At a time when slow cooking was in vogue, the cookbook was a precious property of adventurous mothers and individuals. But a recipe book that sends scholars to college is the more indelible part of a book sale.
There may be vague memories in Baguio of the Monday Afternoon Club (MAC) since they folded up in 2015. This organization of women belonging to various nationalities, including the wives of Americans employed by the Benguet Corporation, Brent School, church sector, and other establishments in the city were most active in the early 1930s until the late 1980s.
Inspired by their American counterparts who were committed to education and social concerns, they raised funds to support scholars or purchase uniforms for young girls here. Later, wives of Filipino engineers and local residents were allowed to help in the cause of providing scholarships for children
of families that couldn’t afford a four-year college course.
There were various fundraising events held by MAC through the years. One I most vividly remember was that of the annual weekend fair at the Baguio Country Club. With tickets,one could join games like the fishing game which was actually just holding on to your hook and someone at the other end putting a toy as a prize. However, one had to be a member of the BCC to buy and join them.
The MAC fair at Brent School replaced this and became an annual “tiangge” or mini-market sale in the ensuing years. Stalls were rented out to interested vendors who wanted to sell food and wares, particularly for Christmas.
But the most profitable through the years were the recipe books that were published by the Baguio Printing Co. or the former Baguio Midland Courier. The first cookbook was published in 1963 with a softbound cover, no photos, and 150 pages of recipes from the wives of MAC and Filipinas married to American executives, as well as popular Filipino dishes.
Another edition was edited and published by Helga Filler entitled “From Baguio Kitchens,” in 1978. Then the last known edition was published in 1983 entitled “Our Favorite Recipes” because it was a reprint.
The timeless recipes were cooked and baked in the kitchens at Balatoc, Antamok, and other homes in the city. The famous raisin bread of BCC is included because that was the home of MAC every Monday afternoon once a month, when they met to plan the next fair for the next scholars to support for four years. Among the members who remained with MAC until it folded up was Coco Merril who died last year in her 90s.
As a daughter of a lumberjack in those mining days of Benguet Corp, I enjoyed the meals my miner’s kid counterparts had during weekend stays while our parents attended formal gatherings or parties.
Mrs. Lourdes Gesner was a good friend of my mother, Soledad, and her husband, Jack, my father’s close friend. At Irisan Lime Kilns, she would prepare dinner for us, George, Jacqueline, and me on those nights.
I can only remember that they were delicious for a picky eater like me. She had included some of the favorite meals she prepared for the family in the recipe book in 1963, almost the same time that I had frequented their home on playdates with her kids.
At 96, Auntie Lou has had her share of forgetfulness and jokingly says that she hardly remembers the recipes. She smiled as she read through the book but says she couldn’t recall many of them.
The younger members of MAC said that they would like to have a copy of the book, if it could be reprinted as memento. Helen Widmer Panglao, 74, one of the longtime MAC members, remarked that she had the later edition in good order. Indeed, this cookbook should be in a collection.
It would be wonderful to know more about the over-200 scholars MAC was able to send to college in 10 batches as their legacy to the city. Not just the foreigners who came by but also the locals who later took up the challenge from them.
