BUTLER TWP — To celebrate St. Michael the Archangel Roman Catholic Church's centennial year, parish families are assembling a cookbook with 100 years of family traditions.

St. Michael's cookbook, "The Fruit of the Spirit, 1909-2009," will be printed by Thanksgiving.

The cookbook will include 400 to 450 recipes contributed by about 90 parish members. All recipes were gathered in September by three women in charge of planning and organizing the book — Linda Rottman, Barb Direnzo and Brenda Nichol, all of Butler Township. Those three women, plus three other typists, have been entering the recipes into a cookbook company's online filing system.

"You enter enough recipes, you start to get hungry," Direnzo said.

They are using Morris Press, a Nebraska company that specializes in fundraiser cookbooks.

The company's features allow users to choose from many different options including number of recipes, layout, divider pages, indexes, covers and more.

"The Fruit of the Spirit, 1909-2009" will be a padded three-ring book with an easel to hold the book open.

"You just pick out what you want. It (the Morris Press Web site) walks you through step by step," Rottman said.

The ladies said they have learned a lot while processing recipes of foods passed down through generations. Rottman learned traditional wedding soup is different from wedding soup served today. They've also learned how many ethnic foods are traditionally made.

"It's fun to see all the different recipes, to see how people used to cook," Rottman said.

Nichol said her mother-in-law taught her how to cook some Italian dishes and that going through the recipes "brings back nice memories."

Biscotti proved to be a popular recipe from contributors. Many recipes for biscotti came in, but all were varied, Direnzo said.

Contributors included many senior citizens, some in their mid-90s. Some recipes were given by men in memory of their late wives and a few were even given by children.

Some recipes included time-tested ones that had been followed for generations. Typing those recipes could be difficult if measurements or steps were antiquated.

"We had to restructure them to make sense," said Nichol. She said sometimes steps that are obvious to experienced cooks might be left out of an old recipe.

Though St. Michael was originally a predominantly Italian congregation, the recipes in its book vary widely in ethnicity.

The goal for the cookbook is to "pass down family recipes. That's why you put the cookbook together,"Direnzo said.

The book will have an index by contributor and an index by recipe. The contributor index will allow cooks to find recipes by their favorite church cooks.

The book also will have a few pages of St. Michael's history to mark the centennial year.

"The Fruit of the Spirit, 1909-2009" costs $12, and a portion of the proceeds will go toward the church's centennial year projects, including a pictorial church directory.

To purchase a cookbook, call Rottman at 724-287-6828, Direnzo at 724-282-3092 or Nichol at 724-287-0280.

Following is a sample of recipes from St. Michael's cookbook.

<B>Dough</b>4 cups flour4 teaspoons baking powder½ teaspoon salt1 cup vegetable shortening1 cup sugar3 egg yolks1 teaspoon vanilla1 cup milk<b>Filling</b>1 string dried figs, about 20½ pound raisins½ pound mixed candied fruit½ pound dried cherries or cranberries½ teaspoon ground cloves½ teaspoon cinnamon1-8 ounce jar honey1 cup water<b>Icing</b>3 cups confectioners' sugar1 tablespoon vegetable shorteningMilk, as neededColored candy sprinklesDough: Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl and set aside. Cream shortening and sugar until creamy. Add egg yolks and vanilla. Gradually add dry ingredients, alternating with the milk until well blended. The dough should be soft, not dry and stiff. Chill for one hour.Filling: Remove the figs from the string and cut away hard stems. Put through a meat grinder. Put figs, raisins, candied fruits, dried cherries, cloves, cinnamon, honey and water into a heavy pot and cook until the liquid is absorbed into the ingredients. Cool slightly.Heat oven to 350 degrees.Divide the dough into fourths. Roll each piece into a rectangle, 5 by 12 inches. Spread the filling along the end closest to you, roll over once and tuck under, not jelly roll style. Cut away any excess dough. Make sure the ends overlap underneath. Cut the roll into 1Z\x inch cookies. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the bottoms are golden brown. Let cool on wire racks.The dough could be cut into eighths to make smaller cookies. Roll the pieces into logs, then roll each out to a 5 by 12 inch rectangle.Icing: Cream the confectioners' sugar and the vegetable shortening until blended. Add enough milk until the icing spreads smoothly without running. Frost cookies and top with colored candy sprinkles.<b><i>Recipe courtesy of Carl Grecco, in memory of Loretta Grecco</i></b>

6 eggs1 cup oil1½ cups sugar1 teaspoon anise oil1 teaspoon vanilla3 cups flour2 teaspoons baking powder<b>Icing:</b>1 cup powdered sugar2 to 3 tablespoons milk1 teaspoon vanillaMix eggs, oil and sugar. Add anise oil and vanilla, then add flour and baking powder. Mix well.Pour into greased cookie sheet or jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.Remove from oven and cool. When cooled, cut into ½-inch to ¾-inch strips. Place strips on another cookie sheet with the cut sides up. Bake 8 to 10 more minutes.Mix ingredients for icing, which will be thin. Ice cookies.Note: Amount of anise oil can be decreased and vanilla can be increased for those who do not care for anise.<b><i>Recipe courtesy of Pat DiTullio</i></b>

<b>Dough</b>½ pound margarine, very soft3 egg yolks4 tablespoons sugar½ teaspoon salt1 cup milk4 cups flour½ cake yeast<b>Nut Mixture</b>1 pound shelled walnuts, ground3 egg whites1½ cups sugarCrumble yeast in a small bowl. Add ½ teaspoon sugar and 2 tablespoons lukewarm milk. Set aside to rise.In a large bowl, combine softened margarine, egg yolks, sugar, salt, milk and flour and mix well. Add raised yeast mixture and mix thoroughly. Although dough will be very sticky, do not add more flour. Pat the dough down and sprinkle top lightly with flour, cover and put in refrigerator overnight, or at least six hours.After six hours, turn the dough out on a lightly floured board and shape into a jelly roll shape. Cut dough in four equal parts. Roll out thin and spread with nut mixture. Set aside to rise for at least two hours.Brush top of nut rolls with egg just before baking. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes.<b><i>Recipe courtesy of Carl Grecco, in memory of Loretta Grecco</i></b>

1 pound butter, softened1 cup sugar6 egg yolks6 cups flourPinch saltCombine in large bowl. Mix well and knead. Roll into 2½ inch long ropes and form into an "s" shape. Bake at 350 degrees on ungreased cookie sheet for 10 to 15 minutes until light brown.

1 2/3 cup egg whites, 12 to 14 eggs1 cup plus 2 tablespoons cake flour, sifted before measuring¾ cup sifted sugar½ teaspoon salt1½ teaspoons cream of tartar1 cup sifted sugar1 teaspoon vanilla¾ teaspoon almond extractSet out egg whites 1 hour before use.Sift flour and ¾ cup sugar five times.Beat egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar and beat until stiff but damp. Add one cup sifted sugar gradually, beating until sugar disappears.Add vanilla and almond extracts and fold in with rubber spatula until they disappear.Fold in sifted flour and sugar mix with spatula, about ¼ of mixture at a time. Fold 15 times between each addition.After the last addition, fold 15 more times.Pour into tube pan and bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes.After removing from the oven, turn the pan upside down until the cake cools. Usually putting the tube neck over a glass bottle of vinegar or ketchup is helpful.When completely cooled, loosen cake from sides of the pan and sides of the tube with a long, thin knife or spatula. Remove the cake.<b><i>Recipe courtesy of Mary Rehm, who translated this recipe into Polish for her mother. The recipe was from a magazine published in the late 1930s or early 1940s before electric mixers were available.</i></b>