Wednesday, November 22, 2000

It took three years, two committees, hundreds of good cooks and countless hours of typing and proofreading, but "Feeding the Flock" is finally ready to go under Christmas trees everywhere.

Project Cookbook was launched several years ago when Christ Our Shepherd Lutheran Church in Peachtree City began planning its 25th anniversary. Don Ethier, chairman of the anniversary committee, enlisted the aid of several members of the Peachtree City congregation to solicit favorite recipes and gather them into a book celebrating a congregation that has become one of the largest in the Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

The project got off to a slow start, Ethier recalls, with only a handful of recipes submitted by the announced deadline. Then the first chairman of the cookbook committee changed jobs and cities and progress slowed even further.

But as the year 2000, and the anniversary, approached, interest rekindled, and eventually enough recipes came in to fill nearly 300 pages. More volunteers became involved, recipes were revised into a standardized format, and duplicates tactfully eliminated.

Artists from the congregation Marquita Foster, Jim Christopher and Beth Hornish designed the red-and-black cover with the church's logo, as well as divider pages featuring archived photos of the church's early years. Each divider page has a favorite "grace" printed on it.

The book includes a brief history of the congregation and pages of measuring equivalents and storage tips. Marilynn Sowell inherited the job of chairman and editor, and had to handle sometimes-difficult negotiations with the publisher, Wimmer of Memphis, Tenn. Nina Divins and Debbie Grubbs typed and retyped tirelessly, and a team of proofreaders read and reread for errors and inconsistencies.

Other committee members involved in the project were Karen Cook, Lori Gilstrap, René Griffith, Janet Lucas, Carole Lynch, Sue Memmer, Mary Kay Moore, Don Morris, JoAn Morris, Carolyn Mullins and Sallie Satterthwaite. A dedication page honors the memory of Margaret Cawthon, a long-time member of the congregation who had contributed recipes for many of her popular dishes before her death in early 1999.

The book was introduced to the congregation with a potluck supper featuring dishes from the book. In addition to the predictable soups, salads, casseroles and desserts there are also sections of children's favorites, pasta and vegetarian dishes. The old stand-bys, like the chili concoctions members traditionally share on Thanksgiving Eve, are well-represented.

But there are many that are more exotic. Consider Texas caviar, conch chowder, blue cheese coleslaw, alligator picante, Bohemian crud, baby armadillos, babotee and pavlova.

"Feeding the Flock" is not a fund-raiser but an anniversary memento, Ethier said, and has been priced only to recover the cost of publication. It is available at the church, at 101 Peachtree Pkwy. (770-487-8717), with a price break for buying in quantity, or at Omega Books at Peachtree Crossing in Peachtree City (770-487-3977) and at Collectors' Corner in Sharpsburg (770-251-6835).

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