While searching for a recipe for Lyonnaise Potatoes, I stumbled upon the fact that Bartleby.com has published online and free, the entire Boston Cooking-School Cook Book. Written by Fannie Merritt Farmer and published in 1918.
“This classic American cooking reference includes 1,849 recipes, including everything from “after-dinner coffee,” which Farmer notes is beneficial for a stomach “overtaxed by a hearty meal, “to “Zigaras ? la Russe,” an elegant puff-pastry dish. Bartleby.com chose the 1918 edition because it was the last edition of the cookbook authored completely by Farmer.”
Maybe I’ve been in the dark on this one but, I’m overjoyed at the prospect of having this available. I’d love to have a print version.
Fannie Farmer and Mary Lincoln were instrumental in bringing practical, sensible, and suitable cooking into average american homes. These books were aimed at regular working-class people and not the wealthy or, professional cooks. Most recipe books before that did not focus upon exactness and precise measurements of ingredients. “A pinch of this,” “A dash of that,” “A handful” would summarize the quantities expected in recipes. Farmer was influencial to many great cooks today including one of our matron saints here at paxtonland Julia Child. Anyway, she was very influencial in guiding the evolution of American food and her book, in my opinion is a “must have” for any kitchen. It’s still being published and updated today by Marion Cunningham and is in it’s 13th, or 14th edition.