After feeding the brains and bellies of thousands of young women, Girls Preparatory School has, for the first time in its 102-year history, produced a cookbook, “Food for Thought: Brain Food, Soul Food, Comfort Food.”

Recipes — all 500 — come from a number of sources, but all have ties to the school.

“We went full-scale, sending letters out to alums, current students, their parents, the parents council and friends and supporters of GPS,” said Katherine Giles, 1996 GPS graduate and project manager. In all, 4,700 alumnae were contacted.

Ms. Giles’ background helped her pull off this monumental task. She once wrote book reviews and did production and layout for a mail-order catalog company. She now lives in Charleston, S.C., and works in the publication office of the South Carolina Historical Society, plus writes marketing copy for an Internet publisher.

With the help of a dedicated committee, 3,000 copies of “Food for Thought” rolled off the presses and were delivered to the school at the end of April.

Senior cookbook chairman Meredith MacLean knows a thing or two about cooking — she’s the granddaughter of Robert Fehn, who owned Fehn’s restaurant when it was on River Street. She said the project was good training, as she’d like to pursue a career that includes event planning.

“We sent letters requesting recipes from all of our alums and cooked for a lot of GPS events,” she said.

Her committee tested all recipes a minimum of three times, then filled out forms with comments about accuracy of instructions and time estimates for each. When done, not all the recipes could fit in the book.

Jane Henegar, cookbook faculty adviser, said sales are going very well. In the first week alone, more than 800 of the 3,000 ordered were sold.

Money from the cookbook will benefit GPS’ need-based financial-aid programs.

“It will help girls attend the school whose families could not otherwise afford it or it would be a burden,” Ms. Giles said. “It will give them an opportunity for a GPS education.”

Tom Goetz, the school’s chef manager, also tested recipes in his kitchen and served them to the girls at lunch for six weeks. Here are a couple of their favorite dishes.

Parmesan-Crusted Chicken Cutlets

A variation of this recipe from GPS chef Tom Goetz makes for a crunchy appetizer. It is a much-loved dish at the school.

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/8 cup olive oil

1/2 teaspoon oregano or basil

Dash of salt and pepper

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano cheese

6 chicken cutlets or 3 boneless chicken breasts, sliced in half

Heat oven to 475 F. In a small bowl, whisk together mustard, olive oil and oregano.

Season cutlets on both sides with salt and pepper. Brush chicken with mustard mixture, then pat 2 tablespoons of cheese over chicken.

Place cutlets, cheese side down, on a rimmed baking sheet.

Bake on top rack of oven for 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and brown on top.

Variation: Add a crunch to this recipe by mixing 1 tablespoon mayonnaise with the Dijon mustard.

Brush both sides of the chicken pieces with this mixture. Then coat the chicken on both sides with 1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs combined with the Parmesan-Reggiano cheese. Bake as directed.

Miss Gertrude’s Caramel-Iced Cake

This recipe from Gertrude Oehmig, GPS’ first Distinguished Alumna Award winner, has been a beloved favorite for generations of GPS students.

3/4 cup shortening

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

3 cups sifted cake flour

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 egg whites, stiffly beaten

Caramel icing:

3 cups sugar

2 cups whipping cream

1/4 cup butter, plus extra to grease pan

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Cream shortening and sugar in large bowl until smooth. Combine baking powder and flour; add to sugar mixture alternately with milk, mixing well. Stir in vanilla, and fold in egg whites. Pour batter into two greased and floured (9-inch) cake pans. Bake at 350 F for 25-30 minutes; remove from pans and complete cooling on wire racks.

To make icing, grease a heavy saucepan with butter. Combine sugar, cream and butter over medium heat while stirring. Allow mixture to reach full boil; continue cooking until icing begins to stick on bottom of pan and brown flecks appear on spoon.

Remove from heat (after about 20 minutes of cooking time). Cool for 10 minutes. Beat in vanilla and continue beating until icing is of spreading consistency. Stack cakes, with a layer of caramel icing between the two cakes, then frost sides. Makes 8-10 slices.