Last week’s column was about being gifted an entire recipe “collection”. When Marty Stover passed on the bags of old newspapers, magazines, cookbooks and clippings from many years of collecting, neither of us had a clue as to the depths of treasures they held.

Looking through a large stack of newsprint cookbooks from the Fairborn Daily Herald newspaper (circa 1968- 1977) was like stirring a pot of vegetable soup and spotting all the different ingredients that went in to make it a comforting, homey dish.

In 1968, the Fairborn Daily Herald held a recipe contest. Entries totaled 468 in six categories. Cash awards were given for first, second, third and first honorable mention. Numerous other honorable mentions were chosen also. A grand prize was also given.

Entries came from as far away as Florida, but the majority came from Fairborn, Medway, Enon and New Carlisle. A whopping 29 entries that placed or earned honorable mentions came from cooks in Medway. First place in the Casserole/Main dish category was for Scalloped Chicken submitted by Mrs. Paul Yoder of Medway. New Carlisle was represented with one recipe and Enon was represented with six recipes.

The 64-page newsprint style cookbook that resulted contained 315 recipes. Winners and all honorable mentions were included. Each recipe contained the name and address of its submitter. Top prize winners had their photos included. Recognizing many names brought back thoughts of long ago. Advertisements contained in the cookbook were, in themselves, a walk down memory lane. And, the book could be purchased for only 25 cents from the publisher.

Three judges looked for ease of preparation, availability of ingredients, and nutritional value along with appeal to all ages. Because taste is of key value in any food contest, the judges chose four finalists in each of the six categories. Those cooks were to bring their prepared dishes for final judging on June 27 to the Fair Lane Bowling Alley (today it is Bowl 10 Fairborn).

 Each year categories changed some, judges were chosen anew, prizes adjusted. A partial book from the second year (1969) showed more cities and towns represented. Added to the above four were Phoneton, Xenia, Troy and Springfield. Still, Medway was well represented with four dishes including second place winner Raglin Pickles from Esther Christner. New Carlisle had one recipe and Enon had four. Phoneton had one recipe.

Dishes for that second year ranged from English Fish Pie to Pioneer Pie to German Beef Ragout to Hungarian Goulash. Gelatin salads appeared as well as Cream Pies.

By the third year, 1970, I was in college earning a degree in the applied science of mental health while my life-long interest in cooking was simmering on the back burner. However, those summer months were long forgotten until I began reading the 3rd annual Fairborn cookbook with its yellowed, dried pages.

Just skimming the pages brought me to a halt and a gasp as I recognized myself in a photo. Yep, sure enough, it was me. I had forgotten completely about the day I got a phone call from Margaret Grube, Daily Herald Family page editor. I had won honorable mention in the quick bread category with Apple Spice Tea Muffins. In the end, another recipe I submitted was also included in the cookbook, Golden Walnut Cake.

It took a while for it to sink in that it was more than 45 years ago that my first recipes were published. My office files only went back to 1990 when Ann Heller of the Dayton Daily News chose my Cranberry-Apple Winter Pie for publication. A larger file began in 1996 when this column began in the same paper.

Needless to say, I spent the evening pulling out bits of memories of those single college days, pieces of my life that were long ago diced up and mixed with days of marriage, work, raising a family. Sometimes the past can serve up a sweet hint of what is to come later.

That 3rd annual cookbook of 1970 produced three recipes from Medway, one from New Carlisle and nine from Enon including a first place for Mrs. Marion Ruff with her Strawberry Pecan Cake and a second place for Miss Joyce Ark with her Pretty Peach Pie.

1974 found the annual cookbook in its seventh year. Categories had changed again. Some 200 entries were divided, scrutinized and placed according to winners. Medway was represented by six recipes including another one of mine; New Carlisle submitted two and Enon was represented by four, including a second place win for Dieter’s Cheesecake submitted by Mrs. Pamela Harrop.

By 1977, the Eighth Annual cookbook was billed as a recipe swap, no longer a contest. No prizes were given, but submitters were published in categories such as Budget Dishes, Fresh Fruits and Vegetables, Canning/preserving, Leftovers and Low-Calorie Foods. Medway was represented with two recipes and Enon with two.

Today I have Marty Stover to thank for saving a lot of her past and a bit of my own. Here is that first recipe published; perhaps it sounds silly to highlight it now after all these years. But that’s the way the past is sometimes-a sweet, faintly familiar taste of a moment in time when treasures were being stored for life’s pot of soup.

Apple Spice Tea Muffins
  • 2 cups flour
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 3 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
  • ¾ cup finely chopped peeled apples
  • 1 beaten egg
  • 1 cup milk
  • ¼ cup vegetable oil
Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir in apples. Make a well in the center of dry ingredients. Combine egg, milk and oil. Pour this into the dry ingredients. Stir only until combined. Batter should be lumpy. Fill greased mini muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake in preheated 400 degree oven for 15 minutes or until tested done with toothpick. Remove from pans. Cool completely. Glaze with the following: one cup confectioners’ sugar mixed with a tablespoon of milk and a drop of vanilla.

Contact Connie at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Box 61, Medway, OH 45341.

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