Roland-designs , Virginie's blog.

"Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God's handwriting." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tuesday 15 April 2014

Gleaners pride cook book 1897

     A few weeks ago I commented in an ETSY forum thread in regard as to whether or not  people are interested in old cookbooks.

     Anyone who knows me will answer that if you have a curious ( or rare ) item of Victoriana daily life.... I am most certainly interested ! To the point where I have received personal mail from total strangers inviting me to participate in online auctions of rare items... but alas, my purse does not stretch that far... just think about the import tax..... Norwegian import tolls are not collector friendly......

   Anyways, I was contacted by a lady who sells vintage on ETSY who had an old cook book in a terrible state and she was wondering if it could be something I would fancy.

   Here is part of her convos :

    'My mother-in-law was born in 1895 and I believe she had relatives in Fort Atkinson and obviously would have gotten this at a later time in her life. Bill's family moved to Whitewater in 1933 so maybe she got it then...'

    'I almost threw that recipe book out because of the condition, but glad I didn't....because as my husband says...it is going to a good home...'

  I purchased the little book from her, and received it very quickly. The cook book is a compilation of recipes from the Gleaner society congregational church, each entry has the name of the lady who shared it. But what I like the most in old books are the handwritten recipes, those are tried and proven, loved, and probably something that was often on the household menu.


     Sadly the pages are dirty, torn, and the recipes written in pencil are faded. But I did make out a couple of them and will be giving them a try, sharing with you my readers the results.

   Here are a couple ' Hints taken from best authorities'

- Do not put glasses that have held milk into hot water, as this causes the milk to penetrate the glass and can never be removed.

- A silver spoon put into a glass jar, will temper it so that it can at once be filled with anything hot, even to the boiling point.

- Nothing but silver or wood should be used in mixing salads.

- To improve flavor, add a dozen nasturtium buds to the vinegar in your vinegar cruet.

- Cotton batting is impervious to all life germs. Draw it carefully over a full jar of preserved fruits, and it will prevent mold and fermentation.


Be sure to visit  Edna's etsy shop for more fabulous finds :
 www.Ednascloset.etsy.com


Gleaners pride cook book, missing the cover.

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An odd to dining.

Hand writen recipes

Every spare space is covered in handwriten notes.


The back of the little book.

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