Claras favourite recipes sought for community cookbook

Does your mother make the best apple crumble in Clara? Or maybe Auntie Mary’s scones or Uncle Sean’s spag bol is the stuff of legend in your household?

If so, you’re being urged to submit the recipes before the end of this month for inclusion in a community cookbook full of local family favourites being put together in aid of Clara Family Resource Centre.

“We need to keep the same level of service, which means we have to fundraise,” resource centre board member Mary Delaney explained this week. “This is one of the things we’ve come up with.”

A real community project, the cookbook’s cover page and name will be found via competitions being run in Ard Scoil Chiarain Naofa and Youth Reach in the town.

The A5-size book is planned to run to some 250 pages, with recipes for everything from breakfast to desserts along with hints and tips to make life in the kitchen a little easier.

The cookbook’s first print run of 750 will be launched on December 5 next, in time for the Christmas market, at an event that will also include cookery demonstrations and a cake sale.

Mary herself has already submitted recipes for meatloaf and beef casserole for consideration, and she said she’s delighted that recipes have also been received from young people in the town.

She said she’s confident enough recipes will be submitted on time too. “Clara does have a great sense of community,” she explained. “And there are some really good cooks in Clara.”

Recipes can be submitted to Clara Family Resource Centre any time from now until the end of October. They don’t have to be typed, but handwriting must be legible and submitter names included.

Local businesses interested in helping meanwhile should also get in touch with the centre with offers of donations to help cover printing costs.