Most recipes tell a story about a family or a region, so the best cookbooks are usually great reading material. Just ask anyone who’s stood in the cookbook section of a bookstore and turned through pages of several titles.
That’s the idea behind a Pennyroyal Arts Council project that will be released in a couple of months.
“Let Us Entertain You” is a large cookbook comprised of more than 600 recipes from Hopkinsville area residents who were willing to pitch in and help the PACS staff raise some money during a tough time for the performing arts.
“It is a cookbook and a community story,” said PACS Executive Director Margaret Prim. “We really used it to tell our story.”
The cookbook has been sent to a printer and the initial 1,000-book order will be delivered Nov. 30. PACS is taking pre-orders online, and shipping will be offered. The 400-page “Let Us Entertain You” is priced at $30.
The goal is to raise at least $30,000 to help offset revenue PACS lost this year when the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancelation of live concerts and other events at the Alhambra Theatre.
Nine major sponsors each contributed $1,000 and several other businesses purchased advertising. PACS was able to raise $13,000 from the sponsors and advertisers to offset the cost of printing.
“It’s going to help us sustain the theater. We’ll be making money on day one,” Prim explained.
The cookbook is organized by theater-themed sections, such as “Act 1” for salads and dressings and “Standing Ovation” for desserts. Throughout the book there are stories about the Alhambra’s history, along with photos and information about PACS today and the organization’s ambitions. There’s also a section with special menus for events like a pot luck birthday bash, a New Year’s Eve gathering and a Kentucky Derby brunch.
Performing arts centers across the country face the same dilemma during the pandemic. In Hopkinsville, the financial hit affects the community’s arts anchor. The cookbook is one way area residents can support PACS and the Alhambra, said Prim.
PACS will be announcing a series of small events at the Alhambra later this month to complement the book’s release.
The cookbook’s major sponsors are Music Central, Pennyrile Radiology, Planters Bank, Hopkinsville Milling, Higgins Insurance, Hancock’s Neighborhood Market, Casey Jones Distillery, Wildcat Chevrolet-Trice Hughes and H&R Agripower.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. She spent 30 years as a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.
