In honour of the Homecoming of the R.M. of Mossey River held in Fork River between July 19-21, 1996, a 500-page community cookbook was published by a 6-person cookbook committee. Funded by the Fork River Community Hall, the committee received almost 1,600 recipes which they trimmed down to 1,075.
The six members of the cookbook committee were Emily Pylypchuk (co-ordinator), Marlene Hafenbrak, Kathy McGill, Phyllis Momotiuk, Stella Monchka, and Angela Pylypchuk.
In addition to the committee, thanks were given to Kathy McGill for her artwork, Evelyn Remple (D & E Computer Services) for helping set up the artwork and lettering, and Michelle Monchka for helping with the type.
The cookbook was printed by Gateway Publishing Co. Ltd.
The recipes are divided into 8 sections, each with their own decorative art page and 33 sub-sections.
- Appetizers & beverages: appetizers, dips, and beverages.
- Breads & rolls: breads & buns, quick breads & loaves, doughnuts & sweet rolls, muffins, breakfast specials, and biscuits & miscellaneous.
- Salads & dressings, soups & sauces: salads & dressings, and soups & sauces.
- Vegetables: vegetables.
- Main dishes: beef, pork, poultry, fish, meat marinades, wild meat, misc., and casseroles.
- Desserts: desserts, cakes & icings, bars & squares, cookies, pies & tarts, puddings & sauces, and candy.
- Canning: jams & marmalades, fruit & juice, dills & pickles, relishes, salsa & tomatoes, soups & vegetables, and fish & meat.
- Odds & ends: miscellaneous.
| Section | No. of Recipes |
| Appetizers & beverages | 58 |
| Breads & rolls | 107 |
| Salads & dressings, soups & sauces | 97 |
| Vegetables | 52 |
| Main dishes | 273 |
| Desserts | 367 |
| Canning | 116 |
| Odds and ends | 8 |
| Total: | 1,075 |
There were 700 unique names listed as contributors and of these 26 may be duplicates that list a married woman under her married name only as well as with her maiden name (eg. Darlene Toews and Darlene Toews (Rosteski)). That said, the total number of unique contributors may be more accurately close to 687.
These contributors were connected to 19 of the 21 schools in the municipality while the two schools not accounted for in the cookbook are Volga School No. 1818 and Winnipegosis School No. 1020.
| R.M. of Mossey River Schools | No. | Formed | Dissolved |
| Belle Creek School | 1827 | May 15, 1916 | Jul 27, 1964 |
| Bicton Heath School | 1357 | Dec 30, 1905 | Apr 1, 1967 |
| Borden School | 1266 | Jan 8, 1904 | Apr 1, 1967 |
| Cork Cliff School | 1509 | May 19, 1909 | Apr 1, 1967 |
| Don School | 1813 | Nov 13, 1915 | Apr 1, 1967 |
| Ferley School | 1812 | Dec 20, 1915 | Apr 1, 1967 |
| Fork River School | 2411 | Sep 1, 1962 | Jun 30, 1981 |
| Mossey River School | 999 | Feb 9, 1899 | Sep 1, 1962 |
| Mowat School | 1232 | Apr 25, 1903 | Apr 1, 1967 |
| Nordheim School | 2263 | Jun 14, 1935 | Apr 1, 1967 |
| North Lake School | 1431 | Mar 19, 1907 | Apr 1, 1967 |
| Odda School | 1830 | May 31, 1916 | Apr 1, 1967 |
| Pine View School | 1225 | Mar 20, 1903 | Apr 1, 1967 |
| Rice Lake School | 2166 | Nov 20, 1926 | Apr 1, 1967 |
| Skala School | 1257 | Nov 23, 1903 | Jan 1, 1967 |
| Small Creek School | 2254 | Nov 19, 1934 | Apr 1, 1967 |
| South Bay School | 1144 | Jul 13, 1901 | Apr 1, 1967 |
| Weiden School | 1604 | Dec 20, 1911 | Apr 1, 1967 |
| Zelena School | 1816 | Feb 22, 1916 | Sep 1, 1962 |
The Mossey River School’s name was changed to Fork River School in 1962. Borden School was formerly known as Sobiecki School until it was changed in 1944. The Ferley and Mowat Schools were transferred to Dauphin Ochre in 1947.
In the upcoming series of blog posts, I’ll be sharing transcripts of the recipes connected to the Mowat and North Lake Schools in the R.M. of Mossey River. There are 32 recipes connected to the Mowat School and 55 connected to the North Lake School with 85 unique recipes split between them. It’s important to note that there are 5 recipes that overlap as some individuals attended both schools and overall there are 99 recipes that have two schools listed. Below, I will link to the indexes of recipes connected to their schools.
I will be posting an index of recipes from the cookbook by sub-section but I will not be transcribing the full cookbook at this time.
| School | No. of Recipes |
| Belle Creek School | 31 |
| Bicton Heath School | 78 |
| Borden School | 17 |
| Cork Cliff School | 30 |
| Don School | 45 |
| Ferley School | 7 |
| Fork River School | 145 |
| Mossey River School | 148 |
| Mowat School | 321 |
| Nordheim School | 15 |
| North Lake School | 55 |
| Odda School | 10 |
| Pine View School | 97 |
| Rice Lake School | 51 |
| Skala School | 36 |
| Small Creek School | 65 |
| South Bay School | 59 |
| Weiden School | 18 |
| Zelena School | 52 |
| N/A | 183 |
1 There was an unlabelled recipe not connected to any school submitted by my paternal aunt so I’m able to confirm that recipe is connected to the Mowat School. This affects the total number connected to the school.
