The Story of a Little Cookbook
Remember those apples from Russell yesterday? Robert made an Apple Crisp with some of them. The recipe he used came from The Montclair Women’s Club Cook Book. 
The little pamphlet cookbook has a history in our family. My father had a printing plant in Oakland, California when I was growing up. He printed The Montclair Women’s Club Cook Book in 1949. My mother was not a member of the women’s club. She had several copies and she gave me one when I got married. We used the cookbook when we lived in Santa Rosa. We liked the Brownie Pudding recipe by Mrs. Neil Hopping and our boys loved it. (The cookbook was printed back in the days when women did not have their own first names.) The brownie pudding page (37) had cocoa spots on it. We always referred to the booklet by its full name: Montclair Women’s Club Cook Book.
Somehow we lost track of the little book when we moved to the Island in 1979. We missed it.
Robert’s mother died in 1991. When we were sorting through her cookbooks and recipes we found a copy of The Montclair Women’s Club Cook Book. We were so pleased. Robert’s mother had not been a member of the Montclair Women’s Club so we presume she bought it used.
click picture to enlarge recipe
The little pamphlet cookbook has a history in our family. My father had a printing plant in Oakland, California when I was growing up. He printed The Montclair Women’s Club Cook Book in 1949. My mother was not a member of the women’s club. She had several copies and she gave me one when I got married. We used the cookbook when we lived in Santa Rosa. We liked the Brownie Pudding recipe by Mrs. Neil Hopping and our boys loved it. (The cookbook was printed back in the days when women did not have their own first names.) The brownie pudding page (37) had cocoa spots on it. We always referred to the booklet by its full name: Montclair Women’s Club Cook Book.
Somehow we lost track of the little book when we moved to the Island in 1979. We missed it.Robert’s mother died in 1991. When we were sorting through her cookbooks and recipes we found a copy of The Montclair Women’s Club Cook Book. We were so pleased. Robert’s mother had not been a member of the Montclair Women’s Club so we presume she bought it used.
When Russell gave us the apples, Robert naturally turned to page 43 and found the apple crisp recipe by Mrs. Leroy Cameron. He noted that the baking temperature should be higher (at least for our oven).
Thanks Mrs. Cameron, wherever you are.
Labels: books, family, food, history, home, island life, odd facts
posted by Christine Thresh at 5:34 PM
4 Comments:
I like everything about this, including the graphic used on the cookbook and your anecdotes.
I'm very glad we're allowed to have our own first names these days.
I loved this story! And the pictures. Thankyou for sharing it with us.
I let my grandmother's old book go to my brother, & I know his wife wont use it.
What a great story, and how wonderful to find a second copy. Are you ever tempted to reprint it for passing around your family?
Well, I certainly could write out the fudge cake recipe for my sons. They did love it.
But, I can't reprint it because of copyright laws. I think it might be hard to find someone in the Woman's Club to get permission at this late date.
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