Rez Cheese - Softcover

Wiley, Elizabeth

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1490786430 ISBN 13: 9781490786438

Publisher: Trafford, 2017

Synopsis

This book is called Rez Cheez to memorialize those huge blocks of cheese that were part of the Treaty Rights for Native Nations who ended the genocide of the Native American people and the five-hundred-year wars between Native Nations (who did not believe in war) and those who invaded their lands with newly made guns. The old recipes are mentioned, as well as ways to create them in view of better traditional use of healthy foods, and to better control the diabetes that resulted from those treaty foods which more often than not consisted of fat, sugar, and white flour. All foods not contained in traditional recipes. The cover picture is zucchini lasagne, a heart and diabetes healthier version of use of vegetables and squash which is a traditional Native Nation food resource and of course, Rez cheese, or healthier versions.

About this title

About the Author

The author is a Native Pomo Elder growing up between the Rez of her Dad and Pasadena, California, home of her Mother. The author is brain injured following a severe high fever disease and has changed careers to train out bad boy horses to raise money for an equine therapy program for high risk youth, veterans, first responders and their families. The book Carousel Horse is an inclusion novel detailing what those programs accomplish.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Rez Cheese

By Elizabeth Wiley

Trafford Publishing

Copyright © 2018 Elizabeth Wiley MA JD, POMO Elder
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-4907-8643-8

Contents

Breakfast, 17, 
Pancakes, 17, 
Breakfast fry bread and eggs, 21, 
Fry bread., 25, 
EGGS FOR BREAKFAST, 27, 
Meat and eggs, 28, 
BREADS AND TORTILLAS, 29, 
POTATOES, 31, 
ACORN, or other MUSH, 33, 
Lunch, 37, 
Fry Bread Tacos, 37, 
Acorn crepe roll ups, 39, 
MACARONI AND REZ CHEEZ, 40, 
MEAT, 44, 
Sandwiches, 49, 
Salads, 51, 
Dinner, 56, 
Biscuit on a stick, 56, 
Barbequed meat, 57, 
Abalone (and other sea treats), 57, 
Steak sizzled on a rock, 59, 
Steak sizzled on a plank, 60, 
Steamed and fresh vegetables, 60, 
Stew, 61, 
Soup, 61, 
Rice, 62, 
Beans, 62, 
PUMPKINS and SQUASH, 64, 
Desserts, 66, 
Fruit and berry desserts, 66, 
Cheese and cream, 67, 
Book Exerpts, 69, 
GRANDMOTHER AND AUNTIE GARDENS, 69, 
COWBOYS N NDNS, 86, 
LEGAL ETHICS: NOT JUST AN OXYMORON, 90, 
OTHER BOOKS BY AUTHOR, 95, 

CHAPTER 1

RECIPES:

I have put both the old recipes, and newer, more health friendly recipes in this book: Research is now in progress finding that original foods are helping Native Americans to avoid or keep "the diabetes" under control. The research is also showing that the sugar, fat, and white flour the treaty foods left, and the current foods bought with food stamps or on reservation store shelves has created the diabetic crisis statistics for Native Americans.

Diabetes was called "the diabetes". It was a scary lurking reality when I was a child. When I was 18 I decided with one of my sisters that we did not want "the diabetes". Weight Watchers had just started a couple of years before, so we joined, hoping it would help us learn something that would keep "the diabetes" at bay.

Breakfast

Pancakes

My Grandmother, her sisters, and cousins, who we called "the Aunties" generally had, or at one time had had jobs in town, or in a far away cities, but they maintained their old ways of mixing up pancakes (as most of their recipes) using the "eye ball it" method of measuring, or amounts we children thought magic, the ability to pour something into their hand and know the right amount for amazingly good breakfast treats.

Depending on the reservation, and the poverty of the moment, pancakes could be as simple as flour, baking soda, and water, or complex, tasty treats with berries, fruits, and new cream piled high if the family had access to fresh whole milk. Sometimes the surplus box had some giant size pancake and biscuit mix and that was used to make the breakfast pancakes. If the family had their own chickens, geese and ducks, eggs were added to the mix.]

