A Tribute to Lucille Bishop Smith

For ages 18 & up

Celebrate the contributions of Lucille Bishop Smith, Fort Worth celebrity and Texas' first African-American business woman. Working with a small team in our kitchen, you'll make this menu that includes Lucille's Famous Chili Biscuits, which were once served at the White House; a refreshing fruit spritz; a green bean salad; and Southern Gingerbread with Freshly Whipped Cream.

For ages 18 & up. 21 or older? You'll enjoy a glass of wine that has been paired with your meal.

ABOUT LUCILLE BISHOP SMITH

Born in Crockett, Texas in 1892, Lucille Bishop Smith moved to Tarrant Count in 1912. She was a chef, educator, inventor, and food corporation founder

A dinner that Smith catered in Fort Worth led to an opportunity to manage the cooking at an exclusive girls’ summer camp near Kerrville—Camp Waldemar. Lucille’s husband, Ulysses, himself a renowned chef, was widely known as the “Barbecue King of the Southwest." The Waldemar Cookbook stated, “Except for two years in the early 1930s, either U.S. or Lucille or both were responsible for Waldemar’s food from 1928 until the summer of 1973.”

In 1937 Lucille Smith was recruited to initiate a domestic service training program for professors and instructors at Prairie View A&M College. In that job, she developed the first college-level Commercial Foods and Technology Department that incorporated an apprentice-training program; she also created five service training manuals. In 1941 Smith wrote a cookbook in the form of a card file box of recipes. The cookbook, entitled Lucille’s Treasure Chest of Fine Foods, went through multiple editions and was a rare collectors’ item by the twenty-first century.

While recovering from a serious illness in the 1940s, Smith invented Lucille’s All Purpose Hot Roll Mix as a fundraiser for her church, St. Andrews United Methodist Church of Fort Worth. Within thirty days, she was able to donate the profit of $800 to the church. Orders continued to pour in. It was the first hot roll mix to be marketed in the United States. A 2004 article in the Cleburne Times-Review reported: “Grocery stores began placing orders for cases of the mix. By April of ’48, the orders were for more than 200 cases per week of the 14-ounce boxes. Twenty-one different products [recipes] could be made from the base. The product paved the way for the convenience cooking we know today.”

• Fruit Shrub with Orange Juice, Pineapple Juice & Strawberries

• Lucille's Famous Chili Biscuits

• Green Bean Salad with French Dressing

• Southern Gingerbread with Freshly Whipped Cream

Safety & Precautions

• At check-in, you will be asked to sign a waiver before entering the Cooking School.

• For that reason, we ask that all attendees arrive at least 5 minutes prior to the confirmed start time of the class.

For more information about our classes, please click on the links below:

Find FAQs about our in-store classes here.

Find FAQs about your private classes here.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Central Market Fort Worth, 4651 West Freeway, Fort Worth, United States