Who’s Cookin’ in Colts Neck? Branch library holds 3,000 cookbooks

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Story and Photos by Joseph Sapia
COLTS NECK – In the 1980s, Colts Neck-Atlantic Grange Library received an unusual gift: well over 2,000 cookbooks.
The collection had belonged to township resident Catherine “Kitty” Marshall Henning, who died months earlier in the spring of 1983.
It included books on French, Italian, Southern United States, Caribbean, Hungarian and Polish cooking, along with others on preparing fish and making bread. Some titles are “Menus for All Occasions,” “Best Recipes from the Backs of Boxes, Bottles, Cans and Jars,” and “A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband with Bettina’s Best Recipes.”
“Such a variety,” said MaryAnn Miano, a librarian at the Colts Neck Library. “It’s endless. I’m so grateful to her for leaving it to us.”
“Her cookbooks are old,” Miano said. “Now, we have big, glossy, pictures. Back then, recipe after recipe. Some cookbooks didn’t even have pictures.”
The library, too, has evolved, changing its name and moving in 2000 from the old, wooden grange hall on Heyers Mill Road to a modern, brick building at the municipal complex on Cedar Drive.
People may not know much about Henning, who was a widow at the time of her death and had no children. But people know this branch of the Monmouth County Library is “the cookbook library,” said Miano, one of the Henning collection’s biggest fans.
Stephanie Laurino, library director, believes the Henning donation was the inspiration for the library to grow its cookbook collection, which now totals 3,000.

The Colts Neck Library has 2,250 cookbooks from the collection of Catherine "Kitty" Marshall Henning. Of the library's 3,000 cookbooks, Hennings are noted with a blue tab.
The Colts Neck Library has 2,250 cookbooks from the collection of Catherine “Kitty” Marshall Henning. Of the library’s 3,000 cookbooks, Hennings are noted with a blue tab.

“There’s such a variety,” said township resident Julia Chien, a regular user of the cookbooks. “I like the cookbooks that have a regional flavor, favorite recipes, prize-winning recipes.”
Most of the volumes are kept in the locked Special Collection room in the basement, with others moved in and out of the regular circulation area upstairs.
The Special Collection room is open to the public and all volumes can be checked out – not only at the branch and the county library system, but throughout the country through the Online Computer Library Center network.
Students doing projects on their family’s ethnic heritage often use Henning’s cookbooks, Laurino said.

Catherine "Kitty" Marshall Henning
Catherine “Kitty” Marshall Henning

Kitty Henning, a homemaker, moved to Colts Neck about 1970, after living in more than a dozen states, moving with husband Dick’s job with the SeaLand transportation company. Henning learned regional cooking by living in these different places, said township resident Joanne Jacoby, 85, a fellow member with Henning in the Woman’s Club of Colts Neck.
“The husband, when he traveled, would bring back cookbooks,” Jacoby said.
“Kitty had a whole library – floor to ceiling – with three walls filled with books,” said John Marino, who lived with his wife, Jinny, across Spring Garden Avenue from the Hennings and was the executor of her will. “She read them for enjoyment. She would read a cookbook as you would read other books.”
“Kelly and Dick were wonderful people,” said Jinny Marino, who now lives with her husband in North Carolina. “They really added to the flavor of Colts Neck.”
“Fun, down to earth, would always be there for you,” said Dolores Cirronella, 79, a neighbor of the Hennings who now lives in Freehold Township. “You become family, especially (because) Colts Neck was rural back then.”
Dick Henning died of a heart attack and a few years later, Kitty died of lung cancer at age 65, according to Marino.
Henning’s will directed the collection to the University of Southern California, which her husband attended and with which he was an active alumnus.

The library plaque for the Catherine "Kitty" Marshall Henning cookbook collection at the Colts Neck Library.
The library plaque for the Catherine “Kitty” Marshall Henning cookbook collection at the Colts Neck Library.

