The cover of the Isle Royale Families Cookbook gives a hint to what’s inside—time-tested recipes and lots of photos of the people of Isle Royale. There is even a Recipe for a Wonderful Day.
If you enjoy older recipes, this is the book for you. The Isle Royale Families & Friends Association (IRFFA) has assembled a cookbook that gives you the opportunity to share tried and true recipes and family stories from “Island folks.”
As oft time visitors to the Island, my sisters, brothers and I were fortunate to have been passengers on the various boats piloted to the Island for 50-plus years by our dad, Captain Roy Oberg.
I found the Isle Royale Families Cook Book: A collection of recipes from summer residents 1886 – 2013, to be full of many good recipes, with very interesting and entertaining family adventure stories of summer life on this isolated island in our beautiful Lake Superior.
We kids have many stories of the “fisherwives who fed us delicious cookies and snacks,” and how the “Island folks” and summer cabin residents would swarm the docks for the latest news, when Dad delivered their mail, groceries and loaded up the fish to bring back for the fish companies in Duluth.
We have fond memories of Pete and Mary Edison of Rock Harbor. Pete had a seagull that came when he called. It would sit on Pete’s hat and eat fish out of his hand. Our boat tourists loved it!
Their dock was also the start of a short trail over to the “Old Rock Harbor Lighthouse,” where we often went if we had time or when we docked over night at their place. A lot of time was spent at the old lighthouse, wondering about its stories or making up our own. We spent a lot of time on its beach, picking greenstones, until the government took over the Island for a national park and, it was no longer legal to pick the lovely stones, which are only found on Isle Royale and Africa.
Our Dad liked to cook and we enjoyed his fish soup and planked trout. You’ll find variations of those recipes in this cookbook.
The Isle Royale Friends and Family Association is considering another edition of the cookbook, featuring the boat captains of Isle Royale as well as some people who may have been missed. If you are interested in being included, contact Teri Power at tpower@amerytel.net.
The cookbooks are available for sale in Cook County at Birch Bark Gallery, Sivertson’s Gallery and the Lake Superior Trading Post in Grand Marais and at WatersEdge Trading Post and the North Shore Commercial Fishing Museum in Tofte.
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