A special cookie with a remarkable story, rooted in conservation and backwoods Wisconsin history.
The OG Guerrilla Cookie
NOW AVAILABLE IN STORES!
Willy Street Co-op North - 2817 N Sherman Ave, Madison, WI 53704
Willy Street Co-op West - 6825 University Ave, Middleton, WI 53562
Willy Street Co-op East - 1221 Williamson St, Madison, WI 53703
Basics Cooperative Natural Foods - 1711 Lodge Dr, Janesville, WI 53545
In 1905, Henry C. Putnam purchased the seventy acre 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, WI
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.
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.
Three Waters Reserve, Brodhead, WI
Tour at Three Waters Reserve
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.
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. Thus began the journey to resurrect the authentic recipe with the goal to 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.
Original Guerrilla Cookie Label, handwritten by Ted
Chefs John Marks and Annie George began the forensic process of identifying the original ingredient brands and baking processes that Ted used. The next step in this process was connecting with someone who spent several decades on his own trying to recreate Ted’s recipe, Mike Olson. Mike fell in love with the Guerrilla Cookie, like many, during his time at UW-Madison. When its production ceased in the early 90’s he set out on his decades long path trying to recreate the cookie and befriending Ted along the way.
Despite their friendship growing during this time, it became clear that Ted was not ready to share his coveted recipe. Connecting with Mike, feedback from Guerrilla Cookie lovers, failed attempts, and taste testing A LOT of cookies, allowed the final pieces to fall together in the journey to bringing these cookies back from beyond the grave.
New Guerrilla Cookie Label, designed by Ashley Marie Designs
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 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.
As shown on the label, sales of the Guerrilla Cookie will support wetland restoration and conservation. These funds will support the work happening at Three Waters Reserve as well as other SWLC sites. Cookies are produced by Elegant Foods located in in Madison Wisconsin.
Cookies are available in select stores throughout the region, including:
Willy Street Co-op North - 2817 N Sherman Ave, Madison, WI 53704
Willy Street Co-op West - 6825 University Ave, Middleton, WI 53562
Willy Street Co-op East - 1221 Williamson St, Madison, WI 53703
Basics Cooperative Natural Foods - 1711 Lodge Dr, Janesville, WI 53545
More stores will be coming soon!