New cookbook available in Perry County
Proceeds will benefit the Newport Family Life Center mortgage.
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Article RatingFor nearly 10 years, Perry County families, schools and community groups have benefited from the Family Life Center in Newport.
The facility, located on Shortcut Road behind the Giant Plaza, has hosted its fair share of large banquets, funerals, weddings and receptions.
It has been used for public meetings and township elections.
Various volleyball leagues occupy its gym for regular practice, while other groups take advantage of its adjacent softball and soccer fields throughout the year.
The Family Life Center has also been a safe haven for teenagers on Wednesday nights and for special events such as Wing & Dew nights after Newport football games, volleyball tournaments and nacho nights.
However, along with this accessibility to the building comes the financial responsibility of paying down the mortgage on the property.
“Most of the groups that use it are nonprofit,” said Pastor Gary Bellis of the Newport Assembly of God. “They are just charged a small fee to cover operating expenses.”
To generate additional funds for the center, the congregation began brainstorming and came up with a cookbook idea.
“Everyone likes to eat,” Bellis said. “We thought it would be a good angle. It’s a win-win situation. They are good recipes and it will help pay off the mortgage on the Family Life Center.”
Mortgage payments on the facility, which opened in 1998, are about $5,000 per month, according to Robert Campbell, a congregation member and co-creator of the cookbook.
“We are trying to pay extra principal each month to pay down the mortgage faster,” Campbell said. “That is the main purpose for the cookbook.”
The end product has been on sale since Jan. 6 and includes more than 300 recipes from cooks in Perry, Juniata and Mifflin counties.
All of the recipes compiled for the book are practical and use fairly common household ingredients that cooks of all ages — from newlyweds to the recently retired — can make.
Some examples include Amish corn pudding, buffalo chicken wing dip, classic turkey pot pie, Parmesan chicken, Swedish meatballs, pineapple angel food cake, jalapeno cheesecake and zucchini relish.
“A Taste of Heaven” cookbooks are in a three-ring binder format to accommodate future recipes. Cost is $13 per book and they are available at Newport Assembly of God, Joyful Bakers Cafe in Newport, Maggie’s Tips and Toes in Millerstown, Olde Farmhouse Collectibles in Loysville and the Perry County Council of the Arts in Newport, or by calling Campbell in the evening at 567-6929.
All proceeds from the sale will go directly to the Family Life Center mortgage.
