NEWPORT — Catamount Arts recently announced its latest community-generated endeavor, a cookbook crafted of recipes and artwork submitted by home cooks and local chefs of all ages.
The Kingdom COVID Cookbook invites community members to submit recipes they’ve perfected during quarantine, whether brand new or longtime family classics, along with a very brief explanation, story, or additional context about what role the recipes play not only in contributors’ kitchens but in their lives.
“There are a lot of people cooking at home who probably don’t think of themselves as artists,” says Jody Fried of Catamount Arts, “and this project will reinforce that of course cooking and baking are art.”
Most households are doing a lot more cooking at home since COVID came to the U.S. early last year, increasing the popularity of recipe sharing online and in print.
Online recipe sites saw significant traffic spikes in 2020, and print media jumped on the trend, adding more recipe content for readers learning to cook for the first time or experienced cooks looking to add to their repertoire.
In addition to feeding themselves and their families, people have found that cooking at home is a good tool to help manage anxiety, self-soothe with comfort foods, connect with friends and relatives, expand our culinary horizons, and keep hands and minds occupied with something we can actually control.
Catamount staffers hope that sharing recipes will reinforce participants’ sense of community, encouraging locals to invite each other into our kitchens in a different way, sharing meals without engaging in physical proximity.
Submissions may be showcased online and/or included in the final product, an actual book to be curated, printed, and sold later this year.
The Kingdom COVID Cookbook also encourages artists to submit work that relates to food, recipes, mealtime, and cooking.
Drawings, paintings, poetry, collages, and other types of art are all welcome additions to the project.
Organizers plan to promote the cookbook and engage the community by posting short online videos of local foodies, artists, and community members cooking or sharing helpful tips at home.
Recipes are welcome now through March 13 and can be submitted by emailing [email protected].
For more information on the Kingdom COVID Cookbook, including detailed guidelines for recipe and artwork submissions, visit www.catamountarts.org.
