Enjoy Excellent “Courses” with Jack Nicklaus` Cookbook

Golf’s Golden Bear Jack Nicklaus and his wife Barbara have published a cookbook that’s not only filled with lots of great recipes, but all proceeds benefit the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation. Featuring more than 300 recipes compiled over the couples’ 55-year marriage, “Well Done! Life, Love & Food” is flavored with numerous family photos that include their five children and 22 grandchildren.

With lots of delicious, easy-to-prepare recipes, your mouth will water while perusing the pages that describe Barbara’s Buffalo Chicken Dip, Sloppy Joes, or Buttermilk Corn Muffins. The homemade fudge or red velvet cake will also get your attention.

The cookbook project didn’t just happen overnight. When Barbara and her daughter Nan O’Leary began collecting recipes, they stored them on floppy disks! Like a simmering stew, however, good things take time. The project began as just a personal collection of recipes, lots of which came from Barbara’s mother. Eventually, the idea of a cookbook began brewing with the idea of benefitting the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation.

Since both Jack and Barbara are from Ohio, many of the recipes also hail from the heartland of the country. One example is her Midwestern pasta-and-ground beef classic called Johnny Marzetti; comfort food at its best. The recipes do not attempt to appeal to those desiring free range chicken or sea salt from the Dead Sea. Instead, ingredients include staples like a can of cream of mushroom soup, cream cheese, and crescent rolls, to name a few.

Over the years, some of the recipes were simply acquired from friendships and travels throughout the world. For example, the antipasto salad Barbara and Jack had at the home of Bob and Dolores Hope in California made it into the book, as did the sticky toffee pudding with butterscotch sauce they sampled while visiting Loch Lomond, Scotland.

Regardless of the recipe, Barbara recommends one ubiquitous ingredient: “Please, always remember to cook with love!”

Also, the first phrase of the book’s title, “Well Done,” is the phrase Jack also shared with his opponents on the golf course, whether it was a victory or defeat.

The Nicklaus’ self-published “Well Done! Life, Love & Food,” cookbook is available for $44.95 and can be purchased on the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation website.

Rick Stedman

Rick Stedman is an avid golfer, RVer, and writer who lives in Olympia, Washington. Rick writes a golf column, “The RV Golfer,” which is published every month in rvlife.com. He can be reached at rstedman@gmail.com.