When Kent P. Frandsen left home for the first time more than 25 years ago, he found a need for a "survival manual" to help kids live on their own.
As he was growing up, his mom, Betty Rae Frandsen, gave him chores and taught him home-management skills, but he found others who weren't so lucky.
"I had to show girls in college how to make gravy," said the Tooele High School graduate who now lives in Sandy.
In the late '70s, Frandsen's sister-in-law was coaxing his mother to put her recipes into a cookbook, but Frandsen saw a bigger picture — a manual covering the basics of health and nutrition, first aid, home remedies, laundry and stain removal, bicycle and car maintenance, as well as recipes and cooking tips.
Frandsen, who at the time worked at the Brigham Young University bookstore, knew that around 2,000 young men and women were going out on LDS missions every year (the number has, of course, increased since then). His first thought was to gear the book toward missionaries, but in the end the family decided to expand the focus to anyone learning to live on his own — college students, newlyweds and so on.
It took several years to compile "Where's Mom Now That I Need Her?" and in 1983, after shopping it around to 40 different publishers, the Frandsen family decided to form its own publishing company, Aspen West.
The offices were located in the upstairs bedroom of his parents' home in Sandy. The first printing of 5,000 was sold in a year. One big customer was Deseret Book. But Frandsen got national exposure when he sent a copy to USA Today. The paper did a review, and the results were mail orders that filled two grocery bags.
"We noticed a lot of letters from overseas in the military, and we even had an order from Brooke Shields' mom," he said.
On the heels of that success, the family followed up with a "Where's Dad?" guide. The books are sold along with other gift products that parents can give to kids when they're leaving home — novelty pillows, pillowcases and laundry bags.
"Where's Mom," currently in its 47th printing, had sold an estimated one million copies by the time Betty Rae Frandsen passed away in 1998.
This year, Frandsen came out with an update of "Where's Mom?," which is available in local bookstores for a new generation of youths moving out on their own.
Among other changes, the USDA's Food Guide Pyramid replaced yesteryear's "Basic Four Food Groups" in the nutrition section.
"The typeface and index are more user-friendly, and we've added more charts and checklists, such as what you should stock in your kitchen cupboard," Frandsen said. "We realized in the first edition, some of the recipes were repetitive, so we made sure there were more diverse recipes."
But, just as in the first edition, the recipes had to be "easy and simple, with ingredients that could be found anywhere around the world and could be made in one pan or bowl. We wanted to include basic recipes that you wouldn't have to call home for, or go try to find on the back of the oatmeal box. The best part are the recipes where you can add or subtract your favorite ingredients."
For instance, there's a basic muffin mix with suggested add-ins.
There are pages in the book where Mom (or anyone else) can jot down her own favorite recipes.
"I would really encourage people to be sure to put your own recipes in the book," said Frandsen. "The child will really appreciate it later. My mom was a very vital part of this," he said, adding that since she died he has missed the smell of her cooking — her simple recipes from chili to the way she scrambled her eggs.
More fast food and convenience meals are available than when the first book came out, and Frandsen admits that convenience is nice when you're in a hurry.
"But I advocate that you can get a healthier meal by preparing it yourself," he said. "If you plan ahead, you can always prepare it less expensively. My mother had four boys and a little girl, and she was determined that she would raise her family on good nutritious food cooked at home. We couldn't afford to eat out."
Two of his favorite recipes are the Beef Burger Stroganoff and Hamburger Soup.
Frandsen has enjoyed some of the feedback from customers over the years. One woman wrote how her son used the book to find out how long he should wait with a bleeding finger before going to the hospital for stitches.
"A German graduate student from BYU wrote a score based on our German pancake recipe and had it performed by an orchestra as part of his thesis," Frandsen said.
Another woman e-mailed him, "Help Help Help! My mom bought me book 'Where's My Mom Now That I Need Her?' She got it for me when I moved to college. I have used the recipes a great deal. The joke's on mom — my fiancee and I just moved into her house to stay awhile. I wanted to make a pizza pie, but my book is locked away in storage. Is there any way to find that recipe, aside from tearing my storage apart and taking everything out (recipe book box is at the back of the unit. Please help if you can."
BEEF BURGER STROGANOFF
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 can mushrooms, drained
1 can cream of mushroom soup
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup sour cream
In a 2-quart microwave-safe dish, crumble raw beef with, onion, garlic, mushrooms, soup, flour, salt and pepper. Cover and microwave on high 15-18 minutes. Mix thoroughly. Stir in sour cream. Serves 3-4.
HAMBURGER SOUP
2 pounds ground beef, browned and drained
6 cups water
2 cans tomatoes
1 cup dry noodles
2 packages vegetable soup mix
1 can pork and beans
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer 30-45 minutes.
10-MINUTE CORN CHOWDER
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/4 cup flour
1 cup water
1 chicken bouillon cube
2 1/2 cups milk
1 10-ounce package frozen corn, thawed
Melt butter over low heat in medium saucepan. Add flour and water, stirring constantly. Add bouillon cube and milk. Cook until thickened. Add corn and heat through. Salt and pepper to taste.
GERMAN PANCAKES
6 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter or margarine
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine eggs, milk, flour and salt in a bowl. Beat until fluffy and smooth. Put two tablespoons of butter in each of two pie pans. Put tins in the oven as it preheats to melt the butter. Pour half of the batter in each pan. Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes. Pancakes will puff up as they bake. Serve with syrup, warm jam or warm fruit.
E-MAIL: vphillips@desnews.com