This book is inscribed “Mary Smith her book 1662” at the front. It contains approximately thirteen banqueting recipes (mostly fruit preserves) written from the front of the notebook, and approximately sixteen recipes for general cooking written from the back of the notebook and upside down in relation to the front. In addition, a few medical recipes are scattered throughout. Most of the recipes appear to be in the hand of the inscriber. However, all of the medical recipes, as well as a few of the culinary recipes, appear to be in the hand of an unknown individual, who wrote a recipe for white puddings that is dated 1708 and is pinned to leaf 144r.
Of particular interest are the two recipes for minced pies written on leaf 148v and a note on flour weight and measure equivalent written on leaf 148r. The first minced pie recipe is in the hand of the inscriber. The second recipe, which is in the hand of the unknown writer, is essentially an annotation of the first recipe. Both recipes provide precise quantities both for the filling and the crust, which is unusual. Even more useful, the second recipe tells us that the yield is “5 or 6 mydling pys.” The flour note, also in the hand of the unknown writer, tells us that “half a peck of measured flower is 5 pound.” Half a peck is one dry gallon, and one dry gallon of contemporary American all-purpose flour, if measured by “scoop-and-level,” weighs exactly five pounds, assuming a 5-ounce cup.
