Do You Have One Of These?

The Souris Hospital Ladies Auxiliary Cook Book circa 1980

Now, here's a blast from the past!

Just how far back in the past, I'm not sure, since I've poured over every page of this delightful cook book, and I can find no reference to the date it was published. Perhaps those front pages got lost. Judging by some of the recipe contributors, I would guess the early 80s , maybe, and also my youngest baby was one of the first few babies to be born in the new Hospital, in 1989, so I would expect this Ladies Auxiliary fundraiser would have been published around that date. As far as I can tell the youngest contributor is Kimmie Soloman, so that also gave me a clue. Also is it "Cook Book" or "cookbook" I'm never sure, so forgive me interchanging this reference!

At one time, Ladies Auxiliaries were made up of volunteers, staff and the Doctor's wives, and I clearly remember being able to buy flowers from a large stand up cooler in the new hospital, or basic gifts suitable for any patients. I think it was run as a fundraiser for the Auxiliary. Books, the Guardian, candy. Am I imagining it? But it didn't last long.

Here's a great old picture of our beautiful old Souris Hospital, where emergencies were a matter of course. Where we took our baby daughter Jaime Lee to be stitched (22 of them) after a dog attack, at the Head Nurse's house, of all places. Jaime Lee was only 18 months old, traumatizing for all involved, needless to say. And a few years later to have her arm put in a cast after a spill from her bike. Where our daughter Krystal had both arms put into casts after a fall at her cousin's house. Where B.J. was taken for treatment after running into the porch door, and nearly bit his tongue off. Two Sundays in a row! Obviously learning to walk is pretty challenging!! Where our son Chance received treatment in the middle of the night for a stridor that frightened us half to death. All normal childhood stuff, and we knew all we had to do was drive in and we'd be taken care of. But it's a comfort unknown to us now, just the stuff of memories, and well missed.

Anyhoo, back to the cookbook. It's really more like a history book, which is an aspect I love. I love picking up a cook book, any cook book, and reading it all the way through, I find them fascinating. I was part of a group of moms who compiled two school cookbooks as fundraisers for Rollo Bay and Fortune Home & School in the early 90's and this Hospital book reminds me of that. Same format and plan, and the same type of good, tested tried and true family recipes.

Each of these wonderful recipes would have been requested from the contributors, I would say, and they'd want only their best put forward for publishing.

Like, "Sheila, what about your Fruited Scones?" Or, "Frances, your Scotch Cookies are to die for, put your recipe in!"

Some of our Nurses and staff were awesome cooks and bakers, and they encouraged other would-be cooks by their actions.

Will anyone who was lucky enough to have a slice of Kal McCloskey's famous Butterscotch Pie ever forget it? I know as a new mother who had starved for the previous nine months or so, it was never to be forgotten. The word went out. "Kal's on today." Then in a whisper, "Do you suppose she'll have time to make pie?"

And then time for the supper trays to arrive, I would be shaking, I was so hungry. And Lord god, a generous slice of heaven on a plate, topped with billowing white peaks, and a crust the angels would cry over, still slightly warm from the oven. Perfect for Nova, as I never liked my desserts icy cold, still don't. You didn't soon forget that experience. How well fed Charlie and the boys must have been.

Reading the cookbook reveals a veritable who's who of local cooks and bakers. And sadly a lot are gone.

Sterling Dingwell.

Sheila Soloman.

Catherine McQuaid.

If you are lucky enough to possess this treasure, dig it out and go for a sweet trip down Memory Lane. And it's a long trip so put on the tea, since you'll be salivating by the time you're done.

Macaroni Salad by Edie MacKinnon.

Chocolate Chip Cookies by Sally Rice.

Orange Cookies by our dear Laura McIntosh, how well we remember her. I was lucky enough to work beside her at the CIBC.

Blueberry Cheesecake by our own Reta O'Brien, who was quick to correct me at the Bank the day she arrived there to set up accounts for herself and her new doctor husband. My own name is unusual so I was not surprised to learn her name was spelled with an "e" not an "i." Names are personal and special.

I find these old cookbooks fascinating, and I'm fresh off watching the movie "Julie and Julia" for the third time, all about Julia Child and how she learned to cook. I'm so glad I was cleaning and purging in my basement after tucking Christmas '23 away. I donated 3 boxes of books (including cookbooks) to Second Time Around, but I would never get rid of a cookbook like this. I know most of the people in it, and I have an experience with a lot of them.

Like Joyce Dixon who taught me in High School.

Like Sheila Soloman who introduced me to her famous Scones as a treat when I did some sewing for her.

Like Debbie Vickerson, who lived just up the road, and who always had time for a short chat when I was biking by, and who also had an enormous sweet tooth, as evidenced by her willingness to buy 5 or 10 "World's Finest Chocolate Bars" when our kids were fundraising and those delicious bars cost a buck apiece. We returned the favor when the Vickerson kids were fundraising.

Like Carol Power, who has several recipes in the book.

There's everything from soup to nuts. From "How to Preserve a Husband" to the definition of "A Good Cook."

There is a history of the Souris Hospital, how it came about, the who's who of the day, The Board members. The first baby born. Can any one guess who it was? I suspect it is one of my readers....................

Most importantly sponsors were needed to get this book off the ground and in print.

Talk about a walk down Memory Lane!

The ads paid for by these local sponsors say as much about the history of Souris as anything else does. It's awesome! Up and down the street from East to West, local businesses stepped up to the plate to help. Many are gone, of course, but many remain, some having undergone all kinds of transformations and reinventions. The pages are full of them, and they are every bit as interesting to me as the recipes are. Of course, I once wrote a lengthy Blog all about a rolling pin, so there's that to consider.........

Souris Car Wash? Still here and thriving.

Clinton & MacAulay Woodworkers? Not so much. Reinvented.

Keenan Farms PEI? Yep, still going strong.

Stitch 'n Time, shifted to Nova's Sew Much More? Nope, gone forever.

Nothing stays the same. Souris was a happening place 40 years ago. Or so it seems. Because in the mid 80s the call came to build a new Hospital, and build it they did. There didn't seem to be as much red tape and rhetoric in those days.

Governments build hospitals of course, but communities are expected to do their part and a local door-to-door canvass was arranged. And although heavily pregnant, I served on that fundraising committee along side dozens of others, and I'm probably wrong, but I seem to remember Bruce Stewart heading up that Board. Someone out there can correct me. It was quite an experience, for the belief was that we needed a more modern and up to date Hospital for our residents, not just locally, but for our summer population too. They used the services as well, and were expected to kick in. I know my summer neighbors did, in spades, they were happy to help.

Like a lot of things, the old Hospital building was reinvented and is still in business today. Even the "new" Hospital is perhaps showing her age and could use some TLC. We depend on the government for that, of course, but there was a day, even in little old Souris, that a volunteer group would pool their resources to produce a little bit of history for cooks of the future, like me, to enjoy.

Do you have a copy? Dig it out! When I found mine, my little trip down Memory Lane took me most of a day, as I read each and every page, and enjoyed private memories of many of the people who were responsible, who also touched my life.

And a strange urge to make a Butterscoth Pie.......