“Last summer while most of us had our minds on vacations the Woman’s League of the Church of the Ascension in Silver Spring were deep in the plans for a cookbook,” read an article in the women’s pages of the Washington, DC Evening Star in December, 1953. “In those three months they worked like beavers collecting favorite recipes, planning the art work and getting the first draft ready for the proofreaders. They can now sit back and rest on their laurels… the completed book titled, ‘Cooking Maryland Style’ ($2.50), came off the presses a couple weeks ago.”
The proceeds from the handwritten cookbook went towards building a new meeting hall at the Church of the Ascension in Silver Spring.
I can’t determine when this church on Sligo Avenue was founded. The church is still active today.
Mrs. Mildred Stout contributed several recipes to “Cooking Maryland Style,” including this Lima Bean Dish With Eggs And Cheese. I was drawn to the dish by Stout’s final comment in the instructions: “Good meat substitute.”
Mildred was born Mildred Ann Buckner in Kansas. Her father Samuel was a Minister. Her mother Elizabeth was an immigrant from England. Mildred was involved in music in high school. Yearbooks and local newspapers refer to her involvement in the glee club and playing piano and horn.
In 1929, she married Landon Clarke Stout. In 1940 the Stouts lived in Kanawha, West Virginia. By 1950 they had moved to Wheaton Maryland and Landon was working as a Sales Manager in a “Paper Products Factory,” according to the census.
The Stouts didn’t make many appearances in the news, other than notices mentioning that Mildred was in a choral group.
Mildred Stout died in 1983. It looks like both Mildred’s mother Elizabeth and Landon’s mother Christine, who was Norwegian, were living with the Stouts in Maryland when they died in 1971 and 1976, respectively. All were buried back in Kansas, however.
“Cooking Maryland Style” is a nice mid-century handwritten cookbook in the vein of “Maryland Cooking” or “A Cook’s Tour of the Eastern Shore.” Unlike those two books, I don’t think it became much of a beloved regional classic. I didn’t find it mentioned in the newspapers through the years, other than once, one year after its publication. Under the readers’ letters in the women’s pages of the Evening Star, ran a letter entitled “Cook Book?,” written by Mrs. B.R.T. from Prince Frederick.
“I wonder if any of the readers could tell me where I could find a cook book put out by a Silver Spring church last year,” she wrote. “If I remember correctly, it was called ‘Cooking Maryland Style,’ and was most attractive. It would make a nice gift if I can get one.”
I don’t know about you but something about that letter seems a little fishy. Mrs. B.R.T. concluded, “I would also like to say that our Calvert County Homemakers have compiled ‘Favorite Recipes’ which has some good Southern Maryland Recipes.” She included an address to write to for a copy.
Even if it faded into relative obscurity, “Cooking Maryland Style” is a great cookbook, with a nice section on herb cookery, a few crab recipes, lots of salads, lots of chicken, and a good amount of recipes containing liver. The title is proof that Maryland cooking pride surfaced in community cookbooks throughout the state.
Recipe:
- 1.5 Cup lima beans
- 3 hard-boiled eggs
- .25 chopped green pepper
- 2 Tablespoons diced onion
- 5 Tablespoons flour
- 4 Tablespoons butter
- 3 Cups milk
- 1 Cup grated cheese
- salt
- pepper, black
Cook onion and pepper in butter. Soak beans overnight and cook ’til tender. Place half of the beans in a baking dish, and cover with sliced egg, peppers, and onions. Make white sauce with butter, cheese, milk, and flour. Pour half of the sauce over the beans, and add the rest of the beans and sauce. Cheese on top if desired. Bake for one hour at 350. Good meat substitute.
Recipe adapted from Cooking Maryland Style, Women’s League Church of the Ascension, Montgomery County, 1953.
