Culinary History Enthusiasts of Wisconsin

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Merle Branner

A close-up of Catherine Lambrecht.

Catherine Lambrecht

There is nothing quite like a community cookbook. Recipes from real people’s kitchens provide a snapshot of a culinary place and time. There will be a lot of tater tot casseroles, sure, but there is always the stunning gem, the recipe or prep method you never would have imagined. In the Culinary History Enthusiasts of Wisconsin's monthly meeting, presenter Catherine Lambrecht (founder of Greater Midwest Foodways Alliance, the Chicago Foodways Roundtable and participant in a lot of other food-related activities) will discuss Breathing Life into Your Community Cookbook Collection: A Culinary Yearbook, and how to make such collections more accessible.

media release: The Culinary History Enthusiasts of Wisconsin (CHEW) present:

“Breathing Life into Your Community Cookbook Collection: A Culinary Yearbook”

By Catherine Lambrecht

Wednesday, May 1, 2024, 7:00 pm, Goodman Community Center, 149 Waubesa Street, Madison, WI 53704

Community cookbooks are like high-school yearbooks. People pour over yearbooks in search of familiar faces from a moment in time. A community cookbook also offers family and friends' favorite recipes from a specific time. While lists are available to search for yearbooks, the same does not apply to community cookbooks. This presentation explores cookbooks as an underutilized resource and the steps that can be taken to make them accessible.

Catherine Lambrecht is a veteran of culinary competitions at the Lake County and Illinois State Fairs, a former University of Illinois Extension volunteer whose specialties were Master Food Preserver and Master Gardner. She is a founder of Greater Midwest Foodways Alliance, Chicago Foodways Roundtable (sister organization to the Culinary Historians of Chicago) and LTHforum.com, a Chicago culinary chat site. Catherine is also the program director for the Highland Park Historical Society, an Illinois Humanities Road Scholar, and the editor of Heirloom Recipes from the Illinois State Fair: A Bicentennial Project.