Neighboring on the Air: Cooking With the KMA Radio Homemakers (Shenandoah, Iowa)
by By Birkby, Evelyn
Category: Cooking , Reference

In 1925 Earl May began broadcasting KMA Radio-960 from Shenandoah,  Iowa, to boost his fledgling seed business. The station aired practical  information designed to help with the day-to-day activity in midwestern  farmhouse kitchens. Before long KMA was a trusted friend throughout the  wide listening area, offering inspiration, companionship, and all  manners of domestic counsel. Hosting the daily radio programs—Home Hour,  the Stitch and Chat Club, and the KMA Party Line—and the live cooking  demonstrations that drew thousands to the KMA auditorium was a changing  roster of personable, lively women who quickly became known as the KMA  Radio Homemakers.Now, in Neighboring on the Air, we can hear the voices  of the KMA homemakers and sample their philosophy and—best of  all—cooking. Through recipes, biographies, and household advice we get  to know such enduring women as "The Little Minister," the Reverend  Edythe Stirlen, and Leanna Driftmier and the whole Kitchen-Klatter  family, part of the longest-running homemaker program in the history of  radio. Learn how to make Sour Cream Apple Pie from "The Farmer's Wife,"  Florence Falk; Varnished Chicken from the first long-term KMA Radio  Homemaker, Jessie Young; and E.E.E. Missouri Dessert (nobody can  remember what the "E.E.E." stands for) from the indomitable host of the  Edith Hansen Kitchen Club. This endearing scrapbook of people, places,  and foods charts the continuing adventure of the KMA homemakers as they  broadcast into the 1990s. Neighboring on the Air is an  enchanting piece of Americana. Anyone interested in cooking, cultural  history, or the Midwest will want to own and use this book.