Old Fashioned Cookbooks

Years ago I was talking to a friend who went through the Masters in Nutrition program with me. We were talking about cookbooks and I said how much I liked old cookbooks because they had basic recipes with basic ingredients. She said she did not like them because they would use things like butter, full-fat mayo, cream. etc. All the more reason for me to like them.

I found one such cookbook in my mother-in-laws things. It is The Fannie Farmer Cookbook Eleventh Edition.


I had heard of Fannie Farmer, but never actually looked at one of the cookbooks. But the other day I was cleaning off a shelf and decided to open it and peruse some of the recipes. I am so happy I did.  This is the type of cookbook I love. The recipes in it are very basic. Many of them use staples that most of us already have in our kitchens and pantries.

The first recipe I looked up was for mayonnaise. I have tried to make mayonnaise before and failed. You can read about it here. I have seen so many mayo recipes on the web that it is hard to decide which to try. This one was a very basic recipe that seems perfect for me.

I also looked up dressing recipes since I have been making and posting a lot of suzyhomemaker sauces. There are many dressings that, again, use very basic ingredients that I cannot wait to try.

Some people may not like it because it has no pictures in it. I think many people get inspiration from how the food looks in cookbooks. But at least this way the home cook can exercise their creative side.

It does have a few drawings in it throughout the book - cookie making, rolling out dough, parts of a cow and a few helpful objects.

 I cannot wait to start using it and sharing what I have made. Stay tuned!