Do you have a trick with soda crackers when you need an instant hors d’oeuvre? Do you still make Aunt Jane’s banana nut cake, or your grandmother’s cornbread dressing with chestnuts? Does everyone want your chicken salad recipe? Or baked ham? Do you still secretly love that congealed salad with lime Jell-O and cottage cheese?
If so, the Friends of the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library and the Hitching Lot Farmers’ Market invite you to their second annual recipe swap and tasting session Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. at the library at 314 Seventh St. N.
“The Hitching Lot Farmers’ Market and Friends of the Library introduced Table Talk programs in June 2010 with the invitation to ‘talk about how we think about food,'” recounted Friends member and Farmers’ Market volunteer Jo Shumake.
“To celebrate the fifth anniversary of our June Table Talks in 2014, we decided to move beyond ‘thinking’ about food to cooking and eating and sharing,” she added.
“We had no idea how popular this event would be last summer,” said original event organizer Margo Toledano. “Dozens of food-lovers pulled out favorite recipes, prepared the dishes, and brought them to the library for our first annual indoor picnic.”
According to participants, the real fun — beyond the shared enjoyment of the cornucopia of offerings — was the varied stories behind the recipes. There were “desperation dishes,” made by non-cooks when forced to produce something for a church supper or reception. There were “dishes on a dare,” which in one case ended up winning its creator first prize in a cooking contest.
“At the June 24 Table Talk, we would like as many people as possible to bring a favorite recipe — and if they can, the prepared dish too,” said Shumake. “The Friends will serve iced tea, and we’ll have a potluck lunch of favorites.
“At the end of the lunch, we’ll gather recipes and email or regular addresses and create an instant cookbook, which we will send either digitally or in paper copy to all participants,” she concluded.
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