Marking 200 years of Norwegian immigration to the U.S., Northern-Illinois Norwegian-Americans have published a cookbook.
“Fox River Settlement Heritage Recipes,” a collection of family recipes, is sponsored by Sons of Norway Polar Star 5-472 Lodge, Montgomery and Cleng Peerson Lodge 5-525, Ottawa.
The 120-page softbound book (Morris Press Cookbooks, Kearney, Neb.) features more than 100 recipes collected from lodge members since 2022, said editor Barb J. Johnson of Yorkville. “It is dedicated to all of the Norwegian pioneers who settled and established farms and communities on the prairies of Illinois,” she said.
In addition to the SON lodges, cookbook collaborators were the village of Norway, Ill., Norsk Museum, Slooper Society of America and Stavanger Lutheran Church.
Forty-six Norwegian emigrants, Norwegian Quakers and Quaker sympathizers from Stavanger, Norway, became known as “Sloopers” after arriving in New York City in 1825 aboard the sloop “Restauration.” In 1834, Peerson, a Norwegian-American pioneer, founded the Fox River settlement in LaSalle County after relocating from a New York settlement.
Cookbook chapters are appetizers and beverages, soups and salads, vegetables and side dishes, main dishes, breads and rolls, desserts, cookies and candy and “This and That,” listing apple butter, beef jerky and other recipes. Each chapter opens with a “Helpful Hints” page.
The book closes with “Pantry Basics,” “Baking Breads,” “ Baking Desserts,” “Vegetables and Fruits,” “Napkin Folding,” “Measurements and Substitutions,” “Equivalency Chart,” “Food Quantities,” Cooking Terms,” “Quick Fixes” and “Microwave Hints.”
Johnson said cookbook committee members included Karen Oswald and Nancy Andersen of Polar Star Lodge; and Dawn Gunderson, Mandy Beck and Connie Kross, Cleng Peerson Lodge.
Johnson said a limited number of cookbooks are available at $20 each. Call 630-553-7389 to order or for more information.
Sons of Norway (SON) Polar Star Lodge 5-472 meets on the first Sunday of the month at St. Olaf Lutheran Church in Montgomery. Polar Star is a member of the Minneapolis, Minn.-based non-profit founded in 1895 to promote Norwegian culture and heritage and offer financial products and services to members.
The organization offers language classes, cooking classes and sports programs to celebrate members’ Norwegian heritage. Polar Star is among more than 330 locally-governed lodges in the United States, Canada and Norway.
For more information, call 630-553-7389 or visit polarstarlodge.com/5.html for more information.
—Al Benson