The First Appearance of Blarney Stones in Odebolt?

from the Digital Archives of the Odebolt Public Library and the Odebolt Historical Museum:

Page 2 of the June 12, 1930 issue of The Odebolt Chronicle

In January 1930 The Odebolt Chronicle sponsored a free cooking school.  It was held in the basement of First Presbyterian Church, and was so successful that the May 29, 1930 issue of The Odebolt Chronicle announced another cooking school to be held June 10 to 13.  One of the sessions would include a meat cutting demonstration, local merchants would "co-operate to a far greater extent than they did before," and planners hoped that this cooking school would be bigger and better than the January session.  Sac County Electric Co. would provide Hot Point electric cooking ranges and a General Electric refrigerator for the classes.

Odebolt merchants placed many ads in the June 5 and June 12, 1930 issues of The Odebolt Chronicle.  These ads assured readers that the lady conducting the classes, Miss Gladys Looney, recommended what the merchants were selling.  Business owners set up display booths at the cooking school.  They also provided ingredients for the cooking demonstrations and donated prizes to be given away at the close of the cooking school.

The June classes were attended by 200 to 250 people each day, and must have provided a welcome diversion during those grim days of the Great Depression.

Among the many recipes demonstrated on Wednesday, June 11, was the above recipe for Blarney Stones.  Could this have been the first appearance of these Blarney Stone cakes in Odebolt?  For some Odeboltians, they've become a St. Patrick's Day tradition.