Freddy:
The famed
Joy of Cooking is one of the most highly regarded cookbooks to come from the Midwest, specifically St. Louis, Missouri. Its information on food is as valuable as its recipes. I suggest a 1970s edition rather than the current one; beginning in the 1980s, the cookbook was extensively rewritten to reflect present-day food trends, and is not what it once was.
For real Midwestern housewife recipes, the collection of recipes from "Open Line," a Cedar Rapids, Iowa radio show where women shared recipes, cannot be beat. The show, which is still on the air, began in 1963 with host Jim Loyd. Loyd used the collected recipes from the show for at least two cookbooks, of which I own copies. There is also a Website with the recipes from many years of the show; a link is below.
I also recommend
Cream Peas on Toast, by Janet Letnes Martin and Suzann Johnson Nelson. It's mainly about comfort food found on Midwestern farms, with a special emphasis on people with a Norwegian-Lutheran background. I warn you - creamed peas on toast are addictively delicious!
One last thing - when you go to the "Open Line" Website, be sure to click on the little radios at the top of the page. You will hear the "Open Line" musical theme familiar to Iowans since 1963.
P.S.: appnut is correct - "casserole" is for food magazines and people in other parts of the country. "Hot dish" is proper Midwestern usage, LOL.
www.openline.bplaced.net