DeSoto Magazine – Southern Girl Afield - Ann Yungmeyer

the program’s inception an estimated 50 years ago, Greenlee says.
JA chapters are also known in their communities for their annual fundraising
events, particularly their cookbooks. Since 1956, when the Louisville, Miss.,
chapter put out the first collection of JA recipes on file at NAJA, select chapters
have produced books of their own to fund their community work. While not all
chapters compile these cookbooks, Silver Spoons, Blueberry Afternoons, the first
NAJA cookbook, came out in 2008 and features recipes from chapters across the
South. The cookbooks are wildly popular, and with good reason. The recipes are
delicious, and the proceeds benefit a cause so timeless it has bridged the nearly
70-year gap between NAJA’s first 100 members and the thousands of
hardworking women affiliated with JA chapters today.
“We do work tirelessly because there are so many people in need in this
community,” says Lea Margaret Hamilton, president of the Greenville chapter.
“If we can just make a difference in a handful of people’s lives, I think we have
done a great service,”
For more information on the National Association of Junior Auxiliaries or to
purchase the cookbooks, visit www.najanet.org. To learn how to set up a chapter
in your area, contact Vickie Tidwell at 870-219-6224.
Junior Auxiliary of Starkville
Pumpkin Butterscotch Muffins
from Southern Generations cookbook
1 3/4 cups sifted flour
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp ground ginger*
1 tsp cinnamon*
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves*
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
50 DeSoto