Sweet memories

If you attended Abbot Academy during the ’60s and ’70s, you certainly ate well. Many may be familiar with beloved chef Jes Bonde, whose delicious creations were said to have been the reason why so many Phillips boys enrolled in Abbot courses in the early ’70s, according to Susan Lloyd’s A Singular School.

Many of Bonde’s recipes are captured in From the Abbot Kitchens, a 33-page cookbook published in 1970 by the Abbot Alumnae Association. Included are traditional favorites: Heavenly Goo, Gooey Rolls, and Abbot Bananas—three bananas marinated in orange and lemon juice and garnished with whipped cream and chocolate. 

The cookbook was recently shared as part of the Abbot@Andover summer newsletter and included information about another popular dessert: three-layer cookies made by Karen Awad Tyler ’72. “I have to admit that revisiting this once-coveted recipe did not serve my memory well,” says Tyler, now a professional baker and owner of Cove Cakes in Connecticut. “By my standard today, the cookies are a far cry from what I would call a decadent delight ... My ‘grown-up palate’ thinks they are too sweet.”

If you make any of the recipes, send us a photo - [email protected].