Somewhere in the history of nearly every church, there was a cookbook.
The authors usually intended to raise money for their church or auxiliary group, but from my vantage point, their efforts would amount to more than just the funds they generated. Church cookbooks are documents of social networks and culinary trends. Sometimes they even contain illustrations, i.e. folk art. They offer a deeper connection to a place in time.
The 1942 “Favorite Recipes of the Woman’s Society of Christian Service” of Saint Mark’s Methodist Church in Forest Park is a fine specimen. It appears to be printed on a ditto machine. The recipes are mostly for desserts, doughnuts and gelatin-based fruit salads, but there are some dinner options, including local favorite Sour Beef, and three chili recipes (at a time when they were not so common in Maryland cookbooks). Best of all, the book includes the full names of many recipe contributors, enabling me to do a little research on the people behind the recipes.
Saint Mark’s Methodist Episcopal Church was founded in 1903. The congregation and the church building continued to expand through the years – its final iteration was dedicated in 1932 at the corner of Liberty Heights and Garrison Boulevard. A 1934 directory of the church is filled with ads that show that the surrounding neighborhoods boasted nearly as many amenities as center-city Baltimore – restaurants, grocery stores, handymen, hardware stores.
Around the time the cookbook was published, Saint Mark’s congregation numbered nearly 1200.
By coincidence, both of the people whose recipes I made lived on Belleville Avenue in Howard Park, a block away from one another.
Mrs. Charles M. Smyrk was born Alice Virginia Clow in 1904. In 1926 she married Charles Smyrk, who was a boatman for the Baltimore Steam Packet Company. He managed traffic for the famed “Old Bay Line” between Baltimore and Norfolk.
“1934 year book and telephone index directory”, Saint Mark’s Methodist Episcopal Church, Enoch Pratt Free Library
Alice started as a stenographer for the city of Baltimore in the 1930s and was working for the Convention Bureau when she retired in the late 1960s. She died in 1991. The Smyrks had one son, Charles Jr.
Mrs. Harry B. Frey, nee Florence Marion Wright, was born in 1890. Mr. Frey, who she married in 1909, was a steel salesman. Mrs. Frey died in 1979. That’s all I got!
While I couldn’t find out much about Mrs. Smyrk and Mrs. Frey, I was happy to figure out their birth and death dates at least. The church seems to have closed sometime in the 1990s. The building has been for sale for awhile and appears to be in need of repair, making this cookbook a precious little snapshot of history.
Recipes:
- 1 onion
- .5 apple
- 3 sticks celery
- 3 Teaspoons curry powder
- 1 or more Cups cooked lamb
- 2 Teaspoons seeded raisins
- Rice, cooked dry
Cut up an onion, half an apple and two or three outside sticks of celery. Fry in butter until tender. Add 3 level teaspoonfuls of curry powder and cook for another minute. To this add a cupful or more of cooked lamb (left over roast) without fat, 2 teaspoonfuls of seeded raisins and enough stock or water to cover. Simmer for 20 minutes. Serve with rice, cooked dry.
Recipe from Mrs. Charles M. Smyrk, “Favorite Recipes of the Woman’s Society of Christian Service” of Saint Mark’s Methodist Church, Liberty Heights and Garrison Boulevard
- 1 3-inch stick cinnamon
- .75 Cups milk
- 1 package vanilla pudding
- 1.5 Cups milk
- .5 Cups sugar
- 1 Cup cream, whipped
Heat the milk with cinnamon. Strain. Add to pudding with 1-1/2 cup milk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. [don’t return to fire if using instant- ed] Remove from fire. Add sugar. Cool. Pour into tray and freeze about one hour or until thickened. Stir in whipped cream. Freeze quickly – about 3 or 4 hours.
Recipe from Mrs. Harry B. Frey ,“Favorite Recipes of the Woman’s Society of Christian Service” of Saint Mark’s Methodist Church
