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Full of energy, Twin Falls, Idaho native, Sue Legarreta, answers the phone to talk to Euskalkultura.com about her last project: ‘Legarreta Storybook – Family Cookbook.’ Published in a booklet format, it contains 300 plus recipes she gathered through her 68 years of life. “I love cooking, it’s my passion. The only thing I love more than cooking is my family,” she admits.

Ander Egiluz Beramendi/USA. Her granddaughter, Cassie Legarreta, posted on Facebook that there were only eight copies of Sue’s cookbook left. “You know she is a great cook,” she claimed. Married to Cruz Legarreta-Etxeberria Uriarte, a Basque immigrant from Fruiz, Bizkaia, Sue comes from a family that loves to cook and has always been an avid learner when it comes to handling food.

-The title of the book could can mislead the readers: ‘Legarreta Storybook – Family Cookbook’. Is this a book of recipes or you tell the story of your family?

-It’s a little bit of both, because I tell the story of our family but there are more than 300 recipes, so it definitely is a cookbook.

-Who did you get those recipes from?

-I learned some of them in the Basque Country, in Fruiz, nearby Gernika, in Biscay. My husband was from there and I’ve gone to visit his family many times. There are some others that I learned from other places, here and there, and some that I made up myself!

-Practice makes perfect!

-(She laughs) Yes, but I also have to say that my mom was a fabulous cook. I learned a lot from her.

-How long did it take you to put all these recipes together and present them in a comprehensive way?

-A long time! About six years. But I had the will − I had cancer, so I thought I wanted people to remember me by my cooking, not through sad memories. And I told to myself that I was going to do it and I did it! And what’s more important, I overcame the disease!

-That’s a beautiful story!

-Thank you. I guess I was too stubborn to die! (She laughs).

-Six years is a long time, especially if you are fighting cancer. Did the book serve as an escape for you, or was it a complicated task?

-I had so many problems along the way. I don’t see well, so my daughter-in-law helped me editing the book and she had two babies at the time, so you can imagine…

-It’s not easy to talk about oneself but, would you say you are a good cook?

-I would say that, and also at pastries (she laughs). I make txorizo, morcilla, pastries... I can make any Basque food! The only thing I like more than cooking is my family.

-Why should people get this book, Sue?

-I think the main thing is that my life is wrapped up in these recipes, all kinds of Basque recipes. It’s the history of everything I’ve cooked since I started. My family has been in the restaurant business my whole life. There were very good cooks in my family. I’m super proud of the book. It’s a beautiful book, full of love.

-But there are only a few copies left. Are you planning to print more?

-Yes, we only have a few left. I ordered fifty and almost all of them are gone. I want to order fifty more, but I want to make sure that I can sell them because it’s quite an investment for me, so I am letting interested people pre-order.

-How can they do that?

-I don’t have an email account myself so the best way to do it is to send an email to my daughter at cruzanna_legarreta@yahoo.com.