NewBridge Services In the News

NewBridge, a non-profit 501(c)(3), is dedicated to helping people find balance in their lives by providing affordable and innovative behavioral health and education programs

NORTH JERSEY - Tim Nagle always said he married his wife, Dolores, for her cooking. That's just fine with Dolores, known by family and friends as a "domestic diva," whose greatest passion-after Tim, her children and now her grandchildren-is collecting recipes and cooking.

Recently Dolores kicked it up a notch and realized a lifelong dream, developing a cookbook, including more than 300 "tried and true" recipes of hers and those of her co-workers at NewBridge Services, Inc. as a fundraiser for the nonprofit organization that provides mental health and housing services.

"I always enjoyed experimenting with new recipes and since I got married 39 years ago, I've been an avid cookbook collector. I've also always clipped recipes from magazines and treasured the recipes that have been passed on to me from family and friends," says Dolores. "I guess it was natural then that for a long time I've wanted to develop the cookbook. That's how the 'Look What's Cooking at NewBridge' cookbook got started."

Dolores knew what she was doing. The NewBridge cookbook sold out almost immediately and is now in its second printing. (NewBridge cookbooks are priced at $10 plus $2 shipping, and can be ordered by calling Nagle at 973-839-2521 ext. 223. All proceeds from the sale of the cookbooks benefit NewBridge's programs and services.)

It's no surprise that developing a successful cookbook would be in the cards for Dolores who says, "I'm Italian and in my household, food was always a big thing. My mother loved to cook and bake. I would come home from school to homemade snacks. And holidays were always the traditional five-course Italian events, which is something Tim always loved."

Sweethearts since attending DePaul High School together, Dolores says, "Tim came to our house for holidays and loved it-that's when he started saying he was going to marry me for my cooking. We really were a perfect match-I loved to cook and Tim loved to eat!"

After Dolores and Tim married, he went to work as a teacher, serving 34 years in the Pompton Lakes School District until his retirement a few years ago as district supervisor of English and basic skills. Today he is a professor at William Paterson University in Wayne. Dolores, meanwhile, went to work cooking and raising their two children. Daughter Dawn, now is married to Jason Goldberg. They have one son, Jake who will be 3 years old on St. Patrick's Day, and are eagerly anticipating the birth of their second son in May. Dolores and Tim's son Scott and his wife, Juliana, have a 19-month old boy, Kyle.

"As a wedding gift for each of my children I created a special cookbook for them full of family recipes accompanied by pictures of my son or daughter or other family members. For example if it was a Christmas cookie recipe, I included a picture of them as young children at Christmastime, or if it was a recipe that was passed down from my grandmother, I included a photo of her. These books really turned into family history books as much as they were cookbooks," said Dolores.

Now a new generation is benefiting from Dolores' love of cooking, baking and family-in reverse order, of course.

"I loved to bake cookies with my kids when they were growing up and now I get the chance to do it all over again with my grandchildren. How wonderful is that? And it's so much fun all over again!" says Dolores.

So if it's fun and it works so well, why not do it again? Which goes for having her recipes published as well as preparing them for her family and friends.

This is not the first time Dolores Nagle and a favorite recipe have been showcased on the pages of Suburban Trends. Some 30 years ago Dolores sent in a recipe to a former feature entitled, "Recipe of the Week."

Some time later, Dolores came to Suburban Trends working for several years as secretary to the editor. Never one to rest on her laurels, Dolores also wrote freelance feature articles, became a freelance photographer and developed a column for the paper.

For the past decade Dolores has worked for NewBridge which offers counseling programs, educations forums and life-enriching services to help people bring balance to their lives. Combining her entrepreneurial talents, Dolores offers a number of her most treasured recipes in the NewBridge cookbook she was instrumental in developing, including one simply titled, "The Chicken Recipe Everyone Loves."

Dolores has no idea where she first came upon this recipe, but its name says it all.

"The ingredients are somewhat unusual, but they all come together and it is just delicious-and it's so easy to make," she said. "I make it a lot, especially when company comes, because everyone loves it and always asks me for the recipe."