Nothing says home cooking like a recipe from your favorite church cookbook. I collect cookbooks and church cookbooks are some of my favorites. Not only do they have those loved recipes we grew up with, but they chronicle life and cultures. Just in a twenty-five mile radius from my farm I can find cookbooks rich with Scandinavian, Irish and Czech recipes. And when I travel, I use my sister Sue’s idea and buy local cookbooks as one of my souvenirs. All of the loved recipes have inspired this series of Church Cookbook Classics.
As a disclaimer, in my research I have discovered many of the same recipes credited to different people in different cookbooks. So for the purpose of this blog I am going to credit all of the recipes to “The Church Ladies”. Even my grandmother’s favorite Norwegian Cremes, I accidentally discovered in the Betty Crocker Cooky Book from 1963. I hope you enjoy this series and I would love to hear about your favorite Church Cookbook recipes!
–Mary
Spring Means Rhubarb Season
It is spring in Iowa and nothing green will be appearing for several weeks, even so, I am already dreaming of rhubarb. Rhubarb cake, rhubarb crisp, rhubarb jam, rhubarb pie, rhubarb wine all make up my version of sugar plum dreams. As a vintage cookbook collector, I spend hours pouring over cookbook pages, not only looking for treasured recipes, but for fun. Many are a greatly entertaining. A couple of things I’ve noticed in my purusing... Read More
Church Cookbook Classics: Ice Pick Lemon Cake
Do you have recipes from your youth that conjure up mouth-watering memories? This cake is one of those for me. Mom would make this one in the summer and I just couldn’t keep my hands off of it. I just took teeny, tiny pieces every time I walked by it — they don’t count right? Cake Mixes with Jello and/or Jello Pudding became very popular in the 60’s, although cake mixes were invented in the... Read More
Church Cookbook Classics: Gordon’s Poor Man’s Irish Cream
This is the first of my new Church Cookbook Classics series and with St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner I thought I’d start with one of my dad’s recipes in our church cookbook. I realize that not all church cookbooks include alcoholic beverages, but it’s a Catholic cookbook, and we subscribe to the “Jesus liked Parties” theory. We back this up with the Gospel of John and the Wedding at Cana where Jesus’s first... Read More
Church Cookbook Classics: Oyster Snack Crackers
The other day, my adult daughter called to ask me if I had the recipe grandpa used to may those oyster cracker things. My dad has been gone for 27 years so, this was really reaching back to a childhood memory. Something had made her think of them and she wanted me to make her some. Fortunately I knew exactly where to find the recipe — the Church Cookbook! This is a super easy snack... Read More
Church Cookbook Classics: Purple Ribbon Cinnamon Bread
In a desperate search for a 4-H food project for our county fair, my mother suggested I make my grandmother’s Cinnamon Bread recipe. As a lazy teen, this seemed like a great idea — no trip to the store for special ingredients and it was easy to make. Snap! One less project to worry about for the fair. No one was more surprised than me when the judges gave me a “Purple Grand Champion” ribbon!... Read More
Church Cookbook Classics: Fresh Summer Corn Chowder
In Iowa, the corn state, it is totally appropriate to have a supper of only fresh corn on the cob this time of year; salty, golden nuggets dripping in butter. Nothing else, well maybe some fresh tomatoes and a slice of bread, but it is the main course. Yes, our blood sugar is probably screaming from the overdose of carbs, but what a way to go! If you aren’t growing it in your own garden... Read More
Vintage Betty Recipe: Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
After starting my Church Cookbook Series recently, my husband asked me to make what he said was his favorite cake — a Pineapple Upside-Down cake. I thought for sure I would find the recipe in one of my church cookbooks, but I came up empty handed. I was kind of surprised, but decided maybe it was either a little old fashion or too fussy for the Church Ladies. My vintage 1961 Betty Crocker Cookbook came... Read More
Church Cookbook Classics: Newlywed Lemon Chicken
I love reading church cookbooks — some of the names for the recipes — they entertain me! How could I resist this one called Newlywed Lemon Chicken, with the contributor’s comment that she and her husband ate this once a week for the first year of their marriage because she knew how to make it! Because I NEVER post a recipe I haven’t tested and have made my husband try, I sometimes find I need... Read More
