MEXICO — The Mexico Historical Society’s first cookbook, “A Taste of History,” is a blend of favorite recipes with a side of historical photos.
“It’s got a lot of history in it, a lot of pictures and recipes from people that used to belong to the society when we had a newsletter years ago,” member Lorraine Legere said.
Copies are “going like hotcakes,” President Bob Daigle said. The initial printing was for 150 cookbooks.
“We already sold 72 of them. Most of those were members of the Historical Society. One of the members bought 40 to give out,” he said.
Another 50 copies will be printed in the coming weeks.
There are nearly 100 recipes in the book, Irene Hutchinson said. Some are special recipes that have been in society members’ families for generations, several dating back to the late 1800s. One is Grandma May’s Swedish Rye Bread, she said.
“And she was born in 1892. And it makes five loaves. You don’t make five loaves now. You make one and then you give the others away,” Hutchinson said.
Hazel Hodgkins pointed out one of the cookbook pictures that showed four brothers from Mexico who served in World War II.
The recipes were gathered by word of mouth, fliers and through announcements at society meetings, Daigle said. Members also passed out papers asking for recipes at last year’s Christmas party.
Assisting in the project were Dave Gawtry and Nghia Ha.
The effort is to raise money to maintain and operate the society’s museum, the Wills Homestead, at 3 Oxford St.
“Our building needs a lot of repair,” Legere said. “We’re trying to figure out ways to make money.”
A few months ago, the society held its annual plant sale, which did very well.
“Our biggest expense every year is just to pay for our insurance, which is quite high,” Daigle said.
“And we can always use more volunteers,” Legere added. “They’re what make our society — the volunteers and the donations, money and historical.”
People may order “A Taste of History” for a minimum donation of $10 by calling Daigle at 364-2224. For an additional $5.75 and an address, the book can be shipped by priority mail.
The cookbooks will be available at the museum when it reopens in the spring.
“Then we’ll see how that goes. Then we might put them in different stores in town,” Daigle said.
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