The collection contains a recipe book, likely created by Mrs. C. H. Hales, possibly of Portland, Oregon. The cookbook is undated and the contents do not provide any hints as to when it may have been created, as most recipes are unattributed. However, the recipes represent a wide variety of foods, and Mrs. Hales created a manual index at the front. There are recipe for candies, soups, fish, poultry, meats, pasta, vegetables, salads, breads, pickles, preservers, desserts, and even a few cocktails.

In addtion to Mrs. Hales' handwritten recipes, the recipe book contains some printed sources and seperate scraps of paper.