Fraternity-Testvériség, 1961 (39. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1961-02-01 / 2. szám
FRATERNITY 9 MIRACLES OF A COOK BOOK About nine years ago in the little red brick church in Elyria, Ohio, mothers and daughters were busy preparing and serving chicken paprikas dinners to local guests and to others from distant parts of Ohio who came to join in the fellowship. Many of the guests asked for the recipes of the dinners, including the Hungarian pastries. As a result of these inquiries the Dorcas Guild decided in October 1951 to compile a Hungarian cook book. Under the capable guidance of their advisor, Mrs. Louis G. Novak, the Guild members began gathering the recipes for the traditional Hungarian dishes and pastries which they had learned to make from their mothers and grandmothers who brought these recipes from the old country. The ladies kitchen-tested their favorite dishes, and Mrs. Novak typed and compiled them in booklet form. The Guild members apprehensively ordered 1,000 copies of the first edition which appeared in September 1952. Within the first week, members of the Guild and Women’s Circles of the church sold all of the books ... to the last copy! This was the First Miracle. When a Hungarian paper in Pittsburgh published an article about the cook book, orders began to pour in from all parts of the United States. From Pennsylvania a mother wrote: “My daughter- in-law is Italian and she would like to make some Hungarian foods, but I cannot properly explain the recipes to her. I am glad that I could get your book written in English.” Similar letters of appreciation were received by the Guild. The demand for the cook book was tremendous, because it was the first Hungarian recipe book in this country, published by a church and printed in the English language. The Second Miracle happened when the church received a letter from Miss Clementine Paddleford, “This Week” food editor, inquiring when the church would have a public dinner about which she had heard so much. The Dorcas Guild invited her as guest of honor and a traditional Hungarian dinner was prepared by the 27 members as she watched. From Miss Paddleford’s article appearing in the magazine and through many of the Hungarian newspapers which subsequently featured the write-up, 47,000 cook books were sold! The dinners at the church were in such great demand, that in November 1957 the now famous annual “Magyarbord” was introduced and every year since then the number of guests have increased until at the “Magyarbord” of 1960 over 500 guests were served. At this occasion Miss Helen Robertson, food editor of the “Cleveland Plain Dealer”, was invited to cover the affair, and then the Third Miracle happened. Because the recipes were being published in various newspapers, the Guild was advised through legal counsel to have the cook book copyrighted, and for the next printing the cook book was revised with an additional 60 recipes. As a result of Miss Robertson’s fine article in the “Cleveland Plain Dealer” and other local papers carrying the news, more than 400 orders arrived for the books before they were even off the press! Approximately 2,000 copies of the latest edition have been sold since then.
