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- Baking and frosting Italian Lady Finger cookies for the Saint Joseph Church Festival in Pueblo, Colo.
- Baking and frosting Italian Lady Finger cookies for the Saint Joseph Church Festival in Pueblo, Colo.
- Baking and frosting Italian Lady Finger cookies for the Saint Joseph Church Festival in Pueblo, Colo.
Video Story
Watch VideoBaking frenzy at St. Joseph's anticipates large crowd for chruch festival
Story By: Andy Koen
Source: KOAA
The cake like texture and creamy, sweet icing of Italian lady finger cookies are enough to draw thousands of fans each summer to the Saint Joseph Festival in the Pueblo Mesa. The cookies are as much of a tradition at Saint Joseph’s as the festival that they are served at.
"My girlfriend, she comes all the way from Georgia just to see this festival," said Sandi Cardinal. "And I have to mail her cookies too!"
For generations the cookie recipe has been passed down from family to family, and molded into perfection by the hands of volunteers. But there's concern among the bakers who roll out the tens of thousands of cookies each summer that the knowledge behind their tasty treats could be lost.
In this era of store-bought convenience, Stangier say not enough people are willing to take the time to learn from tradition.
"It’s a dying art," volunteer Jayme Stangier said. "If they don't come and help us, it's going to go away and we're not going to be able to have Italian Lady Finger cookies at the festival any more."
The ladies hope more people will join them in the kitchen to pass on a little piece of history with every cookie they frost.
"It's just really important that we pass this on,” said volunteer JoAnne Williams. “If it wasn't this recipe, you might as well just forget it."
The Saint Joseph Church Festival takes place Saturday and Sunday, August 2-3 at 1145 S. Aspen Road in Pueblo.