Once in awhile big packages which said EGGS on the white container sides came. I can still remember how nasty those dried eggs were, they were surplus from dried eggs sold to the military in most cases. These eggs were added to the pancakes rather than use real eggs. The taste did not make the pancakes taste bad.

Pancakes, depending on the delivery from the BIA, or on access and money to buy from town might be packaged pancake mix, or made from flour, sugar, butter delivered by the BIA agent. Either way was a great treat for those of kids visiting the Aunties that day. After foodstamps began to be used, most reserves handed out food stamps rather than government surplus commodities to the communities.

A general recipe:

Two one pint canning jars of flour (and sift it unless you wanted a little extra protein from bugs in those old days of BIA food disbursements).

One small fist full of sugar (you might want to sift that as well).

A big cooking spoonful of lard, or a slab of butter sliced with a hot knife off the five pound block of butter, or melted out of a five gallon tub of lard by heating a metal cooking spoon and then scooping out lard from the bucket with the hot spoon. The lard or butter was then melted slightly by leaving it in a small pan or a clean can on the top of the wood stove a few minutes. When there was not enough butter, lard was used. When no lard, a slop of pork fat out of the used rinsed out food can that was kept on the back of the wood stove with left over bacon, or pork drippings. This can of drippings was also used for gravy which is discussed later with biscuits.

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda for each cup of flour The women and little old ladies simply poured the right amount in their hand and tossed it into the mix.

or 1 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder for each cup of flour (a canning jar of flour meant 2 to 4 teaspoons of baking powder, or a heaped teaspoon of baking soda.

a large pinch of salt two big eggs mixed with either a half cup of remixed powdered milk, canned milk, or a cup of real milk Stir together all the liquids After sifting the flour mix with the other dry ingredients (depending on the bugs, it was well worth sifting ALL the dry ingredients, including the dry milk)

Mix loosely together, do not over mix, lumps are OK!

Using an old tea cup drop by half cupfuls on the big greased up griddle, or huge wrought iron pan as big as the stove top, or often on the top of the wood stove itself.

When the bubbles start forming, add nuts, fruit cut into small chunks, berries, cheese cut into small bites, or grated, raisons, candies of many types were all celebrated by the children and the young at heart.

The more grease you add to the hot pan or grill surface, whether butter, vegetable oil, lard, or bacon/pork renderings from cooking pork, the crisper the pancakes will be on the sides.

When the bubbles are set, turn the pancakes over, and check until done, nice light brown, not burnt or raw.

Pile up on a hot pot or metal plate set on the back of the stove or in a warm oven, and finish cooking all the pancakes.

Serve with one of those industrial size jars of peanut butter, jam, or homemade jam and preserves, and either store bought or homemade syrup or honey, and of course MORE butter. Another great topping for these pancakes was a big bowl of cream taken off the top of fresh milk that had sat out from the last milking and scooped off the top of the bucket of milk, or out of the top of the cans waiting to be picked up by the dairy co op for processing and sale.

Depending on how many people were eating breakfast, and what they were doing, from shearing sheep, to branding cattle, to milking a dairy full of cows, or other farm work, or a barn raising, fixing either a house, barn, or putting in fences for an elderly or disabled person, or a family of relatives or just sitting around talking about the sermon you could put the whole jar of peanut butter, or gallon of jam on the table. The syrup often came in a quart sized white papered can that said in black letters "Syrup". This was often heated and poured into washed glass milk bottles, or heat proof one quart measuring cups and set on the table as well.

Another great topping for these pancakes was a big bowl of cream taken off the top of fresh milk that had sat out from the last milking and scooped off the top of the bucket of milk, or out of the top of the cans waiting to be picked up by the dairy co op for processing and sale.

For a healthier diet, buy a store bought mix that has all the ingredients contained and mixes with water. Follow the directions and look at the calorie count. Cook on a non stick pan, and serve with the fruit or berries only.

