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Junior League Cookbooks
EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN!
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JLSB is dusting off the Cookbooks and cooking with a Vintage Flair
It is hard to believe what we are told, but not everyone has a Junior League cookbook—well, at least probably not all three. Having been originally printed in 1964, 1980, and 2007, they are probably older than most of us! Like good wines and good cookbooks, some things can get better with age and limited availability. The cookbooks will likely not be reordered and these editions can become collectable.
One of our favorite local chefs, Jessica Comegys of Glow Alchemy Kitchen, shares, “I love Junior League Cookbooks! It seems that every time I talk with someone about some of our favorite recipes, they come from Junior League Cookbooks!”
You can look forward to seeing Jessica in the Winter 2021 issue of the Parishscope creating her version of Vintage Flair combined with the new in some of those favorite recipes.
Jessica’s and other restaurants and shops about town can have these available until they have all found special new kitchens in which to make new old memories. They will also be visiting the Pumpkin Patch at Provenance neighborhood and showing themselves off! Maybe with some cookie and pinwheel tastings! These special editions will also be available through each Junior League member.
We cannot talk about the Junior League Cookbooks without mentioning the value they have had over the years with profits supporting so many Junior League community and leadership programs. Everything old will become new again supporting projects such as the Safe Sitter program, which trains young girls to provide childcare services in their families and communities, as well as the MAGIC program, which mentors young women to become productive family and community leaders.
Most Junior League members and others likely know of the cookbooks, but do not know how the three cookbooks are different from each other. Each are desirable and special!
For those whose cookbook memories need refreshing and those just getting acquainted with our Vintage memory makers, below is a bit of “flavor” about each of them.
A COOK’S TOUR OF SHREVEPORT
A Cook’s Tour, published in 1964 and having sold 12 editions through 2011, contains the Junior League prayer and hundreds of favorite southern recipes from Junior League and generations of our local grandmothers and mothers that bring back special memories of smells and experiences from times past. Recipes include those from the Shreveport Club, Mrs. J. Bennett Johnston, Overton Brooks, Lyndon B. Johnson, Andrew Querbes, and Arthur Carmody. These recipes can be used again and again to create special times for families and friends today.
Section divider pages include artwork depicting scenes from American Rose Center, Barksdale Air Force Base, the State Fair of Louisiana, and Louisiana Downs by artists Teri Tallant and Tina Mullins.
Revel, published in 1980 and having sold 60,000 copies, shares the story of how in 1976 the Junior League presented the Red River Revel as a bicentennial gift to the region as a seven-day celebration of the arts. The Revel is still enjoyed today and is in large part volunteer managed and staffed by Active and Sustainer members.
Revel Cookbook begins with a special section of seasonal events, parties, and occasions with all the recipes planned and referenced in the cookbook. It is full of recipes from the kitchens of those who still live and work in our community as well as those fondly remembered—including Michele Petersen, Ann Querbes, Carolyn Flournoy, Suzanne Wray, and Judy Chidlow. Restaurants and their Chefs include Ernest Palmisano, Ernest’s Restaurant, Abe Ritman, Abe’s Restaurant, Shorty Lenard, and Henry Tate.
This cookbook makes seasonal cooking and occasion planning a party!
MARDI GRAS TO MISTLETOE
Mardi Gras to Mistletoe, published in 2007 and having sold 16,000 copies, is a January to December monthly festival, tradition, event, story, pictorial, and recipe time travel through sights, tastes, and smells of our favorite regional times and places.
This cookbook makes meal planning a monthly breeze! It is also beautiful and makes a great coffee table pictorial conversation piece.
Photographer and writer, Neil Johnson, forewords and photographs like no other the yearlong heart and beauty of this area. MTM celebrates the homes and landscapes including that of M&M George Fritze, Chip Campbell, and Judd Chidlow, Mardi Gras Parade, Norton Art Gallery, Gillam Sunflowers, and Pumpkin Shine on Line.
Recipes are included from many well-known and loved restaurants including Chianti, Bella Fresca, Fertitta’s Bistro 6301, Fairfield Market, Mabry House, Superior Grill and Steakhouse, and Strawn’s. Some of these recipes come from the kitchens of Pam Byrd, Knox Goodman, Carolyn Ogilvie, and Sybil Patten.
As Cookbook Committee chair, I sincerely hope that you will expand your culinary horizons in purchasing all three
Junior League cookbooks for yourself or a friend or family member.
Let’s get cooking!
Maggie Malone
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