Kathy's Cookbook: Costello passes down family traditions
By KATHY HAGEMAN
Staff writer
Remember the old cartoons where aromas are depicted as spirit-like creatures that waft out, tap the cartoon character on the shoulder, and entice the character to follow?
That's how I felt during a recent visit to the Marion home of Diana Costello. Entering the front door, my nose was greeted with the mouth-watering aroma of oatmeal bread just waiting to be pulled from the oven.
Breads are Diana's specialty whether they be dessert fare like her oatmeal bread or a pungent Italian dinner bread called focaccia.
"Italian breads are my favorites," Diane explained. "I have a fresh herb garden so I use those herbs and just keep experimenting."
Experimentation has been a key component of Diana's cooking ever since she learned to cook as a young girl. A Marion native, Diana (Case) Costello learned to cook by example.
"Both my grandmothers and my mom (Jean Case) were wonderful cooks," Diana said. "Mom was at home when I was growing up and we had three meals a day."
About the time Diana entered junior high school, her mother returned to teaching and Diana began taking on more duties in the kitchen.
"I'd come home from school and get things started for her," Diana said.
As a high school student, Diana began cooking lunch for her father, the late Alex Case.
"I'd make hamburger with gravy to go over fried eggs and potatoes," she recalled. "I'll never forget the first time I made gravy. I just kept adding flour. It was so thick we couldn't eat it.
"We gave it to our big hunting dog. His jaws got stuck together," she remembered with a laugh.
Diana said her major influence in the kitchen was her grandma, Helen Case.
"We always had big Sunday dinners at her house. After Sunday school I'd hurry over there to help her," Diana remembered. "She was my soul mate. She had world famous recipes. I still have some of her recipes, but she cooked in a time where you used real butter and cream."
Unlike two generations ago when Americans were much less sedentary, most of today's cooks avoid the rich ingredients. Diana's family is no exception.
"As a rule, I don't fry very much and we use a lot of vegetables. I try to keep all food groups represented," she explained. "I love yeast breads and desserts and love to make pie crust.
"The secret to a good pie crust is using a pastry cloth and sock," she confided
Nowadays, however, pie crusts at the Costello household are usually limited to meat pies from leftover roast and the like.
"I have a real sweet tooth and much as I would love to make pies it's hard to justify using that lump of shortening," she said.
Just like when she was young, family dinners remain an important part of the daily ritual in the Costello household. The family includes Diana's husband, Chris, president of the Tampa State Bank; daughter Emily, a senior at Emporia State University; Kevin, a junior at Marion High School; and Timothy, a fifth grader at Marion Elementary School.
"We have family dinners several times a week and with a son involved in athletics it's difficult. But we make it a point to do it," she said. "Anymore with people all running this way and that way I don't know how family members even see each other any more.
"I'm very protective of that family time," Diana said, explaining the importance of the dinner hour. "Besides, if someone is mad at someone else in the family it will get resolved one way or the other at the dinner table.
"The funniest things happen during family dinners," she recalled with a smile. "Some of my best memories over the years involve family dinners and discussions."
In the Costello household, family dinners also are a good time to try new culinary delights.
"I like to experiment. That's one of my husband's pet peeves. He says I mess around with perfectly good stuff," she said with a laugh. "But my kids are willing to experiment.
"If we try a new recipe and it's a thumbs up it goes into the recipe box. If it's a thumbs down we never do it again," she said.
Needless to say, Diana's recipes and cookbook collection are extensive.
Her flair for experimentation in the kitchen has led Diana into many new ventures. When her recipes called for fresh herbs, Diana decided to grow her own.
"It was so expensive to buy herbs so I decided to grow them. Besides, they're so beautiful and can smell so good. Basil is my favorite," she said, noting friends had come over recently for a pesto party.
Italian foods and cooking has become a favorite in the Costello household.
"It's such comfort food. The lasagna, the spaghetti. Pasta is a wonderful energy food. I love manicotti and fettuccine. And I really love the bread," she said.
While dining at a Macaroni Grill restaurant, Diana discovered foccacia, an Italian bread. Returning home she determined to duplicate it. Using a basic French bread recipe as a base, Diana kept experimenting until she found just the right flavor.
To eat, foccacia bread is pulled apart by hand and may be dipped in herb-seasoned olive oil.
A desire to pursue organic cooking and the need for fresh vegetables led Diana to start gardening. That, in turn, led to the need to can the fruits of her labor. So Diana, a Marion High School English teacher, found a "how to" book and taught herself to can.
"I really like to make salsas and jellies," she said. "One of my favorites is hot pepper jelly."
Diana enjoys sharing her love of cooking. Not only does she host pesto parties and the like, but she also has taught classes on bread making at Butler of Marion. While volunteering as a Girl Scout leader for her daughter's troop, Diana taught the girls how to cook.
"We'd make bread from scratch and would do meals using our best china," she recalled. "We also loved cooking over the campfire using a Dutch oven."
With that kind of example, no wonder daughter Emily also has developed a love for cooking.
"Emily is a great cook," Diana said beaming. "She'll call me up and say 'How'd you do that?' and I tell her.
"It's just passing down the tradition."
If you know a cook who would like to be featured in a future segment of "Kathy's Cookbook," contact Hageman at 382-2165 or e-mail kathy@marionrecord.com
