Congregational Church Cookbook

In 1909 a committee was formed to publish a cookbook by the members of the Congregational Church in Sandusky. It was printed by the Register Publishing Company.The preface read, in part: “We endorse all the literature between these covers, and hope that young housekeepers may find it a subtle oil for the cog-wheels of domestic machinery, and that older housewives may find it a refuge when harassed by the cry, ‘Can we never have anything new?’” The cookbook is filled with recipes that are arranged in over twenty categories. Throughout the book are blank pages, so that owner of the book could add their own recipes to the book. There is an index at the back of the book, and many advertisements from local businesses are scattered all through the cookbook.  Below is an excerpt from page 20,  which gives information about how to make roast meat and gravy.

Accompanying the recipe for almond cookies is a poem about how many weary mothers wish for a cookie bush or a doughnut tree.

Five ways to prepare cabbage are provided on this page from the vegetable section of the Congregational Church Cookbook.

Koehler Brothers and Weier Brothers were just two of the local companies that placed advertisements in the cookbook.

Looking through the pages of the Congregational Church Cookbook gives us a look into the lives of past residents of Sandusky, indicating where they may have shopped and what kind of meals they made for their families. Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to view this vintage cookbook.