Help is still needed for the Andalusia Tourism and Relocation Committee’s heritage cookbook, organizers said this week.
“We are looking for heart and soul foods with memories,” said T&R member Barbara M. Nichols. “This unique cookbook will provide recipes with a history, but we need help in identifying both the recipes and the cooks behind them.”
Nichols said all area residents are encouraged to send in their favorite recipes with a comment or story about the history of the recipe. She said resent research has highlighted several “must have” recipes for the book, but more information is needed on locating a contact person, such as:
• Edith Bryant’s pies, especially the lemon, chocolate and coconut varieties;
• Trudy Alford’s six-layer chocolate cake;
• Mrs. Heavy Ramsey’s German chocolate cake and lane cake;
• Chalmers Bryant’s barbeque sauce from The Pit restaurant;
• Harris Barbeque’s iced fruit pies; and,
• Anything on the menu from Johnny Crenshaw’s Café.
Nichols said there is also a variety of other areas where recipes are needed.
“Our emphasis is on foods with a tale to tell, from the early 1900s through the early 1980s,” she said.
She said entries are also needed for the following potential cookbook sections:
• Just Cornbread. “Every homemaker had to know how to prepare this Southern staple and in the right cast iron pan, which by the way had to be carefully ‘cured’ with oil and never washed with soapy water,” she said. “We want your best recipe.”
• Bridge Delights. “When bridge parties were in their heyday and held in private homes, the culinary interest was in preparing dessert delights to outdo all others,” she said. “The delights had to be homemade, and often recipes were kept secret, not to be shared. Now, we’re asking you to share – if you’re willing.”
• Fabulous Block Party Grilling. “Neighborhood barbeques were held before the term block party came to be, and usually highlights were barbeque chicken, mounds of potato salad, stuffed eggs, and ‘gotta have baked beans,’” she said. “Anything else was icing on the cake and yep, there were always cakes or maybe homemade banana pudding. “Occasionally, homemade peach ice cream was churned,” she said. “If you’ve got something that would fit in this category, we want it.”
“One of the sections we’re very excited about is ‘The True Diva Cooks,’” Nichols said. “Ask anybody to list names, and you will hear Yeargan, Hart, Wilcox, Moore, Curry to name a few. There are countless ones throughout the county.
“We’re looking for residents to add to this list names and provide us with contact numbers or even visit with them yourself and send in results of interview and recipes,” she said. “Or better still, just tell the story of your relationship with a special diva and provide the recipe you acquired so many years ago.”
For info or to submit a recipe, contact Nichols at 334-427-0454 or via email at or Melissa Gambill at 334-222-4033 or via email at .
Submissions can also be mailed to “Recipes, c/o Andalusia City Hall, P.O. Box 429, Andalusia, AL 36420,” or submitted via the city web site.
The Covington Historical Society will meet at 7 tonight, Thurs., Feb. 23, in the Dixon Memorial Room of the Andalusia Public Library.
Agnes Chandler Gatlin, who is 105, will present a program on her early remembrances of Andalusia.
John Sherf is the organization’s new president.
The Civitan Club will present its 25th annual Andalusia Civitan Rodeo at the Covington Center Arena this Thurs., Fri., and Sat., Feb. 23-25.
Sanctioned by the Professional Cowboy Association, the Civitan Rodeo features exciting
events such as saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling, bareback riding, team roping, barrel racing, calf roping, ladies’ breakaway roping and bull riding.
With $8000 added money, this year’s rodeo is sure to draw some of PCA’s best performers. This is the second year for the Andalusia Civitans to have two rodeo events with three shows in one weekend.
Gates open at 6 p.m. The Gold Rush for ages 3-8 will held at 7 p.m. followed by the grand entry at 7:30 p.m.
For more information, contact Jan White at 334-222-2907 or or Bert Champion at 334-313-5613 or .
City officials said Tuesday they need just a few good days of dry, sunny weather, to get the renovation of Johnson Park completed before the opening day of baseball season.
Members of the city council met at the park for a closer look Tuesday afternoon in lieu of their usual work session.
“We are behind, but we’ll make it up,” Mayor Earl Johnson said.
The new fencing is almost complete, he said. Work continues on the press boxes, and in getting lights in place.
The mayor and council members commended city department heads who have collaborated to get the work done in the park.
“We have gotten the biggest bang for our buck by doing the bulk of this work ourselves,” Johnson said. “We are reinvesting in our community, but putting money back into the infrastructure.”
When the council met later at city hall, members:
• agreed to rezone property on South Three Notch from residential to MED.
• awarded a $624,000 bid to L&K Contracting for work on the sewerage system in the city’s industrial park.
• heard a presentation on ecycling day, set for Fri., March 9.
Construction workers were hard at work building a press box at one of the fields at Johnson Park on Wednesday. Work on Johnson Park is just one of the many construction projects ongoing within the City of Andalusia. Work is expected to be completed in time for the upcoming baseball and softball season. | Kendra Bolling/Star-News