom, experience and a dab of humor. The result: a cookbook perfect for sharing."