For the avid sports fan, they will enjoy whipping up a bowl of Mary Ann’s Black-Eyed Pea Dip, or Quick Draw Dip made with a traditional Texas favorite ingredient, Wolf Brand Chili (no beans), for those Saturday and Sunday afternoon football games coming up in the Fall.

If these few recipes are tempting your taste buds, then check out the new recipe book, “Volunteers in the Kitchen,” on sale now at the Navarro Regional Hospital gift shop.

The recipe book is a collection of 700 different recipes ranging from appetizers, soups and salads, vegetables and side dishes, breads and rolls, main dishes, desserts, cookies and candies, and a little bit of this and that gathered by members of the Navarro Regional Hospital Auxiliary, which took nearly two years to compile and type up all of the information for it.

This beautiful three-ring hardbound covered cookbook is professionally designed with all recipes separated into their appropriate categories for quick and easy lookup, and comes with a durable plastic stand so you can read your recipes while cooking your favorite dish. The stand is easily stored inside the cookbook.

NRH Volunteer Coordinator, Connie Beal, said volunteer Amelia Wood spent hours upon hours typing in all of the recipes for the book, which is now available for the purchase price of $18.

Wood was humbled by the comment, and quickly gave credit to a few other volunteers who helped as well.

“We’re proud of the cookbook,” Beal said. “We couldn’t have done it without her!”

The book is available from any volunteer, as well as the gift shop, which is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with all proceeds from the sale of the cookbook will benefit the Navarro Regional Hospital Winona Stewart Scholarship Fund for Navarro College students going into a medical field.

She is the first volunteer to reach 20,000 hours of service, so in return for her dedication, a scholarship was named in her honor.

Stewart has served as NRHA president twice in the past 20 years, and is only the third volunteer to hold that position more than once. The other two volunteers to do so were Vivian Green and Jim Jackson.

Beal said there are currently 12 students receiving $500 a piece for scholarship money per semester.

Proceeds from gift shop sales as well as other fundraisers held throughout the year are applied toward the scholarship, too.

The NRHA was organized in 1959, and consists of 46 active members and over 20 life members, ranging from teenagers and college students, to retirees wanting to stay active and share their compassion and knowledge, as well as adults, couples, former doctors and patients, or people just wanting to give of their time to help others.

The cookbook is also available here at the Navarro County Times office located on the corner of North Beaton Street and West Collin Street.

---