To get a sense of one community cookbook, let’s take a look inside The Relief Society Cook Book compiled by the 4th ward from Rexburg, Idaho (1930). This digitized book is available for download on the website Internet Archive. You can also use the embedded book posted above to page through and study the book.
This 80 page Mormon community cookbook contains no history, introduction, or any information other than the statement found on the title page, This Cook Book is affectionately dedicated to The Relief Society Stake Board of Fremont Stake, who so kindly assisted us in securing these practical and tried recipes. However, it does contain women's names and some clues from the recipes they included.
The table of contents includes the following sections:
• Beverages
• Breads
• Cheese Dishes
• Cocktails
• Cookies and Doughnuts
• Cake
• Icing
• Candies
• Eggs
• Fish
• Ice Cream and Sherbets
• Marmalades and Conserves
• Meats
• Pie
• Pickles
• Puddings
• Salads
• Sandwich Possibilities
• Sauces
• Soup
• Tamales, Chop Suey, Spaghetti
• Vegetables
The inclusion of a Cocktails section may seem, at first glance, strange considering Mormon women contributed the recipes. However, the majority of the “cocktails” are fruit juices with sugar added, as in the case of Watermelon Cocktail which includes melon, the melon juice, sugar, ginger ale, and salt. Two seafood cocktails are also included. As is standard for most shrimp cocktails today, the 1930 shrimp cocktail recipe is simply shrimp and chili sauce.
Ethnic foods in this cookbook would hopefully provide some idea of the backgrounds of those contributing. It’s well known that the early Mormons included European immigrants, so we would expect to see recipes that reflect that. However, some of the recipes included in the Relief Society cookbook are also found in other similarly dated cookbooks, and so they are not likely original to any of the recipe contributors, such as the inclusion of Chop Suey (which was “invented” in California and is not authentic Chinese cuisine). A recipe for Hungarian Goulash is familiar to most Americans, though called by a different name depending on where you live. This recipe includes ground meat and macaroni, in a tomato sauce. A chicken tamale recipe does use many of the ingredients for traditional tamales (minus the catsup) but it also is not attributed to anyone.
This Relief Society cookbook does include advertisements. These ads would help to offset the printing of the cookbook or provide additional funds. Advertisements may also reveal other women in business in a community or services they would have relied on and left records. Very similar to a city directory.
The Relief Society Cook Book compiled by the 4th ward from Rexburg Idaho recipe contributors included:
Mrs. S. H. Abbott
Mrs. Bessy Beal
Mrs. A.E. Beesley
Mrs. E.E. Beesley
Mrs. Grace Beesley
Mrs. Luke Briggs
Mrs. Lee Browning
Mary P. Cannon
Mrs. Nora Clark
Mrs. I.N. Corey
Mrs. Clyde Cottle
Mrs. Margaret Davis
Mrs. D.W. Deemer
Alice Drennen
Mrs. F.L. Erdman
Hazel Flamm
Mrs. J. E. Garner
Mrs. J. E. Graham
Mrs. May Grover
Mrs. Wm J Hansen
Mrs. Retta Hammond
Mrs. Arthur Harris
Tressie Y Heileson
Mrs. Glen Herdti
Mrs. E. Holman
Elsie K Jensen
Mrs. Lorenzo Jensen
Mrs. Frank Kelly (also appears as Kelley)
Annie Kerr
Mrs. Leavett
Mrs. Lewis Lee
Mrs. L. A. Lee
Mrs. Nathan Levine
Gertrude McCheyne
Mrs. M.C. Madison
Mrs. Effie Merrill
Mrs. Effie E. Merrill
Mrs. C.L. Miller
Myrtle Morris
Mrs. Effie E Mortinson
Mrs. S. A. Munns
Mary A. Neibaur
Lucy H Ostler
Mrs. Clyde Packer
Mrs. West Parkinson
Margaret Pearson
Mrs. John R. Peterson
Mrs. O.A. Peterson
Mrs. C. W. Poole
Mrs. L. F. Rich
Mrs. Ruth Rich
Mrs. Alvin Ricks
Mrs. Daniel Ricks
Mrs. Peter Ricks
Mrs. H. B. Rigby
Mrs. L.Y. Rigby
Mrs. George S Romney
Elda H. Smith
Mrs. Thos. X Smith
Thomas X Smith, Jr.
Mrs. Earl J. Soelberg
Bessie Squires
Mrs. Z. E. Squires
Mrs. W. L. Sutherland
Mrs. A. E. Taylor
Emily Taylor
Mrs. Elizabeth Waldram
Mrs. H. M. Warner
Mrs. Cyral A Watson
Mrs. J. A. Watts
Mrs. Kenneth Webster
Mrs. Lola Webster
Mrs. Anna Whitehead
Mrs. Widdison
Mrs. G. E. Widsteen
Mrs. D. O. Wilcox
Mrs. J. L. Winmill
Mrs. James R Wright
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