Some nuts and seeds are low calorie and can be added with the fruit sprinkled before flipping the half cooked pancakes. If you make your own jams and preserves (recipes later in this book) or use one teaspoon of store bought syrup, honey, or jam per pancake two to three pancakes is a good breakfast. Depending on the Auntie, and which ranch or farm was needing work done after church, piles and piles of pancakes would go down with a certain citrus drink that came in small packages and was always in huge jugs, made with as much sugar as bearable.

A childhood memory from every rez was the plastic drinking glasses bought at home sale shows, and yard sales, which NEVER gave up a slight taste of dish soap, but on hot, working days, made that drink taste all the more awesome and memorable.

Today and for most of the years of my children's childhood, I mixed this citrus drink with only 1/2 cup of sugar for each half gallon, and added both orange and lemon slices to the jar, no matter what the flavor on the packet. At my old age, I add lemon juice and NO sugar. I do not drink or use substitute sugar items. I have had this light summer drink for so many years now I do not notice the difference from those old sugared drinks of childhood. I also add a couple of green tea bags to the lemon and orange flavors to add flavor to the drink without adding calories. Lemon, orange, or other fruit slices also add taste and not many calories, if any.

For a healthier diet I also usually drink a glass of water before eating breakfast, and a glass of water with breakfast. No sugar.

Breakfast fry bread and eggs

When I was a child, everyone, even my white Grandparents who lived in a big city in Pasadena, a big city in Southern California had chickens, and raised their own eggs.

On every reservation I visited, as a child, and teen, and while doing research in law school, every household had chickens, turkeys, geese (often wild geese who had started out with rescued injured birds long years ago and grown into huge flocks of domesticated wild geese, often bred with farm geese of many breeds). On reserves without nearby water, the ducks, geese and kids would trek along on the morning and evening water walks. I was a city kid and it delighted me to watch the ducks and geese rush to the water, no matter how small the pond, or creek to splash and pick around with heads under water looking for good things to eat.

Many small bird flocks were also started with rescued injured birds and became large flocks of semi wild birds who roosted in fenced housing to protect them from the coyotes, wolves and wild dog packs among other predators, including the neighbors. The Natives had found that many small birds, such as small pheasants, game hens, pigeons, doves and quail if awakened in the night by a light, left on for half an hour would lay an extra egg. The eggs were often a variety of shades and colors, and sizes. A tiny hole in one end, a slightly larger hole in the other and the eggs would be blown out into a bowl and the shells used in art work. Broken and used shells were kept in the compost and/or crushed into the feeding areas for the birds to replace their calcium for egg laying. Feathers were used for art and pillows, quilts. Even the bones were often brined, then smoked and kept for winter when meat was scarce to cook as starters for stews and soups.

SO, eggs were a daily standard of at least one meal a day. Hard boiled eggs were generally in a bowl or basket in every household for the children to eat as snacks.

My Grandmother and Mother from Pasadena, and San Francisco learned how to make the bread, and then toast it on the open flame of a gas stove, or on a stick and held over an open fire, or just tossing it on top of the wood stove and letting it toast. In return they taught the others how to poach, and soft boil eggs to eat on toast. Before fried eggs, or scrambled eggs with everything in sight thrown in was the norm.

As farm children learn early, it is the duty of the children to gather the eggs early in the morning, the children who gather the eggs know which hens are getting to keep a group of eggs, and which are not. Eggs left here and there by the chickens are simply tucked in under a hen just beginning to sit on a cluster. Even a lost chick can be kept until night and tucked in under the wings of a sleeping hen and her brood, she will just accept it the next day since it has her scent and that of her chicks all over it.

The wild birds that live in fly away fenced areas, I used to wonder, did they come back and look at their nest and wonder where their egg had gone? Only some of the eggs would be removed, and my Dad used to whittle little eggs of all sizes to keep in the nests so the birds and chickens would not get discouraged at their eggs disappearing, if one was there, they would lay another and not get discouraged and fly away to build a nest in a tree. In spring and maybe a second time later in early summer the eggs would be left until the bird settled down and hatched them. We always liked finding bugs, and putting them in the feeders for the birds where we could watch them get them and fly to their nests in the nests they made inside the fenced area to feed their babies. If we found wild birds that had fallen from nests, we would just wait until night and tuck them under a sleeping Mother bird with her chicks if she had room. Those tireless birds would not seem to notice another gaping mouth the next day and raise them up as their own.

