In 1986, I was 31 years old, my son was 9, my daughter was one and the Chalfonte was 110 years old. During that time I read in the paper about a woman named Helen Dickerson who had been the head chef in the Magnolia Room at the Chalfonte Hotel in Cape May, New Jersey. Miss Helen got her first job at the Chalfonte at the age of 5 picking flowers. She went on to become head chamber maid and then to run the kitchen for over 60 years. Her daughters, Dorothy Dot Burton and Lucille Thompson learned from their mother and so the traditional cooking continues. So well-known was Miss Helen that she was once featured on the old Phil Donohue show. Even today long after Miss Helen's death her legacy lives on. The Chalfonte dates back to 1875. One story goes that the founder, Mr. Henry Sawyer, was a Union Civil War hero imprisoned in Richmond and, at the urging of Mrs. Lincoln, was exchanged for Robert E. Lee’s son. I would so love to go there some day, if only to pay homage to Miss Helen. In 1986, Miss Helen had finally been coerced by the owners to put her fabulous recipes on paper. I immediately ordered the cookbook knowing that as Miss Helen was already 76 years old; if I did not acquire her secret kitchen treasures then, they might be lost to me. I've never regretted ordering that cookbook, I Just Quit Stirrin' When The Tastin's Good . Enjoy.