Calling all Cooks & Bakers

Has the coronavirus had you cooking more? Have you or your family come up with a new favorite dish?

The Mount Gilead Public Library is spearheading the collection of family favorite recipes to be compiled into a community cookbook.

“We don’t just want any old recipe,” says Jen Carrick who came up with the idea. “We’re looking for recipes that mean something.”

Perhaps you brought light to an old or barely used appliance and found a new family favorite? Or discovered that everyone in your household likes lima beans, so you created everything you could find with them as an ingredient?

“We want to hear what new foods you’ve created,” added Carrick. “We want to hear about old recipes made new again. And the recipes that, because of COVID, have a meaning to you. We need to share a little of the good that has come out of eating at home more than ever.”

When complete, the Covid Cravings Cookbook— A Collection of Pandemic to Plate Recipes of the people of Morrow County which aims to celebrate the food creation and connection during the historic COVID-19 pandemic will be available free online, with a printed copy preserved for history in the library's collection. Limited print copies will be available.

Recipes may be submitted through February 15th when library staff will then compile all of the recipes into both digital and printed cook book.

Recipes will be divided into the categories of: Appetizers, Salads, Soups, Main Courses, Side Dishes, and Desserts. Submissions are limited to one recipe per category per household.

Each original recipe should include the title of your dish, name for publication, list of ingredients, step-by-step preparation and cooking instructions as well as a brief paragraph explaining the recipe means something to you and your family during this pandemic. Photos of your dish (no faces please) are highly encouraged but not required.

A phone number should also be included, but will not be published.

Recipes can be submitted in person at any circulation desk; in our convenient 24/7 book drop;  or by emailing cookbook@mglibrary.org.

For more information, contact the library at (419) 947-5866.