Fry bread and eggs was usually made from tortillas left from the day before at breakfast, the slightly hard tortillas would be rinsed quickly with a spray, or bowl of water, and then tossed into a frying pan, or deep wrought iron Dutch oven filled with hot lard to make breakfast fry bread.

Fry bread.

Across the Americas, Alaska and most of the American islands, fry bread, baked bread comes in many names, but it is the same (and yet different for every cook, and local culture) flour, salt, leavening, water mix cooked in hot oil, or a dry oven.

The two most commonly known are the lard, flour, baking soda, salt mix that is fried in fat, often called Bannock in the northern parts of the US and most of Canada and Alaska. The other is FRY BREAD, that commonly sold Pow Wow treat, flour, salt and soda fried in fat base for NDN tacos, and to put butter, jam and anything else you can think of on it if you do not have meat and salad for fry bread tacos. Both fry bread and bannock can be baked, or cooked like a pancake on a lightly oiled griddle or the top of a wood stove or the more easily recognized deep fat fried breads usually seen in pow wows and competitions.

Fry bread was of course, created from the surplus government food allotments designed to keep the bargains of the treaties so the Native Nations would not fight back and take their own lands back against the well, modernly armed armies and robber barons of the Americas, who had their own vigilante kill groups on "their" ranches regardless of the treaties and agreements of the United States Government to protect the Native Nations and their citizens.

The origins of the other tortilla like breads varied across the nation often made with wild rice, maize, of many colors, and even acorn mush, cooked in a variety of ways depending on the local use of acorn flour.

Again, using a favorite pot, old tea cup, or canning jar, the usual recipe is two measures of flour to one half measure of lard, a pinch of salt and a cupped hand amount (about 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, or 2 teaspoons of baking powder per measure of flour) of leavening and one measure of water, used sparingly to produce a lightly kneaded dough to create the bread.

Do not put all the water in at once, the humidity, the type of flour, and altitude make a difference in the dough. Add half the water, the colder the betters, and mix with a FORK until the it looks like cornmeal, then add water by spoonfuls until the dough comes together, and can be easily kneaded in the bowl. The old Aunties of my childhood could do all of this by experience and skill, not even using measures, just an old cup or clean can to dip flour out of the big bag. My Grandmother often used a mixture of flours, including her own self made acorn flour, or left over acorn mush added to the dough.

Those big flour bags, especially in the earliest of reservation days, were very important. ALL of the food came in either kegs, or cheap cotton material. The women took the empty bags, pulled out the seams, and washed the material and made clothing and pillows out of the cloth. The kegs were cleaned out and kept to bring meat, or more importantly to store rain water for use, since most of the reserves were no longer near to rivers with clean water supplies and irrigation and home use systems. Most of the reserves were not on lands with low water tables to be able to dig wells, so water saving was very important to a people who bathe every day.

To make breakfast, a fry bread is created, thick or thin as desired, and eggs are cooked and folded into the cooked fry breads if they are thin, or served on top of the fry breads if they are thick, ANOTHER great place to add cheese! Grated is best and it was often melted on the top of the wood stove in a can or small pan and poured over the eggs and bread if there was no oven available. In my Nation many of the families lived on farms off the reservation or in town and had electricity, gas, and appliances. Many others, even on the reservations (we have 22 recognized and over 50 total sub nations in our Pomo Nation) had electricity because once my Dad learned how to put in the poles, and rented the equipment to put in the poles and where to buy the poles and set them in, the people could have fundraisers, and buy wire and the electric company and phone company would string the wire, that meant washers, stoves and refrigerators.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Rez Cheese by Elizabeth Wiley. Copyright © 2018 Elizabeth Wiley MA JD, POMO Elder. Excerpted by permission of Trafford Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Edition details

• Publisher: Trafford
• Publication date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1490786430
• ISBN 13: 9781490786438
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 108