Blast From the Past

My father-in-law is an avid auction fiend. He comes home with boxes full of crazy stuff, and over this Christmas, he presented me with a collection of cookbooks and cooking pamphlets he had collected over the years. Some of them were downright laughter inducing, especially ‘Creative Cooking with Cottage Cheese’ from the American Dairy Association. There were some, however, that I’ve decided to take back home with me for further study.

I went to school for publishing. One of my favorite classes of all time was bibliography, and these old books scratch that itch. He had a copy of ‘The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book’ from Fannie Merritt Farmer circa 1896 that I will be shipping back to myself in Delaware.

In fact, let’s just make a list of these interesting books that will be coming up in 2019 as specials, not cookbooks of the month.

• The Boston Cooking School Cook Book by Fannie Merritt Farmer
  
• Cooking Thai Food in American Kitchens by Malulee Pinsuvana
  
• Old Warsaw Cook Book by Rysia
  
• Thrifty Cooking For Wartime by Alice B. Winn-Smith
  
• The Complete Book of Home Preserving by Ann Seranne
  
• Luchow’s German Cookbook by Jan Mitchell
  
• Mrs. Beeton’s Everyday Cookery
  
• Grand Diplome Cooking Course, books 1 and 2
  

There’s something very interesting about going back in time via these cookbooks. The Thrifty Cooking for Wartime book has information toward the front that is just a sign of the times which people of this age would never consider. Coming to my mother-in-law’s house is always an adventure when it comes to food, and this is an adventure that I look forward to taking home with me. So thanks to Paul, my father-in-law, who kept some of these gems back long enough for me to raid his collection. Let’s do some old cooking!