For many locals, "More Than a Cookbook: A Legacy of Recipes and Stories of Hope" is the answer to a prayer.

For those who remember Coeur d'Alene's Mary Carson Catering - a community favorite for more than three decades - it's a chance to get their hands on Mary's treasured recipes.

For the Union Gospel Mission, it brings an opportunity to raise money for their Coeur d'Alene Women and Children's Center in addition to benefitting the ministry at large.

All proceeds from the sale of the cookbook will go to UGM.

The Mission plans to get the book into print by October - in time for the traditional holiday food frenzy - but they haven't raised enough money yet to cover publication costs.

"We hope to print between 1,000 and 3,000 copies," said Debi Pauletto, UGM's community relations director. "If we raise $10,000, we can print 1,000. If we raise $15,000 we'll get 3,000. We're trying to raise the underwriting funds for this so that once the cookbook comes out, there won't be any costs against it and the full price will benefit the ministry."

Connie Spurlock, Carson's daughter, has been the keeper of the recipes since her mother's death in 2009 at the age of 82. Though the concept of the cookbook was Spurlock's, she said it would never have happened without the help of Patti Jester, Cathy Kobs and Teri Chandler, three women who had once worked in Mary Carson's catering kitchen.

Why give all proceeds to UGM?

"I was so overwhelmed by what they're actually doing for their residents - lives are being changed there," Spurlock said. "What they're doing crosses cultural and economic lines. It's for people who find themselves in big trouble. It's not an overnight handout.

"You know, about five years ago I read a book about generosity - finding ways to do something for somebody that you really didn't even know you could do. I never forgot that."

In addition to Carson's recipes, "More Than a Cookbook" will contain recipes from Carson's brother, longtime pastry chef Ken Bryan, the former owner of The Patisserie in Coeur d'Alene. The 81-year-old Bryan is enthusiastic about the cookbook project.

"I think it's a great thing UGM is doing, helping people help themselves," he said. "I'm all for it. You know, people say, 'Let's get those people off welfare.' Well, here's their chance."

And of his soon-to-be status as a published chef, Bryan said: "I just hope the autograph seekers will be able to restrain themselves."

The book will contain almost 150 recipes, all professionally photographed and illustrated. Among Carson's favorite recipes you'll find: sweet and spicy mustard, chicken curry, pepper jelly and Italian stew. Ken Bryan's contributions include eclairs, lime curd tarts and his San Francisco-style cioppino, a dish Spurlock describes as "fabulous."

Spurlock said all the recipes have been tested and that any mistakes have been corrected.

"Sometimes we found a recipe where the only thing my mother had written down was a list of ingredients," she said. "There were no cooking directions and no name on the recipe to tell us what it was supposed to be for. But we managed to figure those out too.

"The way we selected recipes was we naturally chose our own favorites. But we also chose those that would make for easy entertaining. We wanted to offer recipes that the average cook could make."

Counting everybody, Spurlock said, "we probably have about 500 hours into the project."

At the start of each chapter, UGM has provided a story of vision and changed lives.

"As you're feeding yourself, you're also feeding your soul with the hope of these stories," Pauletto said.

For information on reserving your cookbook: www.ugm-inlandnw.org. Price is $24.99.