NORTH VERNON — Recipes for the favorite foods of local families are preserved in the newly-published Hayden Historical Museum’s cookbook, titled “Hayden’s Favorite Recipes Through the Generations.”
“For years, we’ve had several requests for a local cookbook, so we finally did it,” Hayden Historical Museum Director Rodger Ruddick said.
Ruddick explained that the cookbook is compiled of recipes taken from previously locally-published cookbooks that have been preserved by the museum.
Recipes were taken from cookbooks created by groups in Hayden and Spencer Townships. They include the cookbooks, “Order of the Eastern Star — Hayden Chapter No. 253,” “Hayden Elementary School Cookbook 1993-1994,” “Cooking with Mother Eisenmann with the Rosary Society — St. Joseph Catholic Church,” “Hoosier Pie” by Maude Tracy, “Maple’s Grocery presents Hayden’s Best Recipes” and “Gems of the Past Cookbook by the Oak Grove Ladies Aide.”
“We also included several individual recipes from local cooks,” Ruddick said. “All those recipes appear with the name of the donor. If you have lived here any time at all, you will recognize the names of the cooks and maybe have already experienced the taste of many of the foods.”
The cookbook was printed as a fundraiser to help maintain the Hayden Historical Museum. A $20 donation is requested for each cookbook.
“We wanted to have the book by December because we figured it would be a great Christmas gift,” Ruddick said. “The good news is we have already sold 51 copies at the museum’s Annual Open House. The bad news is we only printed 100 books so it looks like we are going to have to print another 100 copies soon.”
To purchase a cookbook, go to the museum during normal hours, call 812-592-8445 or email [email protected] to set up an appointment.
The museum is located in the center of Hayden at 6715 W County Road 20 S near North Vernon. Hours for the museum are Mondays from 4 to 5:30 p.m. and Wednesdays from 4 until 8 p.m.
