Food has a way of taking the sting out of tragic events and helping the community bond in love and strength. That’s what happened after deadly fires spread through Gatlinburg in November, 2016. The blaze claimed 14 lives and injured more than 130 others.
The staff at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts focused on feeding first responders and other members of the community in days after the tragedy when hearts were heavy and open restaurants were few. Those community meals led to the idea of creating a cookbook featuring well-loved favorites.
“Every day a different staff member prepared soup and the kitchen staff put out sandwich fixings and cookies for dessert,” says Fran Day, director of institutional advancement at the school. “Our kitchen manager, Jenn Blackburn, decided it would be a good idea to make a cookbook. We put in recipes of some of the soups that were served along with some of the most requested from our kitchen staff. We also reached back and found recipes from an old cookbook done on campus years ago. We put some of those in the back of the cookbook.”
The 72-page cookbook is divided into six sections: Sides, Soups and Salads; Dips and Dressings; Main Dishes; Desserts and Sweet Treats; Arrowmont’s Southern Comforts, and Pi Beta Phi Cookbook Excerpts.
Profits from The Arrowmont Kitchen Official Cook Book support the scholarship programs at Arrowmont. The 13-acre campus, located right in the heart of Gatlinburg, offers weekend as well as one-and two-week classes for artists of all skill levels. The slate of workshops and classes at this internationally recognized visual art education center covers ceramics, fiber, metals/jewelry, painting, drawing, photography, warm glass, woodturning, woodworking, mixed media, books, paper and more.
“We offer a significant amount of scholarships and work study each year including $800,000 last year alone,” says Day. “We never want someone to want to come to Arrowmont and not be able to.”
Cookbook sales have been brisk with the first 500 selling quickly and they are now dwindling the stack of the second printing. They are tossing around the idea of a second volume, but as Day says, “That’s at least a year away or more.”
Miss Patsy’s Chocolate Buttermilk Cake
Fran Day of Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts says one of the most popular dessert recipes in the book is Miss Patsy’s Chocolate Buttermilk Cake and has given Smoky Mountain Living permission to reprint it here.
You Will Need
For the cake:
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 2⁄3 cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 ½ cups AP Flour
- 1 ¼ tsp. baking soda
- ¼ cup cocoa
- 1 tsp. salt
For the topping:
- 1 stick butter
- ½ cup buttermilk
- ½ tsp. Baking soda
- 1 cup sugar
To Make
1) Mix sugar, oil and eggs. Mix well and add vanilla. Add dry ingredients and then slowly add buttermilk. Mix well. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes.
2) Make topping by combining butter, buttermilk, baking soda, and sugar in a medium sauce pan. Heat until the sugar is dissolved, but do not let it boil. While the cake is still hot, cut it into squares and cover with topping.
To purchase a copy of The Arrowmont Kitchen Official Cook Book, visit arrowmont.org/product/arrowmont-cookbook.