‘The Gathering Table’

t the core of “The Gingham Apron” blog writers’ hearts is a yearning for gatherings and love for each other around the centerpieces of faith and food.

Behind “The Gingham Apron” blog are five women – Denise Herrick, her daughters Jenny Herrick and Annie (Herrick) Boyd, and daughters-in-law Shelby and Molly Herrick – who recently finished a book that began by them gathering a list of recipes they’ve tried, tested and loved in their families. Some of the recipes have been with the Herrick family for generations.

The project began as a simple cookbook, but all five women will tell you it really ended up being more than a cookbook by the time the final page was written.

The right
ingredients

Annie pointed out that there are not only recipes in the book but devotionals, stories and prayers to go with different holidays and celebrations.

“Thinking about how this is more than a cookbook, I just think of the verse that says that God can do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine,” said Annie. “We did initially set out to make it a cookbook, but then as the project had grown, we decided to share God’s love and the message of the Gospel with people. Food was just a tool to invite them in.”

The idea for a book first came up in a conversation between Annie and her mother. She said the other three women were completely on board when the group discussed it further.

Annie moved to California shortly after the writing stage ended, so now the family enjoys having the book as a keepsake to cherish the times when Annie lived closer to home.

Feeling connected

Although the “The Gathering Table” is written through the lens of farmers, Molly said the book is not just for farmers.

“It could be anybody that could say, ‘Hey, I want to do this in the fall. I want to have a pumpkin patch gathering or want to take along some snacks.’ We want people to understand rural Iowa but we want them to know they’re encouraged and inspired to do it on their own,” Molly said.

The Ukrainian wife of a cousin of Shelby’s husband Bill Herrick was in Adair County recently, and he is married to a Ukrainian woman. Fresh copies of “The Gathering Table” arrived while they were in town and said she felt such a connection with the book that she had to order a few for herself.

“She said, ‘This is Iowa and I’ve got to take this home to Ukraine so that they can understand,’” Shelby said. “She feels connected and that this book is representing Iowa or rural community to her. That was a whole different aspect [we hadn’t thought of].”

It’s connection, love and hospitality the Gingham Apron ladies want to promote through this book, along with their food and their faith.

“Our monthly gatherings through all four seasons showed me that purposely working on relationships matter,” Jenny said. “I hope ‘The Gathering Table’ will cause our readers to have a yearning in their hearts to reach out to those around them and open their doors.”

Behind ‘The Gathering Table’

Denise Herrick is married to Stan Herrick, Shelby is married to Bill Herrick and Molly is married to Joe Herrick. All three men are Adair County farmers.

With the premise that farmers have unique tasks they complete during all four seasons that the Midwest experiences, “The Gathering Table” shadows this farm family through a year of gatherings that strengthen relationships, establish and deepen family traditions and showcase God’s gift of great food, a press release from Baker Publishing said.

“There’s always something to do. We wanted our readers to understand how the weather and the seasons affect us. That had to be first and foremost,” Denise said. “From that, we decided we would do events pertaining to each season.”

Examples of seasonal events featured in the book include a spring tea party, a summer pie party, a fall bonfire or a winter Friday night pizza party.

“The Gathering Table,” will be released Oct. 6 through all major book retailers and is currently available for pre-order online. It will be sold locally at Ed and Eva’s in Greenfield.

The Gingham Apron blog may be found online at theginghamapron.com.