Customer Reviews

1896 Boston Cooking-School Cookbook

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This treasure trove of butter drenched, fried, preserved and heavily sweetened recipes is loaded with practical homemaking advice from the days when "fresh" was only seasonally available per market, and cholesterol was not a vocabulary word. It makes you think about how people "lived to eat" in the Northeastern US at the turn of the century before foreign travel, immigration, mass media, refrigeration, food processors, mixers, nutrition research, etc. made exotic cuisines and "fresh and light" everyday fare.

The recipes are classic, yet loaded with good and creative cooking ideas that might have been overlooked in the 20th century...nutmeg in poultry dressing, etc. They are invitations to create meals that make you think about how economic and scientific considerations influenced how people ate. For example, you'll find more varieties of angel cakes; when you consider that sugar was more expensive than butter and therefore more of a treat, it's not surprising. Canning and preserving, and making out of season foods taste good, were necessary skills of any good housekeeper. Physical labor was a daily necessity, meaning bigger, heartier meals.

This cookbook is as interesting to read as it is a source of good old fashioned American recipes. Adjust them to 1990's dietary considerations, and you've got an enduring classic you can use every day.

I LOVE THIS COOKBOOK! My Grandmother owned this book and bought my mom a copy when she was married in 1937. When my grandmother died i got her copy. Now my daughter is 19 and moving away from home. I am buying myself a new copy as I am passing on my grandmothers original book to her. It provides all the basic down to earth information that a new cook needs and is not found in most modern day cookbooks.

My original copy of Fanny Farmer's Cookbook has no cover, pages behave as falling leaves unless handled with care, but I would not give it up for a new one, never never. What would I do without my years of scribbled notes in the margins? The copies I am buying now are for two granddaughters who are college frosh this year. They will get Fanny, Miss Manners, New College dictionary, etc. to start their own home libraries. Every home need Fanny Farmer because it is basic, easy to read and understand and calls for ingredients readily available - if not on the home shelf then at any grocery. FYI, when the grandson goes off to college he will also get a copy of Fanny to take with him, along with his microwave and a covered frying pan.

This book was the first I ever had. My mother bought it for me when I got married. It was a mainstay in our kitchen at home. It teaches all aspects of basic sauces, breads, pastries, meats, poultry, vegetables and soups. It contains hints on substitutions, on how to diagnose a failed cake, on how to create a bouquet garni. It will never go out of date. Surely our eating habits have changed somewhat. We eat more veggies, less meat, but the dessert cart at the restaurant looks as luscious as ever, and we can find all of it or reasonable facsimile in this Classic.

I clearly remember the day about 40 years ago when I talked my mother into buying a bottle of Final Touch fabric softener, a product she didn't even use, simply because it came with this free cookbook. I was 10 then, and dozens of cookbooks later, this is the one I turn to most often. The pages are brown and brittle, and began falling out years ago. I kept the book together with a rubber band, and now use a Ziploc bag. I want to make sure our family's favorite recipes are available to my 3 sons, so I'm buying this edition now. But I won't throw out my original copy with all its happy memories. Beyond all that nostalgia, the cookbook is phenomenal for all its practical, thorough explanations of food selection and cooking techniques. Outstanding value for the new or experienced cook/baker.

Fannie Farmer was a favored ikon during my growing-up years in Ithaca. Later, I inherited her revered & well-worn cookbook, and after copying a few choice recipes such as my brother's favorite Snow Pudding, passed it on to an interested daughter.

Now there are other editions to choose from: Penguin published a mini version you might be able to locate on e-bay. It has the chocolate cake of my childhood that must have been concocted in Fannie Farmer's kitchen but I am still not sure if the directions in this 'mini' sampler match my mother's celebrated dessert. Of course, the great treat then was to lick the spoon - - nowadays that fun is spoiled by warnings that even a smidgen of raw egg will bring on an early death. Well! Whichever version of Fannie Farmer's cookbook you explore, you will have great fun reading how things were 'in the good old days'.

REVIEWER mcHAIKU urges you to read Deborah Hopkinson's amusing story "Fannie in the Kitchen" (isbn: 068981965x). These two books could be paired for a memorable shower OR holiday gift. Don't miss either one!

When my mother died I inherited her recipes. I found notes on most of them referring to The 1896 Boston Cooking School Cookbook. Now I finally have my own. It was new and came in double-quick-time. Thank you for excellent service and price.

I purchased this cookbook as a replacement for my mom it is a copy of her first cookbook. I grew up on the recipes and also bought copies for myself and my sister and my daughter. It is one of the easiest cookbooks I have ever used and the food it great.

My favorite Maud Hart Lovelace book is Betsy's Wedding and I was very happy to find a recipe for Lady Baltimore Cake. I don't think that I will be making any of these recipes and I am not sure it was worth ten dollars but it's nice to know that pre-gadgetry, cakes were being churned out; that eases my baking anxiety.