Local chef to honor legendary Fort Worth culinary entrepreneur

Published on March 23, 2022

Lucille Bishop Smith A Culinary Treasure

 If you’ve recently bought a box of all-purpose baking mix, you can thank Lucille Bishop Smith.

Smith (1892-1985) created and sold her “Lucille’s All Purpose Hot Roll Mix,” which was the basis for at least 21 baking recipes starting in the 1940s. Its commercial success paved the way for convenience cooking as we know it today. After she created the mix, she donated her first-month profit of $800 to her church, St. Andrew’s Methodist Church in Fort Worth.

portrait of katrina carpenter outside her restaurant Smith’s accomplishments will be highlighted in a presentation 2-4 p.m. Sunday, March 27, at the Como Community Center, 4660 Horne St. Present-day chef Katrina Carpenter will demonstrate a recipe from Smith’s cookbook for a live audience in the community center’s teaching kitchen. Pre-registration is required as seating is limited.

The program will stream live on the Library’s Facebook page.

Carpenter will prepare a recipe from Smith’s first cookbook published in 1941, Lucille’s Treasure Chest of Fine Foods. Those who attend will get to try samples from Carpenter’s cooking.

Bishop and her husband, Ulysses Samuel Smith, had established a catering business in Fort Worth. She was the coordinator of Fort Worth’s vocational program for 10 years, later serving in a similar position at Prairie View A&M. She often did work to give back to her community. In 1965, she baked fruit cakes in one week to send to every enlisted Tarrant County resident serving in Vietnam. She was the first African-American woman to be a member of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce and was named to the Governor’s Commission on the Status of Women. In 1966, Fort Worth proclaimed a “Lucille B. Smith Day” in her honor.

Carpenter is the co-owner and operator of Carpenter’s Café and Catering, which has earned praise and awards from local publications. She is a Fort Worth native and graduate of O.D. Wyatt High School. When she’s not in the kitchen, she enjoys spending time with family and friends. She also makes time to give back to her community through the Rotary Club of Fort Worth, Brave/R Together, the Fort Worth Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.