Mention ". . . not by bread alone," the cookbook compiled by members of Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church in Severna Park, and Marcia Magette might lick her lips and think of dirt worms.
That's because her recipe for adding gummy worms to dirt cake -- a mixture of chocolate cookies, cream cheese and pudding served, appropriately, in a flower pot -- is one of about 700 recipes featured in the book.
". . . not by bread alone" has sold about 550 copies, enough to pay for its printing. But the Woods kitchen committee hopes to raise $5,400 for the church by selling the remaining 450 copies at $12 each.
According to Verna Galloway, former chairwoman of the committee, church members decided to create the cookbook, their second one, because "Woods has been always kind of interested in food."
The first cookbook, "Around Woods Table," was printed for the church's 75th anniversary in 1987, and it sold out. New members, who could not get copies, complained to the kitchen committee. So Ms. Galloway recruited Ms. Magette to edit a new cookbook that would satisfy church members and raise money for the kitchen.
After more than six months of gathering recipes and 10 months of typesetting, editing and proofreading, ". . . not by bread alone" was released for sale in November.
The 383-page book has a selection of appetizers and beverages, soups and sauces, main dishes, poultry, seafood, vegetable and side dishes, breads, desserts and children's favorites. There's even a section on table blessings, some of which were submitted by children in the Sunday school.
"There is the old-fashioned, fat-laden, good old cooking recipes, but there are some newer, light recipes, and a couple that are good for your heart," Ms. Magette said.
The cookbook also includes meals for vegetarians, such as meatless sloppy joes, made with tofu, or meatless tacos, which substitute textured vegetable protein for ground beef.
Just for fun, there is a recipe for elephant stew -- "Secure one large elephant. Kill, clean and cut into small cubes." It takes about two months to prepare. Or an old recipe called "How to Cook a Husband," which appeared in a book of the same name written in 1898 by Elizabeth Strong Worthington.
For cooks who want to reproduce a popular name-brand flavor at home, there is a series of tastes-just-like recipes that feature Colonel Sanders' chicken, the special sauce on a Big Mac, an Oreo cookie and a Reese's peanut butter cup.
All the recipes were submitted by church members, their families or friends. Some are original, but most are from other recipe books, newspapers, magazines, restaurants or even television talk shows.
Listed below each recipe is the name of the person who submitted it, or the book or show it came from.
Ms. Galloway said the church cookbook helps its 2,000 members become better acquainted with each other.
"If you try out a recipe and you see a name, you can sort of seek that person out," she said. "It's something that people in the church really enjoy."
She said that some members of the cookbook committee are considering holding a church dinner for which members would prepare and bring dishes from the book.
To purchase ". . . not by bread alone," call Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church at 647-2550.