Los Lunas Library seeks recipe submissions for county-wide cookbook

LOS LUNAS — The Los Lunas Library is cooking up an exciting community initiative aiming to celebrate and connect the community through the rich culinary traditions of Valencia County.

“I feel like we live in a divided time right now, so I felt like the best way to get everyone together is through food, because who doesn’t love food?” said Los Lunas Library tech Tommy Madrid III.

Thus, the Valencia County Cookbook Project was born, and the library summons you to submit your favorite recipes that have cultural or family significance. These recipes will then be published in a cookbook that will be made available at local libraries to preserve culinary traditions for future generations.

“I feel like food is very important in people’s families, so we want to protect that with a cookbook,” said Madrid. “It’s not only going to be in our library, we’re also working with Belen, Rio Communities and Bosque Farms libraries, so there will be copies throughout Valencia County, and it will be available to purchase as well.”

Madrid said any kind of recipes are welcome. They can range from older recipes passed down through generations, to newer recipes that are family favorites, just as long as there is some sort of cultural, personal or familial significance attached to the recipe.

“Or say if you’ve been working on a recipe that your friends and family love every time that you make it for them, that’s worth submitting,” said Los Lunas Library tech Manuel Mora.

As an example, Mora said he is thinking about submitting his mom’s tortilla recipe, which is a hit in his family and something they all enjoy together.

“For this project, it’s meaningful in order to connect individuals, but it also helps families teach those recipes,” said Mora. “It’s easy to get into the routine of making dinner and not really explaining or going through the process of, this is what I cook, and this is why we’re using these ingredients, or this is where this recipe came from.”

The project will culminate in a community potluck from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Thursday, June 12, at the Los Lunas Transportation Center, 101 Courthouse Road, where participants will bring their prepared dishes to share.

“In order to get into the cookbook, you need to go to the potluck with your dish, so that we can taste it and take pictures of it,” said Madrid.

Anyone interested in participating is encouraged to submit their recipe through the online application which can be found on the library’s website, loslunasnm.gov/Library.

You can also fill out a physical form which can be found at Los Lunas, Belen, Bosque Farms and Rio Communities library.

In addition to step-by-step instructions, ingredients, cooking time and the like, the library asks that you submit a brief story or explanation about the dish’s cultural or family significance.

Applications are due by 11 a.m., Thursday, June 12, and they aim for the final version to be published by August.

“It doesn’t hurt to save your family’s heritage, and we’re very excited to taste new foods,” Madrid concluded.