This cookbook, produced in 1993, evolved from a recipe sharing idea at the 1990 Dickey reunion held at the home of the Richard A. Dickeys in Statesville, NC. The idea was to preserve and distribute to the Richard C. Dickey clan favorite family recipes.

Some of the recipes collected here have been in the family for several generations. Others are simply favorites that have become popular with a particular family.

Included are a number of recipes from Anna Hyduk Dickey, wife of Richard C. Dickey and mother to the notable five. These had been hand written on index cards by Anna Dickey and passed on to Dorothy Dickey McCullough. At first we thought it would be a great idea to simply photocopy the original cards. However, some of them are written on both sides, sometimes the long way, and many would have been difficult to read. Others list only the ingredients and leave the order of work to the ingenuity of the cook. In the end, we decided to reformat her recipes as was done with everyone else's. We have included additional instructions when we felt it was necessary, and unfamiliar ingredients or terms have an up-to-date equivalent added in parentheses. However, we did our best to keep the original wording.

The recipes submitted by everyone else were edited only in the sense that they were converted to a common format for consistency and ease in preparing a recipe.

At first we were not sure how to organize the cookbook since it was not meant to be all-encompassing in its coverage. As one would guess from knowing the Dickeys, half of this cookbook consists of dessert recipes. The organization is traditional, beginning with appetizers, etc. and ending with desserts and candy. The index is not comprehensive. Each recipe is listed at least once under its submitted name, and several recipes with alternate names are cross referenced.

In several places we chose to add a comment or an alternate instruction. These are denoted with ed. following the addition. The comments that were supplied with the recipes add a personal touch to this cookbook; these are formatted in italics.

Initially the Cookbook Committee thought this would be a simple project, putting a few recipes on the computer and printing them for everyone. It grew in complexity as more recipes were submitted and as we refined the general format and form for the cookbook.

We hope to expand the cookbook so if you have comments, additional recipes, or find problems with something in the present edition please email cookbook@dickey-family.com.

The committee would like to make it explicit that we did not test any of the recipes other than the ones we submitted. Your use of them is at your own risk. None of the recipes are anonymous so you know who to complain to if one flops. We take absolutely no responsibility for failures.

Many thanks to those who submitted recipes and our best wishes to everyone who uses this book. Enjoy.