Wild Oak Saddle Club cookbook committee members Linda Kilkenny (left), Judy Miller-Poremba and Corrine Byrd sample the wares on the club's veranda. (Photo by Mary-Kevin Stuart)
By NINA LARAMORE / Towns Correspondent
Since 1975, when it was founded, the private White Oak Saddle Club has been a place for casual socializing over shared food and drink. So when some members began talking about raising money to add a bocce court and update the clubhouse?s ?70s d?cor, a cookbook seemed like a perfect choice.
It also was a great way to get some highly sought after and carefully guarded recipes, including Henry Trione?s Pasta, Executive Chef Jeanine Wright?s Arch Hill Meatloaf and Bill Kunde?s Chile Dusted Roast Sweet Potato Fries.
A committee of ladies got to work creating the ?Wild Oak Saddle Club Cookbook,? which is available to the public for $20. In addition to club members, the group solicited Sonoma County chefs and wineries for favored fare as the project took shape.
The cookbook pays homage to the traditional cowboy as well as the World Class cuisine that Sonoma County has become known for. Many of the recipes include chatty introductory comments from the club?s notable members.
Trione introduces the recipe for ?My Aunt The Contessa?s Seasoning Salt? by writing, ?When my aunt The Contessa whispered into my ear this family secret of generations, she asked that I pass it on only to very dear friends. You qualify.?
Jolene Cortright shared her recipe for Wild Rice and Wild Mushroom Soup (?Now that?s a soup!?), and Pam and Dave Meyers submitted the recipe for Ice Cream Caramel Rolls, with this note:
?Pam and I were staying in the Carriage House B&B in Rapid City, South Dakota and the owner served these caramel rolls at breakfast. One of us (not Pam) ate most of a batch and made a nuisance of himself until the owner gave us the recipe.?
Caf? Lolo?s Cheesecake shares space with Hrustule, a recipe from Judy Poremba?s Yugoslavian grandmother. Many dishes have names like Cowboy Caviar, Drunken Weenies, Tailgate Sausage Broil, Tex Mex Chicken Taco Soup, Snowy Mashed Potato Casserole and Jerry?s Jumpin? Hot Chili.
Before the cookbook and the clubhouse came to be, a group of men who enjoyed riding trails together belonged to a club called the Sonoma County Trail Blazers. Their socializing was simple, with hearty foods barbequed outdoors, served with cold beer and eaten around a campfire.
Then Trione purchased the historic Coney Ranch house and five surrounding acres adjacent to Annadel State Park, and the group got a permanent homestead. The clubhouse fireplace was featured in Alfred Hitchcock?s movie ?The Birds.?
A cowhide proudly displayed in the clubhouse Men?s Card Room holds the signatures of the 125 founding members. Some still belong and have been joined by children and grandchildren.
In the 1980s, members began to include women. The first were surviving spouses, followed by women who applied and were accepted on their own. Membership is now capped at 200.
Over the years, the Saddle Club?s amenities have expanded to include a commercial kitchen, reading nook, dining room, tennis court, swimming pool, private bar with individual liquor lockers and bunkhouse where club trophies are displayed.
The dining room?s large picture windows look out on the club veranda, the polo field, Hood Mountain and the Saddleback Range. Extensive landscaping created scattered seating vignettes, recreational areas, a horse-trailer park, day-use paddocks and a horseshoe sandbox.
?People join because their friends are here,? says club president David Harris. ?Members range in age from their 30s to their 90s. This is an oasis in a hectic world.?
Most are or have been white-collar professionals, including doctors, lawyers, bankers and entrepreneurs. Among there are Betty Freeman, Sam Wood, C. William Reinking, Larry Simons, Patrick Kilkenny, Tom Dunlap, Doug Pavese, Jim Berger, Dick Colombini and the late Evert Person, Hugh Codding and Tom Konicek.
?It?s an accepting and open place,? Harris says. ?We do have a vetting process because members are given a key to the clubhouse, but we welcome new blood.?
Members speak about the fun they have at the club but admit they aren?t a rowdy bunch.
?It was a great day for us when we had a Friday night party on the deck with the Charley Baker Band, and a neighbor called at 10 p.m. to complain about the noise,? says Corinne Byrd, a member of the cookbook committee. ?We were thrilled, and then because we are good neighbors we quieted down.?
To purchase a cookbook, contact General Manager Jana Wacholz. For information about membership, contact Michael Knott, both at 539-8629 and WildOakSaddleClub.com.
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