There’s always been room at the church table for good food and fellowship. So it seemed natural to assemble recipes from Baptist General Association of Virginia churches to share with each other — and then to literally pay it forward by taking the proceeds from the sale of the book and share with those who go hungry every day.
In the 188 years of the BGAV’s existence, this marks the first cookbook that compiles recipes from Virginia Baptist church members. And it only seems fitting that it is done in partnership with Woman’s Missionary Union of Virginia.
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The response to the request for recipes was overwhelming. We received over 1,000 recipes and they came to us via both e-mail and the U.S. Postal Service. It was a real treat to open up the envelopes packed with recipes, many of them handwritten — and beautifully so — with exquisite penmanship that you no longer see these days.
Thanks should be expressed to the amazing women of WMUV who so thoroughly engaged in this endeavor. When WMUV embraces a project, you know it will be done — and done well!
Thanks also is due to the men in Virginia Baptist life who submitted their favorites — we know that most of the best chefs in the world are men! And our guys can be counted with them.
But a little bit of history too. All churches represented by the folks who sent in recipes are recognized in our center section with church profiles.
Special thanks go to Angela House, Diane Hutchinson, and Lindsey Huggins who typed in many of the handwritten submissions. Not an easy task with so many that came in! And, thanks to our researcher, Jennifer Law, who pulled together information for our church profile center section.
And a super special thanks to our graphic designer, Meghan Wirt, who, with a large dose of creativity, transformed the text into an eye-pleasing format.
We wish we could have tested each and every recipe which we know many professional cookbook publishers do. We’ve taken the recipes as they were submitted. So should you find that some ingredients are missing or quantities don’t seem to be right, let us know.
Because of the volume of recipes submitted, it is possible that some were missed.We hope that grace will be given for those that may have been overlooked. Perhaps we will have the beginnings of yet another cookbook.
So with a dash of inspiration and a full measure of love, Virginia Baptists offer some of their best. Let’s get cooking!
Due to overwhelming response, there will be two volumes to the cookbook: Volume 1: Meals and Mmmore and Volume 2: Sweets and Sides. Each volume is $15 with the set going for $25. All proceeds will go to a hunger-related ministry to be determined by WMUV and the Virginia Baptist Mission Board.
This could make a great Christmas present.
We will be accepting orders at www.vbmb.org/cookbook or by mail at Virginia Baptist Cookbook, VBRC, 2828 Emerywood Parkway, Richmond, VA 23294. Make checks payable to VBMB, and designate cookbook in the memo line.
Paige Peak (paige.peak@vbmb.org) is assistant executive director and chief communictions officer for the Virginia Baptist Mission Board.