But USC could not use the collection, said Marino, 77. So, Marino sought out the local library, which accepted about 2,500 books within a year or so of her death, he said. The library reduced the original donation, eliminating doubles of books, for example, Laurino said.
Henning’s cookbooks – embossed with “Library of Catherine Henning” – are interspersed with the entire cookbook collection. Henning titles include “A Fifteenth Century Cookry Boke,” “Sumptuous Indulgence on a Shoestring” and “The Groom Boils and Stews, a Man’s Cook Book for Men.”
“A Treasury of White House Cooking” includes chapters “Jefferson, the First White House Gourmet,” “Breakfasts with the Presidents” and “At Home with the Nixons.”
Henning’s favorite and first cookbook was “The Woman’s Home Companion,” according to a profile of the Henning collection written by Miano.
“She was a cookbook aficionado and really good chef,” John Marino said. “She had a lot of parties – she didn’t have catered, she cooked for.”
Henning also canned foods, loved animals – at one point, having five cats and three dogs – collected clown-related art and shared cocktails with her husband before dinner, John Marino said.
In the Internet age, why would people turn to older, printed cookbooks?
Perhaps for cooking history, nostalgia or, as Miano said, “there’s nothing like holding that book in your hand.”
“I feel I’m a little old-school at times, I enjoy the feel of a book in my hand if I’m reading for pleasure,” Chien said.
“It’s really a hoot to read some,” Miano said. “An era long gone. But it’s still fun to read. It’s history.”
In Colts Neck, Henning edited “A Book of Favorite Recipes,” published in 1979 by the Woman’s Club, using recipes supplied by members. Of course, many by Henning.
“Just about every page, I see Kitty’s name,” Jacoby said.
Henning apparently typed the manuscript herself to ensure accuracy.
About five years ago, the library began a monthly display of cookbooks, including those from Henning.
“It’s a way to expose her collection to patrons,” Miano said. “I try to base a theme on the season we’re in.”
In early 2015, Miano began writing a monthly column for a local magazine based on the Henning cookbooks.
“We’ve got to let people know we have this collection,” Miano said. “This was a piece of her, something she was passionate about. Now, we can make that personal thing public.”


Catherine “Kitty” Marshall Henning recipes from “A Book of Favorite Recipes,” a 1979 cookbook published by the Woman’s Club of Colts Neck:

Toast Cups (Croustades)
Cut crusts from slices of white bread. Melt butter and brush lavishly on both sides. Press bread into muffin pan cups, forming a tulip design and brown in a moderate oven, 375 degrees, 10 to 15 minutes, or until crisped and brown.
(Can be made ahead and reheated.) Freeze well.
Cheese bread, if available, is preferable when serving with Seafood Newburg.
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Tomatoes Delmonico
½ lb. green beans
2 large tomatoes
3 Tbsp. grated American cheese
3 Tbsp. mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. milk
1 Tbsp. butter or margarine
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. seasoned salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
Wash bean. Remove ends and strings. Cut in thin lengthwise strips or use a French bean cutter. Cook, covered in 1 inch boiling water for 15 to 20 minutes or until beans are tender crisp. Drain well and chop medium fine.
Cut stem ends off tomatoes; slice in half crosswise. Mix together cheese, mayonnaise and milk.
Prehead broiler. Add butter, salt, seasoned salt, pepper and nutmeg to chopped beans. Spoon beans on top of tomato halves and top each with a spoonful of mayonnaise mixture.
Place tomatoes on broiler pan and broil, 4 inches from heat, until tops are brown. Make 4 servings.
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Banana split cake
1 stick melted butter or margarine
2 c. chocolate wafer crumbs
2 sticks softened butter or margarine
2 eggs, room temperature
2 c. confectioner’s sugar
1 (4 ½ oz.) pkg. vanilla custard pudding
2 ½ c. crushed pineapple, well drained
4 bananas, sliced
1 (9 oz.) container Cool Whip or whipped cream
Chopped walnuts or pecans
Maraschino cherries
Prepare chocolate crust:  Mix melted butter and chocolate wafer crumbs. Press in bottom of buttered 13 by 9 by 2 inch pan.
Beat with upright mixer at medium speed for 15 to 20 minutes, softened butter or margarine, eggs and confectioner’s sugar. While this is beating prepare vanilla custard pudding (about 1 quart or 4 cups) and let cool.
Spread butter, egg and sugar mixture carefully over crust. Cover with crushed pineapple (well-drained) and cover pineapple with sliced bananas. Cover this with cool custard. Lastly, cover entire cake with Cool Whip or whipped cream if preferred.
Before serving sprinkle with finely chopped walnuts or pecans. Decorate with maraschino cherries.
Let stand 8 to 10 hours to ripen in refrigerator. Serves 18 to 20 since it is very, very rich.