Wednesday, December 24, 2008

The Economy Cookbook

I was reading through a blog this morning, and found a link to this absolutely darling cookbook. It's called The Economy Cookbook, and it was published in 1910. "This is a digital copy of a book that was preserved for generations on library shelves before it was carefully scanned by Google as part of a project to make the world's books discoverable online. It has survived long enough for the copyright to expire and the book to enter the public domain."

I just perused through over 100 pages of quaint, charming recipes for soups, puddings (baked and steamed), cakes, salads, sandwiches, etc. that were compiled nearly one hundred years ago by skilled early 20th-century housewives. These recipes are economical and simple, and I'm so in love! Here is a darling little example:

Woodford Pudding

Take 3 beaten eggs, 1 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon butter, 1 teaspoon soda dissolved in 2 teaspoons sour milk, 1 cup blackberry jam, cinnamon and nutmeg to taste, 3/4 cup flour. Bake 1/2 hour.
Sauce.--1 cup brown sugar, 1 large tablespoon butter, 1 dessertspoon cornstarch. Water to make proper consistency; flavor.

Simple ingredients, charming instructions, and it really sounds so delicious! This will be one of the first that I try. Go check out this little treasure trove of century-old recipes!

Merry Christmas!

7 comments:

  1. You sure do have so much FUN! with food.

    I must check out this book. I can't wait to see how the recipe turns out. It sounds simply delightful!

    Have a Delicious Holiday Stephanie!

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  2. Happy Holidays to you and your family Stephanie!

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  3. Oh wow I love old cookcooks. Thanks I just downloaded the file. I hope you are having a wonderful holiday Stephanie

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  4. What an interesting book! I can't wait to go and check it out. Happy Holidays!

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  5. That sounds lovely! And what an interesting book.

    It's linguistically interesting that it's a baked sponge pudding, in the English sense, not the usual American usage of "pudding" for a custard-like dessert. (Yes, I am a bit of a language nerd.)

    Hope you've had a great Xmas.

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  6. Awesome! Cheap (I mean frugal) recipes! I love stuff like this!

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  7. Thanks for sharing (the cookbook). I just saved it to my desktop.
    Happy New Year!

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