Real Oklahoma Cookin’: Ingenious Indigenous Pudding

Sometimes, simple is better. Way better.

On the dusty racks of a used bookstore that has seen better days, I found a small paperback book from the mid-70s called Oklahoma Cookin’.

Compiled by “special consultant” Herb Walker, I think it was once sold in grocery store checkout lines next to candy bars, tabloids, and copies of Prevention magazine.

I grabbed the book, started thumbing through it, and was amazed at how unpretentious the recipes were. Little bits of trivia adorned the margins, and the book included sections like “Main Dishes,” “Oklahoma Bread,” and, most surprisingly progressive for the 1970s, “Indian Indigenous Food.”

Plunking my one-dollar bill on the counter, I automatically bought the book. Merry Christmas to me!