There have been a few times I’ve seen someone on Facebook ask for a recipe, and in response someone said “It might be in The Sacred Harp Cookbook”. This information is almost always met with exuberant confusion that such a thing exists and THEY DON’T HAVE IT!
But there’s not just ONE, I know of THREE different “Sacred Harp Cookbooks”, which I will give information about below, in order they were published. Because of copyright reasons I won’t post more, but I believe the first two are out of print, but the last is still available. Are there MORE? Let me know: baltimoreshapenote@gmail.com
Blessings At Noon: The Sacred Harp Cookbook
by Karen Isbell & Shelly Robbins, Fundcraft Publishing, 1999
This was a comb-bound and professionally printed of about 100 pages. The front matter before the table on contents features photos from the years leading up to publication of “dinner on the ground” at various southern singings. The rest of the book is made up of many recipes from around the country. The publisher of the book specialized in printing fundraising books.
There is a page at Warren Steel’s website on the book containing recipes: “Blessings at Noon” .
A Sacred Feast: Reflections on Sacred Harp Singing and Diner on the Ground
by Kathryn Eastburn, University of Nebraska Press, 2008
Of the three books featured here, this is the only one published by a publisher and made available through major booksellers. The book is part memoir, park recipe book. The chapters are broken down by region: Southwest Texas; Birmingham; Henagar; Seattle, Boulder, and Colorado Springs; Hoboken; and Benton to Birmongham.
East Texas Sacred Harp Convention Book of Recipes
by Kim Vaughn, East Texas Sacred Harp Convention, 2010
The East Texas Sacred Harp Convention has a long history and many members of the Vaughn family appears to have been making contributions to documenting the history of Sacred Harp singing in that area, and in general, for many generations! This wire-coil bound 140 page book is a simple laminated covered book, probably prepared at a local print/copy shop.
Interspersed with the many recipes are short notes and photos related to Sacred Harp.
