The Mixing Bowl Jeffersonville High School PTA

The Mixing Bowl Jeffersonville High School PTA, Jeffersonville, Indiana 1978

This book starts off with a disclaimer that it is a collection of recipes of friends of Jeffersonville High School and that there are no claims “for the originality of any one recipe” and that they credit the “persons and sources from which these recipes were obtained” and then goes on to thank the contributors.

Indiana is not a state I ever would have expected to visit, being from Baltimore and knowing no one there, but I did go to Jeffersonville while on a trip to Louisville, Kentucky which is right across the river. We went to G.A. Schimpff’s Confectionery which is one of the oldest, continuously operated, family-owned candy businesses in the United States and it was great! They made hard candy right in front of you, they have a tiny museum in the back and they were so nice. Anyway, I have fond memories of Jeffersonville because of this so I picked up this book when I came across it.

There are illustrations on the dividers and the cover is aerial shot of the school. I thought it might be the mascot on the dividers but at least currently their mascot appears to be devils.

There are some regional recipes in the book including multiple recipes for nearby Kentucky’s famous Derby Pie by Clara Bennett, Barbara Johnson, Margaret Shea, and Sandy Wilson and two different recipes for Bourbon Balls from Martha Jackson and Mary Moody.

The variety in the book despite some duplication of recipes is quite good. Heavy on the desserts but a lot of them look interesting and aren’t ones I’ve seen before.

The savory dishes have some interesting ingredients and dated names.

There are some strange quotes scattered in the book from unknown sources like “If you always live with those who are lame, you yourself will learn to limp.”.

The book has some notes from a previous owner.

I adapted Betty Grandstaff’s Salted Peanut Cookies from this book.