A new cookbook honouring the history of Women in North Hastings is in the works.
It’s all thanks to getting a New Horizons Seniors grant, the hard work of the Museum’s Board and the encouragement from M.P. of Hastings—Lennox and Addington Mike Bossio.
Jody Didier, a member of the Museum Board, says that this was necessary because the history of Women in North Hastings has been overlooked. When looking through the artifacts donated to the Museum over the years, many times she would notice that nothing about the Women would be noted. It would note the Husband and children by name, but not the Wife. The life of a Woman was different at the turn of the century than it is now, Didier says.
Didier says the creation of this cookbook is to detail how important Women have been to North Hastings’ past. The recipes will be submitted by people along with a story about the Woman behind the recipe. She said the stories the Museum Board got were incredible. The Men in the early days of North Hastings were gone for days at a time to work, or worked a dangerous job. The Women were relied on for so much, Didier says.
Didier says the stories in this book will be about the character of these Women. The stories will be about why the recipe is so special to the person that submitted it and give a description of the Woman behind the recipe.
The cookbook is expected to be released by September. The funds will go directly to helping the Museum Didier said they are working on getting another grant so they can follow-up on this book with one on short stories.
