For as long as most of us in the South Bay can remember, Glennalie Coleman has been the culinary voice of those things that are kitchen oriented. She has run classes in the art of classic cooking, she has been the proprietor of a local restaurant, she has the tools and experience to run a catering service, and she has written reams of material on the subject of cooking. It is a talent that she holds most dear.
It is no surprise, then, that she should be the driving force behind a cookbook, one dealing with anecdotes and recipes relating to the Sweetwater Valley. The book, titled Valley History and Recipes, Past and Present, had been some three years in the making. It came out this past week, in time for its inaugural at the just past Bonitafest. In addition to its recipes the booklet has vignettes relating to the valley and as such we find the little tome of value to household libraries.
This book, though classified as a cookbook, joins other publications in the Bonita Museum as historical in content. It is part of the ever expanding publications that are part of the Bonita Historical Society.
Quite appropriately the first item in the book is a short story of the “Old Red Barn.” This structure, we are told, was what set apart Bonita, the very contributing force behind the concept of country living. It was built in 1894 as a packing shed for the fast-bustling lemon industry. The perfection of the thin skin lemon, that was the characteristic of the local fruit, had fed fuel to the industry. Nature, however, stepped in and with the freeze of 1913 and the famous flood of 1916 the lemon industry was just about wiped out in the valley.
The barn, however, endured as a residence, as a blacksmith shop, as an antique store, and as anything else the owners could think of until it was torn down in 1960 to make way for a shopping center. Carol Hammond, a local resident and artist, has perpetuated the memory of the barn on a plate, one of ten such items on display at the museum. To accompany the story of the barn she has also submitted a recipe for Bar-B-Q Beans that probably would have pleased the palates of those calling the red barn their place of business or residence.
The second story is one that is a favorite of mine. It tells about the “Otay Limited” a railroad that was part of the National City and Otay Railroad. It ran south from San Diego to La Presa in Spring Valley. In its early days it was used to transport fruit but later passenger cars were added to take site seers to the newly built Sweetwater Dam. I think it would have been awe inspiring to have had a trail right in the heart of the valley. It probably was like some of those Western shows that we see on television with the smoke-belching engine puffing into the village. To accompany this anecdote there is a recipe for Greek Lemon soup submitted by Katherine Joseph who at one time had that classic salon, “The Grecian Goddess” on Bonita Road.
An extremely bright spot in the history of the valley is the Bonita-Sunnyside Fire Protection District. One of the stalwarts of the district, a retired fire captain, Richard Yokely has supplied a capsuled history of the district in the cookbook. He also has included his recipe for Firehouse Spaghetti, a meal that will feed 100 folks. An example of the enormity of the dish is the seven pounds of hamburger meat in its contents. We have had this dish in the past, a tribute meal given to members of the Sweetwater Valley Woman’s Club. It brought the plaudits of all those attending.
The underwriting for the printing of the book was by Bonita resident Al Monahan. Monahan also furnished recipes from his late wife June’s collection. Copies of the book may be obtained at the museum.
