Favorite recipes (St. Luke's Mission, Durham, 1956)

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This is a mid-twentieth-century community cookbook compiled by the Woman's Auxiliary of Saint Luke's Episcopal Church in Durham, North Carolina, and published in 1956. Like many church and civic fundraising cookbooks of its era, it gathers recipes contributed by members of the congregation into a compact household reference covering appetizers, salads, vegetables, main dishes, sauces, desserts, and breads. Modern readers will find a snapshot of 1950s American home cooking, with an emphasis on convenience ingredients, molded salads, casseroles, and economical family meals. The book blends everyday fare with a few dishes bearing international names, such as coq au vin and chop suey, adapted to the pantry staples of the period. It also includes practical guidance, such as budget meal plans costing about a dollar per serving, reflecting the era's attention to thrift and efficient home management. While modest in scope compared to commercial cookbooks of the time, it offers a valuable, community-rooted record of regional Southern home cooking, church social life, and mid-century domestic culture, useful to both culinary historians and readers interested in nostalgic American cuisine.

The book is organized into two mechanically gated sections spanning a small number of pages. Section 1 opens with appetizers under the heading Things to Nibble, then moves through salads, vegetables, and a large block of casserole and meat dishes, closing with sauces and a transition into cakes. Section 2 continues with pies and desserts, cookies and bars, breads and biscuits, and a distinct feature of complete budget meal plans priced around one dollar per serving. The organization follows a typical church cookbook pattern, grouping recipes by course and occasion rather than alphabetically, with practical cooking hints interspersed among the dessert and bread recipes.