Vintage Cookbooks

How Mama Could Cook! is one of my recent acquisitions.

It's a keeper. I love older cookbooks, especially from the 20s and 30s. This one was written in the 40s, and contains the reminiscences of a daughter about her mother's brilliance in the kitchen, and flamboyant, marvelous personality.

Scraps of stories surround the recipes, and nearly all of those recipes are ones I'd like to try. To date, I've made the White Velvet Cookies (good, but would be better in a cookie press than rolled and cut, as they become tough very quickly).

I bought it for a recipe entitled Brimstone Duck. How could I resist that one? Duck with apples, onions, and applejack. Sounds like a very good thing, does it not?

There are also some very interesting ideas for preserves and cordials, even homemade wines...if you love to cook, and especially if you love to dig around in vintage cookbooks for ideas, search out a copy of this book. It's brilliant.