The Villisca Cook Book. A Collection of Well-Tested Recipes Contributed by the Ladies of . .
- SIGNED
- Villisca, Iowa: Villisca Letter Print, 1896
Villisca, Iowa: Villisca Letter Print, 1896. Good. 8¼” x 5¾”. Faux leather over flexible card. Pp. 106. Good: several scuffs and scars from former adhesion to covers and losses to cards; many chips and tears to pages, some affecting text with no loss of meaning; moderately toned and spotted, primarily at edges.
This is a charming regional cookbook issued by the women of a small Iowa town. It holds dozens of ads for local businesses (many of them illustrated), plus clipped and handwritten recipes filling every available space.
The book begins with a poem by Owen Meredith (pen name of the First Earl of Lytton, who served as Viceroy of India and British Ambassador to France) that posits (possibly arguably): “We may live without poetry, music and art; / We may live without conscience and live without heart; / We may live without friends, we may live without books; / But civilized man cannot live without cooks.” There's also a quote from the “Ladies” revealing the purpose of their work: “It behooves the mothers, wives and sisters of our land to counteract the cravings for alcoholics by supplying plenty of nourishing, enjoyable, well-cooked food.”
The book holds 355 recipes in 21 categories and each of them names the woman responsible for its inclusion. Nine of the sections also have a helpful hint or two, and another pair of recipes were clipped from the newspaper and pasted onto pages. The women instruct on “Bread Balls,” “Meat Rolls” and “Fried Apples” (here listed as a vegetable), six kinds of potato salad (one of which calls for “Mashed”), a “Nice Way to Serve Eggs for Tea” and a tip to use the oven to spice up your “Crackers and Cheese.” 29 breads include “Breakfast Gems” and a “Fried Corn Meal Mush,” one woman contributed a “Group of Nice Pudding Sauces” and 74 cakes show varieties of “Spice,” “Fruit,” “Layer” and “Pork.” There's a dessert called “Squizzle Endums,” ice creams, cookies, puddings, pies, “Four Dozen Quick Doughnuts” and “An Ornamental Pickle.”
This book's former owner added 17 handwritten entries, in provided sections, bottom margins and wherever they could fit. These instruct on “Beefstake Pie,” making yeast, a few more sweets and a “Bed Bug Poison.” The final pages hold a “Handy Table of Measures and Weights”and a “Housekeeper's Alphabet” of tips like “Love lightens labor” and “Zinc-lined sinks are better than wooden ones.”
A rare regional cookbook, packed with extra entries. OCLC shows one holding.
This is a charming regional cookbook issued by the women of a small Iowa town. It holds dozens of ads for local businesses (many of them illustrated), plus clipped and handwritten recipes filling every available space.
The book begins with a poem by Owen Meredith (pen name of the First Earl of Lytton, who served as Viceroy of India and British Ambassador to France) that posits (possibly arguably): “We may live without poetry, music and art; / We may live without conscience and live without heart; / We may live without friends, we may live without books; / But civilized man cannot live without cooks.” There's also a quote from the “Ladies” revealing the purpose of their work: “It behooves the mothers, wives and sisters of our land to counteract the cravings for alcoholics by supplying plenty of nourishing, enjoyable, well-cooked food.”
The book holds 355 recipes in 21 categories and each of them names the woman responsible for its inclusion. Nine of the sections also have a helpful hint or two, and another pair of recipes were clipped from the newspaper and pasted onto pages. The women instruct on “Bread Balls,” “Meat Rolls” and “Fried Apples” (here listed as a vegetable), six kinds of potato salad (one of which calls for “Mashed”), a “Nice Way to Serve Eggs for Tea” and a tip to use the oven to spice up your “Crackers and Cheese.” 29 breads include “Breakfast Gems” and a “Fried Corn Meal Mush,” one woman contributed a “Group of Nice Pudding Sauces” and 74 cakes show varieties of “Spice,” “Fruit,” “Layer” and “Pork.” There's a dessert called “Squizzle Endums,” ice creams, cookies, puddings, pies, “Four Dozen Quick Doughnuts” and “An Ornamental Pickle.”
This book's former owner added 17 handwritten entries, in provided sections, bottom margins and wherever they could fit. These instruct on “Beefstake Pie,” making yeast, a few more sweets and a “Bed Bug Poison.” The final pages hold a “Handy Table of Measures and Weights”and a “Housekeeper's Alphabet” of tips like “Love lightens labor” and “Zinc-lined sinks are better than wooden ones.”
A rare regional cookbook, packed with extra entries. OCLC shows one holding.