Railway Station produces cookbook

You might want to head to the Camrose Railway Station this year to find that perfect Mother's Day gift.

The Camrose Railway Station has produced a 25th anniversary cookbook filled with 568 time-tested recipes for salads, main courses, vegetables, cakes and desserts.

"We use a lot of the recipes in the book at the station for the different things we serve in the tea room," said Janine Carroll.

The 25th anniversary cookbook is basically a reprint – with a few new additions – of an original version published by the station a few years ago.

"It's the first time since I joined the station four years ago that it has been reprinted," said Carroll. "I've been told the original version, when it was released, went like hotcakes."

The cookbook has a new, modern design, thanks to the volunteer work of Lorrie Tiegs, who did the formatting. The front cover features a colourful photo of the gardens surrounding the railway station.

The cookbook has been dedicated to all the young and old who are or want to become acquainted with their pioneering spirit.

"If the only thing this collection does is stimulate you to prepare an old standby it has served a purpose," said Cathie Murray, who assisted in the preparation, editing and production. "Some of the recipes are quite modern and others are generations old."

All proceeds from the sale of the new cookbook will go towards restoration projects at the railway station.

"We have an old original wagon that the baggage would be piled on when it came off the train that needs its wheels to be repaired," said Carroll. "We're going to be taking it down to the Remington Carriage Museum at Cardston, which specializes in redoing old wagon wheels."

The Camrose Railway Station will be re-opening its doors for the summer on the Saturday of the May long weekend.

"There's a lot of work that is going on in preparation for the opening," said Carroll. "Glenys (Smith, the volunteer curator) has been busy getting the gardens in order, while Bruce (Smith) has been laying new tracks for the train in the Morgan Railway Garden. "We've been cleaning the tracks for years but they eventually got to the point where there were a few dead spots showing up and they had to be replaced."

Copies of the cookbook may be reserved by calling the Camrose Railway Station at 780-672-3099.