It's not quite Roswell, but Roseville is still pretty mysterious

Sharing the Flavor with Family & Friends (Roseville (OH) PTO, undated, but the cover art is dated 1973 and the chapter dividers are dated 1978) is both cute and very confusing.

Okay, you probably can't tell that from the straightforward title and the cover sketch of the town, but trust me.

It's cute because the divider pages have adorable animal sketches. The cakes, cookies, and confections chapter starts out with this tiny woodland birthday party.

I love how enthusiastic the bunny holding the balloons is. I'm not sure I've ever been that excited in my entire life. I love how all the animals seem to accept the raccoon with the seriously malformed right arm. They're cool and won't stare at her like she's in a freak show. And I love how angular the chipmunk's head is. Has he just not had a chance to stuff his cheeks full of cake yet, or is he trying to practice restraint? So many questions.

Some drawings don't have a clear connection to the chapter, but they're still cute.

Love the wet mouse drying off under the toadstool umbrella with its friendly neighborhood caterpillar, even if the connection to soups, salads, and sauces remains murky. (Maybe it's toadstool rainwater soup?)

And some pictures go with the chapter but still raise questions.

Yes, it makes sense to have bunnies drinking lemonade for the beverages, sandwiches, and misc. chapter, but why is the little bunny so angry and the big bunny so nonchalant about the clearly very pissed off little guy? If the little one spilled her first glass, there's still plenty left in the pitcher. No reason to be upset that the other one is still drinking his own glass. Is she mad that the drink is too sour? Is she lecturing the big bunny on the evils of sugar-sweetened beverages? I don't know, but I'd love to hear what the little one is yelling (without being on the receiving end of it). 

The recipes can be puzzles too. Did the good people of Roseville not know what maple is?

I mean, I get it that using pure maple syrup is too expensive, but straight-up brown sugar is not maple! Maybe some amount of maple or pancake syrup was supposed to be included since the instructions call for adding "sugar and syrup," but it's not in the ingredient list.

Another question: Did Telly Savalas used to advertise cheese? I thought lollipops would have been a more logical fit.

I'm assuming Cindy Brandi just didn't realize that people were saying colby-jack cheese. Or maybe they all shortened it the way some people talk about maple serp.

Genuine question: Is Barecutel Ham a regional thing that I am entirely unaware of?

Or was Mrs. Powers just incredibly bad at spelling "barbecue"? (When I search "barecutel ham," Google just shrugs and says "Here are some ham pictures." When I search "ham barecutel," it asks me whether I meant "ham barbecue," so Google seems to be betting on the latter.)

If this next recipe had been earlier in the book in the salad section, I would have seen this title and wondered whether Rosevillians loved Nixon so much that they couldn't bring themselves to say "Watergate."

Then I would have seen that they used fruit cocktail instead of the traditional crushed pineapple, and wondered if they were in some weird '70s parallel universe. However, I know they knew about Watergate Salad because it was in the salad chapter. This one-- despite clearly being labeled a salad!-- is in the dessert chapter. So now I'm just confused about what makes fruit cocktail desserty-er than pineapple, and whether Helen Clewis was mad about her salad being exiled to the dessert chapter when other pudding/ Cool Whip/ mini-marshmallow confections were in the salad section.

So many questions! This book is an enigma, and I'm glad that Roseville let me into their weird little world.