A recipe ripped from a magazine that you intend to make someday wouldn't make it. Only tried-and-true favorites, like a never-fail brisket you'd take to a new mom or the cabbage rolls that always sell out at the Jewish Food Fair, made it into the 292-page cookbook.

Patrons of one of the city's longest-running food festivals want their sour cream kugel and buttery sweet raglach more than once a year. That's one of the reasons a group of women from the Moses Montefiore Temple got together 18 months ago to compile the "Jewish Food Fair Cookbook."

"People have asked, 'Why don't you do a Jewish food fair every month?'" Bev Stevens said. "People like this food year-round. And this gives them something to take home with them."

Although there's a section devoted to food fair favorites and a simple description of traditional Jewish holidays, along with ethnic recipes, the book is also for the everyday cook who's trying to figure out what's for dinner on the way home from work. Women from the congregation have the same problem, said Gladys Mercier, who could only name four or five women who stay at home full time.

Ann Sussman has a closet full of cookbooks but was still stumped sometimes and had to call home for recipes before Jewish holidays. She joined Mercier and Sheri Kinman on the Sisterhood Cookbook Committee.

When they asked the congregation for their family's favorite dishes, they got hand-written recipes, along with stories and tips. Since scratch cooks don't always write everything down, sometimes they had to figure out what was missing.

In 1983, a Jewish Food Fair Cookbook was published but it was limited to 20 pages tapped out on a ribboned typewriter.

This time, "typing parties" were held at Kinman's house, with women working on four computers, carefully checking teaspoons and tablespoons. Tips were included, such as to spray your hands with vegetable oil to make biscotti dough easier to handle, and to not over beat a red velvet cake. A strudel recipe from Zee Livingston, now deceased, calls for the baker to pick up the dough "and throw it on the board about 100 times."

Not something you'd find on the Internet.

Spouses proofread and Mercier designed the book, with a cover featuring the food fair's famous corned beef paper plate lunch. Recipes are printed in large type, with only one per page and spiral binding keeps recipes flat.

Some include personal memories, like Fran's Wedding Silver White Cake from Bev Stevens. It's her mother's wedding cake recipe. She remembers helping her decorate with silver candy beads and lily-of-the-valley flowers at a time when cake toppers were delivered by the bread man.

No cookbook would be complete without a Texas chocolate cake recipe and cheesy potatoes, and this one doesn't disappoint but it also includes chopped liver, African chicken stew, sweet-and-sour rosy meatballs and pink applesauce.

Recipes are as complicated as the three-page challah instructions and as simple as London broil: Marinate 1 pound of flank steak in a bottle of Italian dressing for two hours and grill about 6 minutes per side.

It's probably the only local cookbook that includes a recipe for chicken fat. Grandmothers used to fry chicken skin and onion, Sussman said, but she doesn't recommend it.

"That one's for historical purposes only."

Get cooking

The "Jewish Food Fair Cookbook" is available at the Jewish Food Fair on Wednesday, October 25 from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Moses Montefiore Temple, 102 Robinhood Lane, Bloomington. The $15 book also is available at USA Gourmet and Artful Designs in Bloomington and the Garlic Press and Dish in Normal. For more information, call the Temple at (309) 662-3182 or Gladys Mercier at (309) 527-5933.

Sample recipes from Jewish cookbook

Here are some recipes from the "Jewish Food Fair Cookbook," which has food fair favorites, along with ethnic and everyday dishes.

Food Fair Kugel

1 pound medium width noodles, cooked (add 1 tablespoon oil after draining to prevent noodles from sticking)

½ stick butter, melted

½ stick margarine, melted

1 pound small curd cottage cheese

1 pound sour cream

6 eggs

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup raisins

2 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Shake of salt and cinnamon

Topping

½ cup corn flake crumbs

Slivers of butter or margarine

Pecan or walnut pieces (optional)

Combine all kugel ingredients, except eggs and noodles. Beat eggs until foamy with electric mixer. Add to kugel mixture, then add noodles. Pour into greased 9-by-13-inch pan. Sprinkle cornflake crumbs on top, place slivers of butter and sprinkle with nuts. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

