GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) – If you’re looking for cookout inspiration this Fourth of July Fourth, UNCG’s North Carolina Cookbook Collection holds hundreds of recipes that go back 100 years.
The collection is part of UNCG’s Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives with more than 2,000 North Carolina cookbooks.
You can find cream pies, apple pies and casseroles. These are Just a few of the countless recipes held inside these cookbooks.
But you’ll find more than recipes inside.
Cookbook donor Patrick Dollar passed down their recipes and their history.
“I grew up within the church. The church put together this cookbook for an anniversary here. I contributed recipes,” Dollar said.
The collection is part of the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives.
It’s filled with recipes from long ago and from all 110 North Carolina counties, giving modern cooks today a taste of the past.
“One of the bizarre recipes is the scrambled eggs and brains. What makes it bizarre to me is that in the directions in this recipe, which is dated in the 1880s, all it says is prepare the brains,” said special collections specialist Carolyn Shankle.
Community cookbooks were typically created by a women’s group or church with the intention of raising money for a civic cause.
Raising money through cookbook sales became the duty of female churchgoers if the church needed extra funds.
The UNCG collection also features many cookbooks from schools and various women’s clubs.
