Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 24, 1993 TAG: 9306240454
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: E-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KAREN L. DAVIS SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Her latest project that promises to make a big difference in the lives of disadvantaged children is a "Celebrity Chefs Cookbook," featuring favorite recipes of 184 entertainment, sports and political figures.
"Dishes from six or eight countries are represented in the cookbook," Caldwell said.
Already available in bookstores across the country, the book eventually may be published in several languages and marketed abroad, said Carolyn Akin, sales and marketing representative for the publisher, Wimmer Cos. of Memphis, Tenn.
"We think it will be a collector's item," Akin said. "Some of the stars have already died since she started the book. I don't believe there's another collection of its kind out there with as many photographs."
Among the celebrity samplings are Lebanese cuisine by actor Jamie Farr, cranberry bread by "Days of Our Lives" star Mary Beth Evans, a Swedish dessert from Larry Hagman, banana split cake by former Redskins' coach Joe Gibbs, Dan Quayle's favorite cheesecake recipe, Carol Burnett's Mexican Chicken and Whoopi Goldberg's Jewish-American Princess Dinner for Two.
The spiral-bound, hardback book is indexed and divided into chapters on appetizers, beverages, breads, cakes, pies, cookies, desserts, meats, chicken, fish and seafood, casseroles and main dishes, soups and salads, and vegetables. The spiral binding allows the book to lie open flat for quick reference as you cook. Each recipe features a black-and-white photograph of the celebrity and a mini-biography.
Caldwell and friends tested each recipe.
The color front cover features Oprah Winfrey, Elizabeth Taylor, Bob Hope, Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf and the late Lucille Ball.
Some other celebrity chefs included are Joe Montana, Ted Danson, Reba McEntire, Bill Cosby, Loretta Lynn, Roger Staubach, Norman Vincent Peale, Tom Selleck, Richard Petty, Chuck Norris, the Rev. Billy Graham, Faith Daniels, Paul Newman, Barbara Walters, Sen. Edward Kennedy, George and Barbara Bush, and President Clinton.
Caldwell began compiling the cookbook three years ago after getting the idea in a dream.
"It was like a vision, an inner voice that told me this was something I could do to benefit needy children," Caldwell said.
She got the addresses from a celebrity directory at the library and wrote to each one asking for a favorite recipe, explaining that it would be used for a charitable cause. The response was better than expected, and some stars even took time to write her a note along with their recipes.
The bulk of the proceeds from sales of the book will go into a trust fund called the Lehi Christian Children's Fund, Caldwell said. She started the fund, named after a Biblical area, as her ministry in the early 1950s.
Caldwell will keep only a little of the money for herself to cover travel expenses incurred during her volunteer work. She is on the Citizen's Advisory Committee for the Roanoke Department of Social Services, which will use some of the money for its programs.
The Citizen's Advisory Committee helps develop programs for low-income families. As a committee member, Caldwell travels and visits families to review their needs and evaluate how resources should be used to help them.
Corinne Gott, acting director of human development for the Roanoke Department of Social Services, is hopeful that cookbook sales will generate "resources that would go toward helping people become self-sufficient by helping them overcome the poverty barriers to independence."
Gott said the money could be used to develop scholarships for disadvantaged youngsters, parenting education for young mothers and job-skill training for the unemployed poor.
Caldwell paid about $22,000 to get "Celebrity Chefs Cookbook" printed. She chose self-publishing so a greater percentage of the profits could be put into the children's fund.
"A regular publisher takes about 40 percent," she said. "That doesn't leave much for the children."
Caldwell has been writing poetry since 1950. But none of her verse ever was published, and all was lost in a house fire in 1985.
In 1983, she compiled a regional cookbook that was marketed successfully in Roanoke and adjacent counties. Funds raised by the earlier book were used for child abuse-prevention programs.
She also recently started writing children's books. The first one, "Buffin, Muffin and Ruffin," a story about three kittens exploring their world, is due out this fall. Roanoke artist Joan Henley illustrated the book and is working with Caldwell on three other children's books as well.
A portion of the proceeds from the children's books will go into the Lehi Christian Children's Fund, too, Caldwell said.
Caldwell, mother of four and grandmother of four, was born in Roanoke County and raised "at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains." She said she began ministering to needy families by following in the footsteps of her mother and grandmother, "who were always taking food to those in need. We didn't have a whole lot, but what we had, we shared with others."
Caldwell believes her writing gift came from listening to her father tell stories. "He used to hold us spellbound."
To order the Celebrity Chefs Cookbook, send a check for $19.95 plus $1.50 for shipping and handling payable to R.J. Caldwell's Celebrity Chefs, P.O. Box 583, Salem 24153. You also may contact the publisher by calling toll-free (800) 727-1034 or by writing Wimmer Cos., 4210 B.F. Goodrich Blvd., Memphis, Tenn. 38118.
by CNB