Enter Bert’s kitchen via her cookbook
By DANA DUGAN
Express Staff Writer
In honor of Roberta McKercher, a leading
citizen of Hailey who died in 1996, a new and charming cookbook, "From Roberta’s
Kitchen," has been compiled. It is offered for sale Sunday, July 4, for the
first time at the annual Ice Cream Social at the Hailey Cultural Center.
Roberta McKercher, right, cooks up
a meal with her mother.
This event is also traditionally the day
Roberta’s birthday is celebrated. Roberta, her sister Billie Buhler and their
family lived in the house on Second and Pine for some years. It was Ezra Pound’s
birthplace but Roberta’s residency in the home lasted until she died, far out
pacing Pound’s infancy there.
Roberta McKercher was a beloved and well
known figure in the Wood River Valley her entire life. In addition to covering
the local news in the Wood River Journal, she was active in church groups, the
Little League, Rotary, Rebekah Lodge, and the Days of the Old West Fourth of
July celebration. She also was a celebrated cook whose cakes were a specialty in
the town for decades.
Sales of Roberta McKercher’s cookbook
will benefit the Hailey Cultural Center.
The book contains more than 100 pages of
recipes drawn from Roberta’s notebooks as well as the memories of her many
friends. Interspersed with the dinners, the salads, and the desserts, are
stories about Roberta’s work at the newspaper, her interest in the young people
of the valley and her support of many community groups.
The book was compiled and edited by Billie
Buhler, Mike Healy and Jennifer Lomax, and illustrated with drawings by Betsy
Pearson.
The sale of the book will benefit the
Hailey Cultural Center, a non-profit organization; donations are tax-deductible.
To help with the printing costs or to
order multiple copies, contact Mike Healy at P.O. Box 205, Hailey, ID 83333, or
call 208-788-4807.