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HOT DISH (OR) CASSEROLE

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Thanks to Faye Passow, artist

Minneapolis-based artist

B.F.A., University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire

M.A. in lithography,University of New Mexico, Albuquerque

Etsy: keepthefaye

More information: Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association

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What is a casserole? What is a hot dish?

  • Only recipes with:
    • Beef (including veal)
    • Pork (including sausage)
    • Poultry
    • Game,venison
    • NO fish-based recipes
    • NO non-meat recipes
  • Only recipes from Minnesota

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My dataset included or relied on these cookbooks

  • Spirit of cookbook: Pre-Hot Girl Dish Era: The Harmony Club Cookbook
  • Spirit of cookbook: Big Cookbook: Betty Crocker’s Dinner in a Dish
  • 1960: The Rebekah cookbook, 90 recipes
  • 1980: St. Mark’s 25th Anniversary Cookbook, Circle Pines, 17 recipes

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A sample recipe that did not make it into the final data

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The Rebekah Society

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St. Mark’s Lutheran Church

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Process for data intake

  • The real MVPs: Gale Family Library at the Minnesota Historical Society
  • Photos of recipe pages → standardized size via Photoshop
  • Photoshop → one PDF per cookbook
  • PDF → OCR → tearing my hair out → Text
  • Text → Cleaning → Excel

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Grouping into categories I could sort

  • Carbs
    • Bread
    • Noodles
    • Pasta
    • Rice
    • Starch
    • wild rice
  • cheese
  • dairy
  • eggs
  • soup
  • liquid, including broth
  • condiment
  • specialty
  • topping
  • protein
  • seasoning
  • vegetable

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This … feels accurate

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1980 only confirmed my suspicions

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Reaching out to the leader of Minnesota cultural matters

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“what’s a casserole”

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No, literally.

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Secret ingredient: The magic of Minnesota