Place of Origin

United States ➔ Massachusetts ➔ Roxbury

Date of Composition

begun ca. 1840 or earlier, continued to ca. 1880 or later

Description

This volume contains an alphabetical index of approximately 20 pages at the front, followed by recipes on pages numbered 1 through 151. The recipes are organized in four sections: cakes, breads, and griddle cakes, pages 1-50; a section headed "Puddings," pages 51-100; a section headed "Pastry and Jellies," which also includes recipes for cologne and hair dye, pages 101-120; and a section headed "Roasts," which mostly concerns savory dishes but also contains many out-of-category recipes, pages 121-151. 

Pages 1-21 were written earlier than the rest of the book, probably in the 1830s or early 1840s, possibly by the same individual who wrote most or all of the remainder of the book or possibly by a different individual. (The hand of the first 21 pages and that of the rest of the book appear different, but it is possible that they are the same hand in different phases.) The remainder of the book (pages 22-151) was compiled over a span of years, likely beginning at least a few years after the first 21 pages were written and continuing through the 1870s or later. A number of the recipes after page 22 did not emerge until after the Civil War, including Delicate Cake (pages 29 and 46), Cincinnati Cake (35), Cream Pie (of the particular type in this recipe, 35), Berwick Sponge Cake (41), Feather Cake (43), Caramel Cake (44), Molasses Pound Cake (46), Parker House Rolls (48), Snow Pudding, (70), Queen of Puddings (73), and Betty's Sponge Cake (that is, this recipe's particular formula, 78). In addition, there are references to "Prof. Blot" (page 45), the proprietor of a New York cooking school in the 1860s,  and an attribution to Maria Parloa (page 134), whose first cookbook was published in 1872.

Mary Ann Louisa Smith (1819-1906) married William C. Appleton (1812-1892) in 1845. They  they lived on Walnut Avenue in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Her undated recipe book is part of the library's collection of Smith's papers, which also includes a commonplace book kept by Smith during her early years. It contains prose and poetry, some by Smith.