"Hot off the ice: Score in the kitchen with recipes from Winnipeg Jets 1981 cookbook" By Eva Wasney and Ben Waldman
The Jets Are Cookin’ appears to be the team’s first foray into community cookbooks — a popular fundraising and public relations platform at the time — but not its last.
A followup, entitled What’s Cookin’ With the Jets?, was published in the ‘90s with recipes from the likes of Teemu Selänne and Tie Domi. And in 2014, the second iteration of the hockey club released Our Jets at Home, a player cookbook that included then-captain Andrew Ladd’s Monster Cookies recipe.
Professional hockey seems to create big cookie cravings.
Unlike monster cookies of today — which are typically filled with M&Ms, oats and peanut butter — Hawerchuk’s version was simply monstrous in size, with each chocolate chip cookie calling for an ice cream scoop’s worth of dough.
“I don’t think he got that recipe from mom,” says Dale’s sister Dayna, who checked with Hawerchuk’s junior-hockey billet family in Cornwall to see whether the rookie was introduced to the Monster by Mrs. Bissonnette; that was a no.
“It looks like it came off a bag of chocolate chips or something.”
Published in an era when players still smoked between periods, The Jets Are Cookin’ isn’t a health-conscious read. The recipes are a mix of American, Swedish and French-Canadian fare (an indication of the team’s makeup) with no shortage of cheesy vegetable casseroles, seafood surprises and decadent desserts.
The Jets, however, did stay active in the off-season, according to write-ups in the cookbook, with Toronto-born Hawerchuk playing “all sports,” watching horse racing at Assiniboia Downs and spending time at the family cottage in Oshawa.
An avid barbecuer with an affinity for steak, chicken, pasta and peas, the rookie Hawerchuk’s favourite local restaurant was Paladio, a long-shuttered eatery on Grant Avenue.
As the Jets 2.0 prepare for another first-round face-off against the Blues tonight, we bring you a vintage game-day feast from The Jets Are Cookin’ — hopefully, the results (in the kitchen and on the ice) will be cause for celebration four decades later.
Find below a recipe for a boozy Orange Slush from captain Dave Christian and his wife Bonnie. The couple met on a blind date in their home state of Minnesota and arrived in Winnipeg in 1980 immediately following David’s gold medal appearance with the U.S. Olympic team — a tournament in which the hosting Americans beat the Soviets in a final dubbed the “Miracle on Ice.”
Defenceman Bryan Maxwell and wife Debbie shared their Crab Dip recipe in the cookbook. After meeting in a Medicine Hat arena, where he played junior hockey and she figure skated, the pair spent three seasons in Winnipeg with their firstborn, Nicole.
Biff a la Lindström isn’t an original family recipe from former right winger Willy Lindström, but rather a popular Swedish dish akin to a hamburger patty. Off-ice, Lindström spent his time golfing and repairing cars, while wife Britt enjoyed squash and cross-country skiing with the family’s dog, Guy.
so, fun fact, i saw connor hellebuyck’s girlfriend and dog (tinley) at starbucks today bahah (don’t worry guys, i didn’t bother her-- gotta be respectful, y’know!)
AND my mom saw thomas steen (jets 1.0, alexander steen’s dad) at Chew (wpg restaurant) the other day?!
