Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 8, 1995                   TAG: 9503080049
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ALMENA HUGHES
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

`LOST' COOKBOOK ENDS UP IN A DELICIOUS DEAL

In that story, caterer/party planner Harrison Hale, whose father taught him how to cook by estimation, lamented the loss of a cookbook published about 15 years ago by the Roanoke Symphony that included one of Hale's beef recipes.

Soon after the story ran, reader Jackey Brooks, a longtime user and admirer of the recipe, called to offer Hale her cookbook, and they arranged to meet at the offices of the League of Older Americans Area Agency on Aging, where Brooks works as an intake specialist.

"She wouldn't accept any cash for the cookbook. So I took her a LITTLE cordon bleu casserole to show my appreciation," Hale said.

But, according to Brooks, "He presented me with this HUGE casserole of chicken and country ham. It was big enough to feed everyone in the office, although that's not what I did. It was delicious."

While Brooks and Hale differed on the casserole's proportions, they found that they see eye to eye on LOA's Meals On Wheels program. Brooks takes applications from volunteers and Hale serves as one.

"It's wonderful having the book again," Hale said about "Symphony Seasons," which it turns out was published closer to 20 years ago. He promised to one day soon to bring his copy to the newspaper office so that I can see it.

"If you're really lucky, he'll bring you a casserole, too," Brooks said.