A Bit of History - Smorgasbord

From the Spokesman Review Nov. 1958

The first Smorgasbord at First Covenant Church took place in 1938. I found this newspaper from 1958. I believe they continued to do the Smorgasbord once a year well into the 1990's.
Back in 1958 they served 600 people 2 nights in a row. They served hot dishes like Swedish brown beans,  Swedish meat balls, baked salmon, potato sausage, potatoes au-gratin. Cold dishes included things like boiled tongue, pickled herring, head cheese, as well as lots of molded salads, relishes, pickles, homemade jams, crackers, breads, cheeses, and of course, Swedish rice pudding.
Every table was trimmed and had huge baskets of homemade breads. The ladies all wore bright bodices, and lacy Swedish caps and striped aprons.
Each table also had various family treasures from Sweden.

I tell you all this because First Covenant Church was founded in 1888 and it is from these ladies and this Swedish heritage that our Bit of Sweden cookbook began. The fist cookbook was published early in the 1900's by the Aurora women's Sunday School class. In 1948 they undertook a new cookbook and named it Bit of Sweden. The second edition was published in 1966 as the joint effort of First Covenant and Minnehaha Covenant.  The first two editions sold 12,000 copies.  The current 3rd edition was published in 1990. You will find a more detailed account of the history of Bit of Sweden in the cookbook.