- Sheri Kinman

BBQ Brisket

5 pound brisket

Garlic salt

Celery seed

Pepper

8 tablespoons ketchup

2 teaspoons mustard (wet)

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

¾ cups brown sugar

Rub brisket with garlic salt, celery seed and pepper. Place in a roasting pan and bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. Mix remaining ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and pour over meat. Cover and cook at 250 degrees for 4 hours. Refrigerate overnight and skim off fat. Slice across the grain, reheat and serve. Serves 6 to 8 and freezes well.

- Nancy Brokaw (adapted from Thelma Bailen's recipe)

Jarlsberg Cheese Spread

2 cups Jarlsberg cheese, shredded

1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced

1 tablespoon red onion, minced

½ cup mayonnaise

Mix ingredients and serve on wheat crackers.

- Ann Sussman

Lucy and Ethel's Hamentaschen

Susan and Gladys used to bake together for the food fair. By the time they were done, they seemed more like Lucille Ball and Ethel Mertz. They'd forget to add half the ingredients and they'd eaten half the product.

Dough

1 cup sugar

1 ½ sticks butter

2 eggs

½ teaspoon vanilla (more is OK)

3½ to 4 cups sifted flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

6 tablespoons water (usually takes less)

Fillings: Solo brand apricot, prune or poppy filling

Cream sugar and butter. Add eggs and continue mixing until smooth. Stir in vanilla. Add flour, baking powder and salt, mixing until dough forms a ball. Add ice water 1 tablespoon at a time until ball is soft and elastic. Can be done in a mixer or food processor. Don't over water or you'll have to add more flour.

Separate into three balls. Wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate at least two hours or overnight. Roll out each ball about 1/8 inch thick on waxed paper. Use a 2½-inch diameter glass to cut circles. Place a portion of filling in the center of each. Bring three sides of the circle together at the center to form a triangle. Pinch the edges together to form a slight seam.

Bake on greased cookie sheet at 375 degrees until golden brown, 15 to 25 minutes. Makes 2-3 dozen.

- Gladys Tietz Mercier and Susan Callahan

Jewish Coffee Cake

Cake

4 eggs, beaten

½ pound butter

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 8-ounce carton of sour cream

3 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

Topping

¾ cup sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

¾ cup chopped nuts

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time; beat well (about 30 seconds) after each egg. Add vanilla and baking soda to sour cream. Cream well with the butter, sugar and egg mixture. Add 3 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt. Pour into a 11-by-15-inch pan.

Mix topping ingredients. Sprinkle half the mixture over the cake. Run a spatula through the batter. Sprinkle the remainder on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

- Beverly Stevens

Pumpkin Brownies

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon baking soda

¾ teaspoons salt

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1¼ cup sugar

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1 12-ounce package semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with foil, leaving an overhang on all sides. Whisk flour, pie spice, baking soda and salt. Using a mixer, combine butter and sugar on medium high speed until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Beat in pumpkin puree mixture (may appear curdled). Mix in dry ingredients at low speed until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

Spread evenly in pan. Bake until edges begin to pull away from sides of pan and a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs, about 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Lift cake from pan, using foil as an aid. Peel off foil and cut into 24 squares.

- Ann Sussman

Mom's Best Blintzes

Batter

2 eggs

Dash of salt

¾ cup flour

1 cup milk

Filling

1 pound dry cottage cheese or ricotta cheese

1 egg

2 teaspoons sugar

¼ teaspoons cinnamon

Beat eggs well, add salt and flour. Add milk gradually and beat until smooth. In a 6-inch frying pan, put in just enough batter to lightly cover pan. Fry on one side until firm and set. Remove to a plate. Repeat until all batter is used.

Combine filling ingredients. Place one rounded tablespoon of filling in the center of each blintz on the cooked side. Fold over four sides like an envelope or roll. Fry until golden brown in a small amount of hot oil. Serve with sour cream and applesauce.

- Judi Sevel