The Laurel Cook Book
America’s First Southern Church Cookbook Published in 1900
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“Dear Mrs.Gardiner, Will you please furnish me with a copy of all of the desserts you know how to make?” Well of course she would share her recipes, and perhaps she would share them with her friends at church and collect recipes from them as well. . . . When a cookbook was suggested, the ladies of St. John’s Episcopal Church enthusiastically pitched in to help their innovative and creative leader, Mrs. Gardiner, compile a grand total of one thousand and one recipes, to share with one another and their friends and neighbors.
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About the Book
Catherine Marshall Gardiner, the editor of the first edition of the cookbook, was asked by a church member for all of the dessert recipes she knew how to make. It was 1900 and cookbooks for the home were rare. She decided that perhaps her other friends from church would also like to share recipes. She inquired and eventually gathered 1001 handwritten recipes from the ladies of Saint John’s Episcopal Church, and then she compiled a cookbook for everyone to have. Included in the pages, the home cook can find recipes that range from tea cakes to squirrel stew, each one reflecting the personality of the woman who contributed it. Some of the ladies had traveled the world, while others had never left their home sate of Mississippi. Mrs. Gardiner valued and preserved their unique qualities by changing not a word, phase or measurement with any sort of conformity, creating a delightful adventure back to the turn of the 20th century.
About the Author
Catherine Marshall Gardiner, first editor of the Laurel Cook Book, was a founding member of Saint John’s Episcopal Church. As the wife of George S. Gardiner, president of the Eastman-Gardiner Lumber Company, she was largely responsible for creating the town of Laurel as it is known today. Thinking it not even too difficult to persuade the Olmstead Firm, designers of New York City’s Central Park, to design the parks and lay out the streets of Laurel, the original charm of the City Beautiful is still enjoyed today. She was an astute collector of Native American baskets, a daring traveler, a dear friend of many, a fine Episcopalian, and obviously a very talented homemaker.