Grayson county woman's cookbook to benefit WKU students

A cookbook compiled by a retired nurse in Grayson County may hold the recipe for success for Western Kentucky University students.

Proceeds from the sale of Juanita Porter’s “Recipes from Porter Hill” are being used to fund a nursing scholarship at WKU. Top priority will be given to non-traditional students from Grayson County.

“I was a non-traditional student when I started,” said Porter, who lives in the Yeaman community. She didn’t begin to pursue a college degree until her four children were in school.

She’s hoping that other non-traditional students from her native county will benefit from cookbook. “I know this scholarship is not big money, but every little bit helps,” Porter said.

Porter received her associate degree in nursing from Elizabethtown Community and Technical College, bachelor’s degree in nursing from WKU and master’s degree from the University of Louisville. She retired from Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center in Leitchfield where her career included 12 years as director of nursing.

The first Juanita Bland Porter Nursing Scholarship will be awarded for the fall 2011 semester.

“Recipes from Porter Hill” includes “some of the favorite recipes I’ve collected over the years,” Porter said.

Growing up in the Shrewsbury community, she began cooking at age 10 to help her mom and younger brother. Over the years, she has collected numerous recipes and more than 200 cookbooks.

Her original book idea was a memoir but she realized a cookbook might be a better place to start. Other cooks and WKU students aren’t the only ones benefitting from the cookbook. Porter is too.

“Now when I get ready to cook I just get the book and don’t have to go through boxes so it’s useful to me as well,” she said.

            “Recipes from Porter Hill” is available for $19.95 at Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center, Rough River State Park Lodge and Grayson County Chamber of Commerce.

            The cookbook is also available by contacting Porter at (270) 879-8403 or (270) 589-8909.