Alright, let’s get this straight from the start. Junior Leagues in every city, town and village contribute in immeasurable ways to heating up the community’s quality of life. They nurture volunteerism, raise buckets of money, and cheerfully give it away in order to  tackle the great Underlying Causes. 

Probably Wikipedia uses them to explain Do-Gooder. 

But let’s face it, what they really are good at, what they really do better than any eager church group, sly corporation, or even Italian dynasty is  — cookbooks. Yes, indeed, you know what I’m talking about. 

In 1984, the Junior League of Kansas City, Missouri produced Beyond Parsley. It is a stunning cookbook not only because of the recipes but also the full-page food photos like this one, appropriately enough called Sugar Cookie Cut-Outs.  

Skip the intro, it’s a cookbook not a novel. 

Even with over 200 Junior League cookbooks in print, in my opinion, BP wins the top spatula. It will make you a much better cook that you thought possible. Filet of Sole Parmesan, Artichoke Sausage Soup and White Chili are some of my repeats.   

I bought a used copy for a gift at Half Price Books the other day and I checked and copies are available at Amazon. Oh — alright, the national Junior League web site  has other JL cookbooks for sale including, a Celebration Cookbook: A Treasury of the 400 Most Requested Recipes from Junior League Cookbooks (warning–no photos).

Don’t even think about sending me a thank you note.