Book of recipes to benefit Snoqualmie Valley Relay for Life
April 15, 2009
By Laura Geggel
Mary Ann Rohrbach mixed together a tablespoon of determination, a dozen friends, a cup of information and 378 recipes to perfect her newest creation, “Recipes For Life,” a cookbook meant to raise funds for the Snoqualmie Valley Relay For Life.
The hardcover, spiral bound cookbook covers the history of Relay For Life, healthy eating tips, resources for cancer patients and, of course, recipes.
For instance, the cookbook tells how the Relay For Life started in Tacoma in 1985 and lists vegetables such as asparagus, which fight brain, colon, lung and prostate cancer.
But the meat of the book lies within the recipe section. With a cadre of recipe hunters, Rohrbach and community members asked friends and family for dishes, ranging from appetizers to desserts. Rohrbach encouraged contributors to decide if they wanted to dedicate the recipe in memory or in honor of a cancer patient.
“That was really the most fun, contributing things that would match me with the special people in my life, some of who are very alive and well,” said Anne Loring, a cancer survivor and recipe contributor.
Rohrbach honored cancer patients at last year’s Relay For Life of Snoqualmie Valley, but in another way. She helped organize the luminaries, in which people write the name of a patient on a paper bag and place a lit candle within it to light the relay course.
This year’s event is scheduled for July 11-12.
“I actually decided I would do a cookbook on the day of wrap-up last year,” Rohrbach said.
The Oberto Sausage Company contributed toward some of the printing costs. Proceeds for the $20 cookbook will go to the American Cancer Society for education, research and outreach. Two cookbooks cost $35.
Denise DuBose, a co-captain with Rohrbach on the relay team for Our Lady of Sorrows Church, commended her friend for pursuing the cookbook’s production. When choosing recipes, DuBose said she stuck with the healthy variety.
“I didn’t include anything with canned food,” DuBose said. “I used fresh fruit and vegetables and rices. We’re trying to eat differently, eat healthier.”
Other cookbook committee organizers include Karen DuBose, Barb Danek, Linda Wager, Ann Fleming, Cindy Andre, Marika and Caroline Loudenback, Kathy Carr and Teresa Warren.
People flipping through the book can find recipes for Horiatiki Greek village salad, sweet potato soup and decadent French toast soufflé.
“There’s a lot of heart in this book,” Rohrbach said. “We called it Recipes For Life, because that’s what we’re doing.”
The cookbook has two indexes: one organized by alphabetical order of dish and the other categorized by the Valley’s many recipe contributors. Rohrbach contributed almost 20 dishes herself, including the poor man’s cake, in memory of her mother Viola Lorang who died of breast cancer when Rohrbach was 10.
The poor man’s cake, a remnant from the Depression, has no eggs and no milk.
“Maybe it will become a best seller, now that things are harder,” Rohrbach said.
To purchase a copy, visit Carmichael’s True Value, State Farm Insurance on Snoqualmie Ridge, Mount Si golf course or e-mail Mary Ann Rohrbach at Rohrbach@nwlink.com.
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