Category Archives: Uncategorized

The cookbook collection of the High Line Heritage House Museum is vast and broad.  Ethnic cookbooks, holiday cookbooks, cookbooks that highlight one ingredient, decade cookbooks, tea party cookbooks, celebrity cookbooks, Crock-Pot cookbooks, historic cookbooks-they are all in the collection.  What I especially love collecting are cookbooks put together by local groups and sold as a fundraiser for whatever cause they are supporting.

One published by the Van Orsdel Methodist Church Circle Number Four group in 1932 is believed to be the oldest volume in the Local Cookbook Collection.  In 1984, St. Mark's Episcopal Church released a cookbook and included recipes from its cookbook published in early 1922, but I don't have an authentic copy-yet!  One never knows where one will find volumes!  It is my goal to acquire as many of these volumes as possible, as no other museum in Havre is currently doing this.  These cookbooks are a treasure trove of information, and it is important to keep a collection local for the community to enjoy.  Keeping the collection as safe as possible is paramount-I don't want volumes "growing feet" (yes, it happens!)-so I'm thinking scanning the volumes and making them available for viewing will be the way to go.

I purchase cookbooks where I am able and for a REASONABLE price, and would someday like to sell extra copies as a fundraiser for the High Line Heritage House Museum.  They will run the gamut from older, massed produced cookbooks (like Better Homes and Gardens) to a few of the local ones I can acquire.  Keep in touch if you are interested!

Pictured above is the latest volume added to the Collection.  It was published by the Methodist Church ladies in 1950.  It is next to the aforementioned oldest-believed volume in the Collection.  The cover is old oilcloth, and the book was very well used and loved.

A happy new year is extended to you from Avalon!  Our celebration here was, as always, low key and quiet.  We left loud and raucous parties behind us in our twenties and are perfectly happy to spend New Year's Eve at home with our cats.  Jamey made his annual shrimp scampi and it was delicious!

With the new year comes a set of new resolutions to achieve.  One I will truly resolve to keep is posting more here and on my social media sites.  I've been quite lax on that for a while, but for good reason.  I have a new job in addition to my already 40 hour work week, plus trying to work on my business. Seventy hours a week can be long and grueling, and leaves little time for blogging and posting!  But, this won't last forever, as my plans for 2017 include quitting one of those jobs and focusing more on my tours.  For the first time, I will be offering tours seven days a week beginning Memorial Day weekend through the end of September in the afternoons. I also plan on opening one of the bedrooms to be a part of the tour, which means a lot of planning and organizing in order for this to be a success.

My resolution for this blog is to post here at least once a week and for the collections and activities to take center stage.  Not only will we be adding the bedroom to the tour, but our very savage gardens will be worked on heavily this coming year.  Overgrown trees, neglected areas, and "hillbilly piles" will be removed this summer.  Stay tuned!

Thank you for joining me on this journey!