Place of Origin

United States ➔ New York ➔ Geneva

Date of Composition

1834-1890

Description

This 220-page recipe book contains 577 recipes, including some household and medical recipes. The book contains many recipes for cakes, including Ohio, Portugal, Indian, Washington, Clay, Douglass, Kentucky, Carolina, Know-Nothing, Log Cabin, Pork, several varieties of pound cake and wedding cake, and many gingerbread variations. There are also recipes for cookies (jumbles, ginger snaps, kisses); puddings (Jenny Lind, popcorn); pastry (mince pies, seven varieties of apple dumplings, Minnesota peach pie); and breakfast breads and teacakes (crullers, doughnuts, muffins, and assorted breads made with Graham flour). Also included are recipes for ice cream, fruit wines, and various beers, some of which are nonalcoholic, such as root beer and temperance beer. Among the savory dishes outlined are chowder, meat and vegetable pies, and dumplings. There are instructions for ham curing,  sausage making, and preserving butter, and there are many recipes for preserving and pickling, such as tomato catsup, vegetable pickles, vinegars, and fruit preserves (especially raspberry and currant). Some recipes are noted as containing economical substitutes for expensive ingredients (for example, shortening for butter) or as "cheap" versions of dishes often outlined in more expensive forms. Many recipes are denoted "Rural," which is likely a reference to the newspaper Moor's Rural New Yorker (Wayne County, New York), and some of the practical advice provided in the book, such as the care of livestock and the many instructions for dye-making, suggest that this book originated in a farm household. The book was likely compiled over the course of several generations, as it includes recipes current from the 1830s to the end of the nineteenth century. 

This book is part of the library's Manuscript Recipe Book Collection, 1793-1959. The catalog record contains a link to a useful finding aid.