“A Thyme to Remember”: Colfax public library gathering recipes for new cookbook

By LeAnn R. Ralph

COLFAX  —  If you’ve ever thought you might want to be memorialized on the shelves of the Colfax Public Library, now is your chance.

The Colfax Public Library currently is gathering recipes from residents in and around Colfax in the public library’s circulation area for a new cookbook that will be published this fall.

The title of the cookbook is “A Thyme to Remember: Colfax Public Library Commemorative Cookbook.”

“Our goal is to have the cookbook ready for sale by mid-October so it coincides with our 100 years of the library being in the Colfax Municipal Building. It will take a while to prepare everything,” said Lisa Bragg-Hurlburt, director of the Colfax Public Library.

“I want to collect as many recipes as possible. I am not insisting that everyone fill out the sheets we have. They can copy recipes that they have and send them to me in any form. And then I will get everything prepared in the right format,” she said.

The deadline for submitting the recipes to the library for “A Thyme to Remember” is August 15.

“I would love to include a few old photos of Colfax residents cooking or eating. It can be in their homes. Or maybe people hanging out at the library. Also we want anecdotes. If anyone has any short stories about years gone by. Meals. Community events. Things that happened in the library. People from days gone by. That would be fun to include, too,” Bragg-Hurlburt said.

“The recipes do not have to be completely original … I hope we have a few that are geared toward fun things for children to eat. Our Norwegian heritage. Other cultures that have come to the community,” she said.

“It would be fun to have a variety of things. There is a big tradition of potluck around here, salads and hot dishes. We should have plenty of those recipes. And I hope men submit recipes. I was thinking about hunters and game-type recipes and people with vegetable gardens,” Bragg-Hurlburt said.

Sections that will be included in the cookbook are Appetizers & Beverages; Soups & Salads; Vegetables & Side Dishes; Main Dishes; Breads & Rolls; Desserts; Cookies & Candy; This & That.

Under the “This & That” section, Bragg-Hurlburt is hoping to include fun recipes that will appeal to children or easy recipes that children can make themselves.

Other items that could be included under This & That would be recipes for making your own cut-out cookie Christmas tree ornaments or play dough or finger paint.

“I am hoping we get a good representation, not only of people in the community who use our library but people from the Woman’s Club, the Restoration group (the Colfax Municipal Building Restoration Group), our library and village boards. People of all ages,” Bragg-Hurlburt said.

“Please share your recipes! We are really encouraging people to participate. We want it to be a community cookbook. We want it to be a keepsake. The more people who contribute, the more special it will be,” she said.

In addition to being a keepsake or a cookbook that people can give as a gift, it will also serve as a fund raiser for the library.

“We are going to charge $9 per copy, which will give us a small profit. And we are going to use that money for the library,” Bragg-Hurlburt said.

And of course, the cookbook will be on the shelf at the Colfax Public Library and available for check out.

“If people want to be famous and memorialized on our library shelves, this is an easy way to do it!” Bragg-Hurlburt said.

Anyone with recipes to share can e-mail the recipes to the library at hurlburt@colfaxpubliclibrary.org, drop them off at the library or mail them to Colfax Public Library; P.O. Box 525; Colfax WI 54730.

Bragg-Hurlburt says it does not matter what form the recipes are in — handwritten, photocopied or typed on a sheet of paper.

If you have questions about the Colfax Public Library’s cookbook project, you can call the library at 715-962-4334.