82-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 18, t9&B
The Making
Of A Cook Book
BY SALLY BAIR
Lancaster Co. Correspondent
MOUNT JOY (Lancaster)
“We think our mothers and aunts
are some of the best cooks, and
with our children old enough to
cook, we thought a cookbook
would be a remembrance for
them,” Ruth Conley says malter
of-factly as she explains why the
families which make up the Old
Order River Brethren congrega
tion became interested in publish
ing a cookbook.
Publishing cookbooks has
become a Lancaster County tradi
tion among groups which wish to
share their good recipes and also
raise money. For those who work
ed on this cookbook, it became a
labor of love as well as a good way
to raise funds for their school, the
Sonlight River Brethren School,
founded just four years ago.
The school, which just gra
duated its first student, was organ
ized “to provide solid, nurturing
Christian education, suitable for
children growing up in the modem
day environment.” It presently
serves all the families of the River
Brethren in Lancaster County and
Ildren of Old Order River Brethren families gather around to taste test a batch of
homemade ice cream on a hot June day. The Ice cream recipe is one of 650 in the cook
book which family members published to raise funds for their school.
Elizabeth Sauder, A, /ew Scott, Hannah Scott and Donald Sauder work at prepar
ing homemade Ice cream -- a perfect lob for a hot summer day during June Dairy
is open to like-minded
nonmembers.
Since many of the members are
dairy farmers in Lancaster County,
a wide variety of recipes featuring
dairy recipes is included, and the
cookbook arrived just in time for
use during June Dairy Month.
Ruth said that collecting the
recipes was challenging, because
there were many cherished recipes
which were not written down. She
notes, “Some of the women had to
make the recipes and measure as
they worked so they could give
exact ingredients. We tried to
make sure the recipes were concise
and complete.”
Emma Sauder, another of the
committee which worked diligent
ly on the book, added, “We came
across instructions like “butter the
size of eggs.” Another direction
which caught their attention was
“to push it to the back of the stove
and let set all day.” This, of course,
was in reference to having soup or
stew simmer on the back of a wood
stove.
One chapter of this cookbook
which makes it unique and espe
cially valuable to the River Bre-
From left, Harriet Scott, Ruth Conley and Emma Sauder look through recipes and
reminisce about the work which went Into producing the River Brethren Cookbook, a
winter project for the women. The cookbook contains 650 recipes from family and
friends.
Ihren is titled “Cooking for a
Crowd.” Because they usually
have a fellowship meal together
following their Sunday “meeting,”
the hosting family often has
between 150-250 guests, and it is
generally the host who supplies the
meal. Occasionally meals will be
%. k 7
K
planned as a “carry-in,” Ruth
explains, but even that requires
large quantities of food.
That chapter includes a Cheese
Spread for Sandwiches which will
serve 200 people, a recipe for shoo
fly pies which makes a dozen,
Bean Salad for 150 and many
others.
There arc, of course, several
soup recipes, including one for
Rice Soup, which is traditionally
served for their “love feast” It is a
picture of someone stirring rice
soup at a love feast which adorns
the front cover of the cookbook.
The cover was created by member
Stephen E. Scott, who worked
from photographs to recreate the
scene of the love feast. His wife
Harriet was the third member of
the trio which did the organizing
and proofreading of the project.
In the Cooking for a Crowd sec
tion, it becomes quickly evident
that one must have large containers
available for the cooking. In addi
tion to large roasters and canners,
one recipe for bread requires the
use of a “broom slick” for stirring
the dough.
Ruth explained that the Cooking
for a Crowd section is especially
helpful to some of the younger sis
ters in the congregation who may
not have their mothers close by to
ask for help in preparing quanti
ties. Emma says her children will
be happy to have the recipes writ
ten down becuse, when they
wanted to cook in large quantities
they always had to multiply the
measurements.
The ambitious women started
collecting the recipes in Decem
ber, and mailed the final copy to
the Tennessee commercial printer
in March. They chose the printer
because Ruth had been involved in
another cookbook which was done
by them. Emma adds, “They gave
us, ‘helpful hints’ and title pages
already done.”
Ruth adds, “They had a list of
suggested categories.” It was the
committee’s suggestion to add
“cooking for a crowd,” which the
printer happily included.
ytfomesfead
wtes
The plea for recipes went out
through a newsletter that is distri
buted to local families, a River
Brethren community in Franklin
County and one in Dallas County,
lowa. According to information in
the cookbook, members number
326 among the five congregations.
As the recipes came in, the com
mittee’s work began in earnest.
Ruth collected the recipes and
looked for duplicates. This was not
an easy task since some recipes
were the same but had different
names. “We had to go through and
delete some to keep the number
down to 650 recipes.” In all, they
received over 700 recipes, and*
Ruth points out, “We were very
much pleased with the response.
There arc recipes from here to
lowa. The families really sup
ported it. We really appreciate the
amount of enthusiastic support we
got. Some of the families collected
their own recipes.” Many people
simply told them to use what they
needed, or to tell them if they
needed something in a specific
category.
Emma explained that if two peo
ple gave the same recipe, both
names were included in the cook
book. Each of the 47 students at the
school was asked to submit his or
her favorite recipe. The recipe
could be one they enjoyed making
or eating. The recipes provided by
students in the school arc starred in
the cookbook. Because they
wanted to include many traditional
recipes, the women used recipes
from deceased relatives, and noted
the dates of their birth and death
next to their names. The printers
cooperated in printing comments
which were added by those who
submitted the recipes, including
such things as when it was served
or where the recipe originated.
For that reason some older
members of the congregation read
ing the cookbook although they
won’t be doing a lot of cooking
anymore. Ruth comments, “That’s
one reason we wanted to do the
(Turn to Pag* B 4)