CAPE GEORGE, N.S. — There was something a little different on the menu for this year’s edition of the annual Seafood Chowder and Bake Sale, held June 2 at the North Shore Fire Hall in Cape George. Something not so much for the dining table; more for the coffee table.
The ladies auxiliary of the North Shore Fire Department used the occasion of the popular event to launch their new heritage cookbook titled Great Cooks, Great Food, Great Memories.
“There are more than 20 historical articles,” auxiliary member Yvette MacDonald said of the book.
“It has been a long time coming; in the works for a while, and we’re really proud of it,” she added, noting the book makes a great gift and keepsake.
“Just put them on the coffee table and check out all the beautiful photos.”
Photos and stories that stretch from Jimtown to Maritime Rock, MacDonald noted, pointing out the area corresponds with the coverage area for the fire department.
“Hit some spots along the way,” MacDonald said, adding the hope was to have the photos and stories in a geographical order, but it didn’t really work out that way.
She noted it was a ladies auxiliary project but there were a lot of outside contributions including the request for submissions.
“So much editing, gathering of the photos, gathering of the recipes, we actually put letters out asking for people to submit. We worked with what we had and then added some additional stories,” she said.
“The interpretive centre here, the lighthouse, the fire department, the churches; we did all of those as well. We could have written 10 books and not be done.”
MacDonald added an emphasis was on photos of the many noteworthy cooks in the area.
“Photographs of some our cooks from the past and some of the ones still here; there are both,” she said.
“We have some really famous cooks in the area, so we wanted to really accentuate that.”
The books are available now and can be found at Michelle’s Grill and Highland Building Supplies in Antigonish, the Cape George Heritage Museum on Hwy. 337, or by calling MacDonald at 902-318-0025 or Patsy MacPhee at 902-863-6042.
MacDonald said they’re still working on additional distribution locations and all proceeds go back into the auxiliary’s work.
