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The residents of a Northland neighborhood rich in history have created a cookbook that includes more than recipes.

Members of the Briarcliff Community Alliance, residents of the neighborhood and area restaurants have pitched in to create a cookbook with 350 recipes from 102 contributors and 12 pages of history on the area.

Sales of the historic Briarcliff cookbook will directly benefit the neighborhood for community events and improvements, and $2 from each cookbook will go directly to Briarcliff Elementary School, which has helped solicit for recipes and sell books.

Teresa Quintero, alliance member and cookbook committee chairperson, thought of and began organizing the idea of a community cookbook in the spring of 2009.

She said the she saw the project as a way to raise money for the community while also providing an opportunity to bring members of the community together.

“I thought, ‘You know, this would be a great project for our community,’” Quintero said. “Anything the community can do together is great.”

She said she quickly decided the cookbook would include more than recipes and that it would include history of the historic area of the Northland.

The hardcover book will include historic photos and drawings of the area before modern development. Each photo or drawing will be described with the 12 pages of history compiled by the neighborhood’s historians for the project, Jane Jolley and Bob Wehner.

The book also includes a historic map to pinpoint the historic landmarks and roads that are in the area.

“When we started talking, we realized people would be really interested in the history,” Jolley said about planning the project. “It’s all very interesting.”

Jolley said the history laid out in the book has all been confirmed by historic data. She spoke with people who have lived in the area and researched old newspapers and records. Wehner, who has lived in the neighborhood since 1951, contributed his own memories that were confirmed with research for some of the history.

An old lily pond where Water Works parking lot is today is described in the history along with the old Viewpoint Restaurant that sat where Cascone’s is today. History about an old schoolhouse, lodge, a Victorian mansion, orchard and an old railway system are also included in the book.

Wehner remembered sitting in the Martin Lodge that is featured in the cookbook. Now only the remnants of a chimney and the outline of the foundation remain of the historic lodge.

Jolley said she has discovered much more about the history of the area than she had intended and joked they would have to create a second volume to allow more space for the amount of history she had uncovered.

Recipes range from passed-down family favorites to modern-day restaurant menu items.

Each book will cost $20.

how to order

- To obtain a copy of the historic Briarcliff cookbook, e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with the number of books you would like and your phone number.

- Checks can be made out to the Briarcliff Community Alliance with a note on the check, “cookbook purchase.”

- Mail order information and checks to Teresa Quintero, 3709 N.W. Briarcliff Road, Kansas City, MO 64116.

- The first book costs $20; each additional book is $18.

Staff writer Meagan O’Donnell can be reached at 389-6606 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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