Gem of the Mountain Cook Book. Issued by Ladies' Aid, Presbyterian Church, Soda Springs, Idaho [cover title]

Soda Springs: The Church/[Hildreth Printing], 1930. Small octavo-sized stapled book (18.5 x 14 cm.), 72, [iii] pages. Advertisements. "Index" is a table of contents. Title from header running throughout; cover title: Cook Book. Statement of attribution from cover. FIRST EDITION. A previously undocumented church cookbook with a version of goulash described as "Danish" and an end-of-harvest green tomato sauce oddly identified as "Soy" - though the majority of the two hundred seventy short, ascribed recipes, it must be admitted, evince less mystery. There is a recipe for Orange Mint Salad that merits review, a Celery Roast (with walnuts), Scalloped Onions with Peanuts, and signs of a curious interest in "mock" pies (Mock Pumpkin, Mock Cherry, and Mock Lemon among them). Soda Springs had been known in the 1860s, long before the consolidation of southeastern Caribou County of which it is the seat, as an "Oregon Trail Oasis," owing to the curious prevalence of naturally carbonated "bubble springs" in the region. It is also nestled within one of the turns of the meandering Bear River, which eventually empties, diverted by lava flows, into the Great Salt Lake. The printer is suggested from historical context. The Hildreth family printed the only newspaper in the county and ran a job print department on the side throughout the early twentieth century. The neo-gothic Presbyterian Church - virtually fairy-tale in appearance, built of local lava rock - opened its doors at 109 East South First Street in 1895. It is still an active church. Clean and bright throughout. In stapled, black-lettered, grey oilcloth wrappers, lettered in black; Small light waterstain, and a few small chips missing at the spine. wear along the back; a small perforation of the oilcloth rear panel. Near very good. Very good plus. Unrecorded. [OCLC locates no copies; not in Brown or Cagle].