COOKBOOKS SHARE THE `TRIED AND TRUE'

Homemade jelly rolls wound in dishtowels and cooling on a clothesline and baskets bursting with red, green and yellow vegetables fresh from the earth made for strong influences on the Iowa farm girl.

These days, JoAnn Moller of Jackson, quite grown up and with a family of her own, savors those memories both in spirit and in the kitchen through preparation of time-honed recipes.

"I come from a family that likes to cook," Moller said, reflecting on the days when her mother whipped up hearty dishes from simple ingredients drawn from an unassuming cupboard. Moller and three brothers helped their parents tend the family farm. "Needless to say, with four men in the house, we did a lot of cooking," she said.

That early appreciation for homemade goodness prepared by the loving hands of her mother and grandmother is reflected through Moller's acquisition of scores of cookbooks.

Her favorite volumes are those with names following each entry. The autographs aren't those of renowned chefs, mind you, but rather the names of neighbors, friends, relatives and other townspeople.

Recent years have seen an explosion in the publication of local and regional cookbooks. For reasons ranging from the raising of funds to the raising of health consciousness, cookbooks bearing the names of hundreds of local women, men and youngsters can be found from many sources in the Cape Girardeau area.

It's a bounty rich in opportunities for education and enjoyment, Moller contends.

"You can learn a lot about areas and history from cookbooks," she reflected, noting that foods can provide insight into regional customs and heritage. Moller and her husband, David Loucks, himself an avid cook, enjoy learning about new surroundings in such a manner. When their professional lives have called for relocation, they have seized the opportunity to learn about each new home through their shared enjoyment of foods. After a move, "one of the first things my husband and I do is explore festivals and churches suppers," Moller said, chuckling. She is assistant director of Riverside Regional Library in Jackson.

Helping newcomers feel at home was a chief aim of a recent cookbook project sponsored by the Christian Women's Fellowship Group of Mt. Auburn Christian Church.

"We have so many new people in our church, this was one way of getting them involved," said Margaret Sanders, president of the group.

The "Family Favorites" cookbook went on sale in November, featuring close to 200 recipes. "It's worked out real well," Sanders said. Individual orders of half a dozen of the books have not been unusual, she noted.

Just as there are different reasons for putting together cookbooks, each compilation may feature a singular flavor and style. On the other hand, some local cookbooks include recipes ranging from simple-to-prepare family casseroles to gourmet entrees. That's the case with a recent first-time effort by Zonta of the Cape Girardeau area.

"We have a very good mix of more common, quick-to-fix dishes to gourmet dishes," said Susan McClanahan, who chaired the service organization's cookbook project.

About 500 recipes strong, the cookbook was compiled by the some 90 members of the local arm of the professional women's organization. Money raised through the cookbook sale, as with the group's other numerous fund raisers, is funneled back into the community through over 30 service projects, McClanahan explained.

"The books that clubs and churches put together are my favorites," McClanahan said, who, like Moller, is an avid collector of cookbooks. Her love of the subject led to involvement in another cookbook fund raiser, this one at her church, Grace United Methodist of Cape Girardeau.

"Cooking with Grace and a Pinch of Hope," in its second printing, was a project of the Circle of Hope women's group of the church. Recipes came from throughout the congregation, McClanahan said. Proceeds are used for church and mission projects, along with support of local charities.

Such homegrown books spark camaraderie and a sense of fellowship, McClanahan, Sanders and Moller agree.

Submitters typically requested that their friends be sure and include particular recipes, McClanahan said. Yet, even when unacquainted with the persons whose names are beside the recipes, there abides a sense of familiarity. "You feel as though you're being welcomed to sit down in their kitchen and try their recipes," Moller said.

Helping persons become more at ease with healthy, low-fat food preparation is the aim of a cookbook project sponsored by the Cardiac Rehabilitation Staff at St. Francis Medical Center.

The "Healthy Heartland Cookbook" was introduced last spring. Many of the recipes are modifications of recipes from other cookbooks, said Vicki Frank, supervisor of cardiac rehabilitation at St. Francis. "Every recipe was tried before is was put in the book," she said. Particular effort was made to make each recipe appealing and tasteful, she noted.

Some people trying the low-to-no-fat recipes from the book have noted, "'Oh, this tastes good,'" with considerable surprise, Frank laughed.

Each recipe also contains a comprehensive breakdown including caloric, protein, carbohydrate, fat, cholesterol and sodium content. "All recipes are 35 percent or less in fat," Frank said. A very limited number of cookbooks _ prepared as a service to patients _ are still available, she noted.

One of the most recent cookbook projects to become available locally is sponsored by the parent-teacher fellowship of Cape Christian School.

Indications are that the fund raiser, the first of its kind for the school, will be "a nice supplementary project," said Bonnie Nations, administrator.

New playground equipment is a central project for which proceeds will be earmarked, she indicated.

Chock full of recipes that have withstood what Moller calls "the family reunion test," some cookbooks exude homespun charm.

One of her favorite collector's books is "Aunt Bee's Mayberry Cookbook," which she found in a St. Louis bookstore. "It has recipes with names like 'Thelma Lou's Chicken,'" Moller said.

The St. Louis Iron Mountain and Southern Railway has its own plans for a cookbook with similar warmth.

A project called Aunt Mildred's RFD Weekend is in the works, said Trisha Wischmann. Everyone who submits a recipe will receive a discount on ticket purchase, she explained.

In the late 80s, the Friends of Steam Railroading compiled a cookbook for the railway called "Railroad'n Recipes." The cookbook, which also features railroad lore, is still available.

While recipes these days may not often speak of a dashes, pinches and handfuls of ingredients, they remain links with days gone by.

Sharing recipes, too, reflects a spirit of continuity and goodwill.

In addition to being "a way of sharing recipes you've collected," Moller said, cookbooks are "a way of sharing yourself."