The OG Guerrilla Cookie
A special cookie with a remarkable story, rooted in conservation and backwoods Wisconsin history.
In 1905, Henry C. Putnam purchased the seventy property that would one day become Three Waters Reserve. Upon Henry’s death in 1913, with no living children, the property passed to his nephew, Matthew Putnam. Matthew kept the farm for just over a decade but sold off fifty-six acres to a developer in 1926 who built the Decatur Lake Country Club and Golf Course. He retained fourteen acres that his daughter Alice inherited. Alice was the mother of Ted and Mary Odell.
Ted and Mary each inherited and kept their own seven acre parcels adjacent to the golf course. Each of them built cabins on their property and enjoyed time in nature and on Decatur Lake.
Quercus Alba Cabin: The Birthplace of the Guerrilla Cookie
It was in this cabin on Decatur Lake that Ted Odell developed the recipe for the Guerrilla Cookie and baked the fateful first batch. The cabin named “Quercus Alba” for the white oaks surrounding it, was also the name of Ted’s bakery in Oregon and then in Madison Wisconsin where he moved the cookie operation as it grew.
In the late 1960’s Ted began selling the Guerrilla Cookie and it took off quickly becoming available at the Mifflin Street Co-op, the Union, and other stores around Madison. A counterculture favorite, named for the anti-war protests of the 1960’s, the Guerrilla Cookie became an iconic symbol, and it was said to be the food that fed the anti-war marchers.
Ted baking in Quercus Alba Bakery in Madison
The cookie is often described as having a shining sheen on the top with a darker bottom, that it was a dense, moist “wholemeal” cookie. The label bore a warning to “chew slowly” due to the density and various chewy ingredients.
Production of the cookies ceased in the early 1990’s as Ted closed his bakery and took the recipe with him into retirement. Throughout the years people tried to convince Ted to share the recipe, and have tried and failed, to recreate the recipe. With it becoming an obsession for some to hunt for the long gone recipe. Over the years different recreations of the Guerrilla cookie have popped up in stores and have not been the right recipe for the cookie.
Three Waters Reserve, Brodhead, WI
In addition to being a baker extraordinaire, Ted was an avid conservationist who enjoyed time in nature and believed in its protection and supporting conservation initiatives. Ted placed his property under the protection of a conservation easement, as did his sister, to ensure its perpetual protection.
In 2018, Ted joined other local conservationists and purchased the Golf Course. They formed Southern Wisconsin land Conservancy and gifted the fifty-six acre parcel of land that was formally the front nine of the membership-only Decatur Lake Country Club, that later became a public course, called the Decatur Lake Golf Course. SWLC set to work restoring the club house to form an event and education center. The land began undergoing extensive efforts to restore the golf course fairways to wetlands, prairies, and oak savannas.
Regionally important conservation, ecosystem management and restoration education are supported by grants to LSRWA from SLWC. This education supports intern, art, and science programs at the Reserve now attended annually by hundreds of individuals from a multi-state region. Hands-on- training experience across myriad disciplines is provided by acclaimed experts; for example, you can participate in ecosystem restoration efforts and see the results of your labor!
To further his conservation legacy, Ted gifted the Guerrilla cookie recipe to the Southern Wisconsin Land Conservancy. SWLC and CN has recreated the authentic recipe and will begin baking and selling the cookie with the proceeds committed to the education, conservation, restoration, culinary and art programs to further the appreciation of The Sugar River and larger region.
The golf course name was changed to reflect its position in the Sugar River watershed, to “Three Waters Reserve.” The Reserve is home to five “conservation organizations including Southern Wisconsin Land Conservancy, (SWLC) the Lower Sugar River Watershed Association (LSRWA), the Lower Sugar River Field Station, Applied Ecological Institute (AEI) , and Culinary Nirvana( CN). The organizations work together to support the Reserve and jointly offer community events and educational opportunities, and events for the public, and private events.
Tour at Three Waters Reserve
Original Guerrilla Cookie Label, handwritten by Ted
The recipe was a 2-dimensional list of ingredients until Chefs John Marks and Anne George did the forensics to determine the left out details behind the list. They determined the actual brand of ingredients and have faithfully used the exact same production process Ted used. The original Guerrilla cookie renamed the “OG” has now been brought back to life. The process included trial and error and taste testing (YUM!) by former aficionados of the Guerilla Cookie.
The label from the original cookie was in Ted’s handwriting. The “Ted Odell” font was created from the original packaging, and his handwritten warning, “Chew Slowly!”--- was Ted’s guidance, to the connoisseurs of yesteryear. The fidelity of the new “OG” Guerrilla cookie ranges from the actual brand of the original ingredients, details on making the cookies, and even Ted’s handwritten identity have been honored.
New Guerrilla Cookie Label, designed by Ashley Marie Designs
As shown on the label all of the proceeds from the sale of the Guerrilla Cookie will go towards conservation and ecosystem restoration. These funds will support the work happening at Three Waters Reserve as well as other SWLC sites.
Cookies are available for sale through Culinary Nirvana and will also be available in select stores throughout the region soon. Soon, a new generation of “NG” (new guerrilla) cookies will be available that are gluten-free, and some very special cookies made from native prairie grass seed flour will also become available.
Ready to taste a mysterious piece of history? Click the button below to go to our producer’s website to place an order for your Guerrilla Cookies now!
