Holy Trinity’s new cookbook is a ‘scrapbook’ of the parish

by William J. Dagendesh

COLORADO SPRINGS.  Holy Trinity Church has published a new, one-of-a-kind cookbook designed to thrill the taste buds while evoking memories of Mom’s home cooking.

Trinity Treasures is a publication crammed with mouthwatering recipes ranging from old family cheesecake recipes to gluten and dairy-free meals. The 184-page cookbook contains 400 recipes, comes in a 3-ring binder with tabbed dividers and costs $10. A 16-page booklet of helpful cooking hints also is included.

Not everyone can go to culinary school or even become a crack chef, and these cookbooks can help the cooking enthusiast get there. So, it’s no surprise that many traditions and memories center around food, and cookbooks add to those memories.

Family cookbooks filled with black and white-turned yellow and brown photos illustrate tasty family favorites. Don’t forget Mom’s scotch-taped handwritten note cards or scraps of paper stained with splotches of spaghetti sauce that share steps for preparing the recipes, ingredients requiring alterations and how many people the recipe serves.

A cookbook is a great way to preserve flavorful memories, and scores of parishioners contributed recipes to ensure that Trinity Treasures is no exception.

“We used previous parish cookbooks to include recipes from some of our deceased members. We even have a couple of recipes from the housekeeper to the first pastor at Holy Trinity,” said parishioner Susan Pavlica who, with Judie Scott, co-chaired the cookbook committee.

“We also have recipes from the mother of our pastor, Father David Boroff, from the wives of our current deacons, Deacon Andy Dunnam and Deacon Pete McCann, from deacons previously assigned at Holy Trinity, Deacon Mike McGrady and Deacon Chris Phelps, and from two former pastors, Father Jim Williams and Father Kizito Osudibia.”

Pavlica explained that the cookbook was prepared by typing recipes into the software owned by the publishing company, Morris Press Cookbooks. Several parishioners provided their own recipes while others were typed in by members of the cookbook committees. “We also reviewed and proofread the recipes (multiple times) prior to the book being published,” Pavlica said.

According to Pavlica, the cookbook committee started collecting recipes in late July 2022 with a recipe submission deadline of Nov. 1. The committee then spent a few weeks typing in recipes, proofreading, and editing. “It was about six months from beginning to end,” Pavlica said.

Pavlica said the committee wanted to create the cookbook as a way to foster fellowship. “We knew from our annual parish picnic, from funeral luncheons and the Senior and Family Dinner, and from various potlucks that we have a lot of good cooks in our parish,” Pavlica said.

Not surprising, the committee encountered some obstacles in creating the cookbook, but nothing serious, Pavlica said. “It took some cajoling to encourage people to submit recipes, but once they started rolling in, we received 400 recipes, which makes for a great cookbook,” Pavlica said.

“We also encountered a hiccup with copyright laws. We had included a sketch of Holy Trinity on the inside front cover page. The publishing company wanted a copyright release, and we could not find the artist. Mary McLean, former business and facilities manager at Holy Trinity and quite an artist herself, kindly created a new sketch for us to use.”

Assembling the cookbook with people interested in creating and providing material proved to the most rewarding aspect of the project, Pavlica said. “The group of people who came together to create the cookbook was a terrific group. We did fun activities, such as holding a drawing at the parish picnic from among people who had submitted recipes. The prize was a free cookbook,” Pavlica said.

“We also held a contest to name the cookbook — again, the prize was a free cookbook. A total of 29 titles were suggested, from which the committee chose ‘Trinity Treasures.’ And, we had a potluck, asking people to bring a dish for which they had contributed a recipe. Even waiting for the books to be published and delivered created quite a buzz in the parish.”

Pavlica said the cookbook contains a wide selection of recipes in all of the categories, ranging from appetizers and beverages, and soups and salads to vegetables, side and main dishes, breads and rolls, desserts, and cookies and candy.

Pavlica described Trinity Treasures as a parish scrapbook, a keepsake that will be cherished and used for a lifetime.

“It is almost like a scrapbook of our parish. We can cook or bake something and think of the person whose recipe it is. And, it’s a beautiful book in a 3-ring binder with tabbed dividers,” Pavlica said.

The cookbook is available in the church office at 3122 Poinsetta Dr., from 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m., Monday-Thursday and from 9:30 a.m.-noon on Fridays. Also, the book will be available at the upcoming craft fair at the church from 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday, March 25, and 9 a.m.-noon, Sunday, March 26. Shoppers who would like to purchase the book are encouraged to bring $10 in cash.

To learn more, call the parish at 719-633-2132, ext. 0.