knowing my love for books in general, and old books in particular. She was easing her own cookbook shelf, and wanted it to go to someone who would like it. She wrote me a note saying,
I bought it somewhere thinking I'd frame some. All in different handwriting.I like the framing idea, because there really is something very special about seeing personal recipes.
Here are the opening pages.
And then, these wonderful words of President Calvin Coolidge. They are on the wall of the auditorium where Michael went to high school in Vermont.
Including the advertisements at the end, the cookbook runs to almost 400 pages!
Chocolate Nut Drop Cookies
I added my notes to the page, saying that the recipe made 3 dozen cookies and that I made some with nuts and some without, and that I didn't use the whole cup of nuts in the cookies with nuts. Also that they were very good, and the date I first made them. I'll be back with more recipes from this precious book.
Yum. I'm doing some baking today, so may add these to a future round...
ReplyDeleteThey are very good!
DeleteOoooooh I LOVE that book. What a piece of history. It's so cool that the pages are hand written. Wow.
ReplyDeleteI love it that this one was written by a little girl!
DeleteHow sweet is this book!
ReplyDeleteIt really is!
DeleteWhat a treasure your sil gave you, Nan....And you are the perfect person to appreciate it!
ReplyDeleteI sure do appreciate it! It is a history book.
DeleteThat is a wonderful old cookbook and so local to you.
ReplyDeleteI wish my sil knew where she had bought it!
DeleteLike Kristi says, what a treasure! I wonder how many of the contributors to the book are still around, and would remember having written down their recipes like the 11-year-old girl.
ReplyDeleteI've wondered that, too. That dear little girl - I loved her words.
DeleteWhat a charming little present you got, Nan, and the cookies look good too!
ReplyDeleteCharming is the perfect adjective!
DeleteI have this very same book. I grew up in St Johnsbury and the words of Calvin Coolidge were on our walls as well. I wonder if we went to the same school -- St Johnsbury Academy. I've never tried the recipes but love the hand-written format and the old ads.
ReplyDeleteYES!!!!! What year did you graduate? Michael was in the class of 2003. And how on earth did you find me?? Via Weekend Cooking?
DeleteI also know some other SJA graduates. I was born in St J but moved across the river when four months old.
DeleteHi Nan, I graduated in 1976! I grew up in St J but moved at 18 to Boston for college, then New York and onward eventually to London. I'm a big Gladys Taber fan so I may have possibly found you while researching her. Vermont holds a big place in my heart. My father, a retired lawyer, now lives in Burlington and we try to visit every year. Looking through your blog I see we have many books in common :) I don't blog but I have an instagram account called Herbalgirl (Deborah McDonnell) x
DeleteThe people I know graduated in 1966 and 1981, and of course, my son. I grew up in Littleton, went to Boston for college, but then came back when my mother was sick, and stayed!! Thanks for writing back, and I'll start following you on instagram.
DeleteWhat a treasure you have there! I have long loved the quote by Coolidge. Did you know that VPR has a show called "Brave Little State"?
ReplyDeleteIt is a treasure, indeed! And yes! Such a great name for a show.
DeleteOld spiral cookbooks are favorites in my collection, churches and Junior League ones mainly. Yours is a beauty and I know you must enjoy cooking from it.
ReplyDeleteI've just begun! This was my first recipe. I love all cookbooks, old and new. I've bought a few recently and they are as much autobiography as cookbook. I love that.
DeleteNan, with a vintage cookbook like this one, I doubt I'd try any of the recipes. I think I'd sit quietly in a corner and simply leaf through the book, as I often to with some early nonfiction in my collection.
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice picture you paint. I love it.
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