In response to your request for neat old Penn State stuff—I have two cookbooks. The OTIS Cookbook is from 1975 or ’76, and Cookin’ With The Lion is from 1988. I hadn’t opened either of them for decades.

OTIS was the Organization of Town Independent Students, a student advocacy group that helped off-campus students deal with unscrupulous landlords. They met regularly in the HUB, and the cookbooks were a fundraiser for their work. It’s filled with easy recipes: I know we made the sloppy joes and the beef stroganoff, and I still have three pages folded down that I remember making (but not often or lately): the Italian sausage-zucchini casserole, the “Fiesta Bowl” enchilada casserole, and the cheesy zucchini pie. All of the recipes included the name, year, and major of the contributor.

My husband, Mike Zowniriw ’76 A&A, and I won our copy of Cookin’ With The Lion in a raffle at an alumni event at Ogontz Campus (now Abington). Mike was there for his freshman and sophomore years, and I was there for my first two terms. I have a picture from that event that made it into the campus alumni newsletter. We loved the group and became regular attendees at their events—we really loved the Bowling, Beef, and Beer!

Have a unique item from your Penn State days that you’ve held onto? Share it with us at itemofnote@psu.edu.