Sunday, September 22, 2013

My Receipt Book

Here is the book that I'll start testing recipes from.  The title is "The New England Economical Housekeeper, and Family Receipt Book."  It was published in Worchester, Massachusettes, in the 1840s, and cost twenty-five cents, according to the cover.  I purchased it on Ebay for little money, it has detached from the spine, and it's in pretty rough shape, but it attracted me for a few reasons: 
 
1. It was published in 1845.

2. It had a well-loved look to it.
These pages were carefully hand-stitched back together.

3. It had a great selection of recipes, as well as other domestic tips and advice.


4. It had hand-written recipes on the back pages.

5. It had a neat cover (or at least what is left of the cover).

6. It is very hard to come by old receipt books anymore.

I've had this book for several years now, but have never tried any of the receipts.  It just never occurred to me, despite the fact that I bought it for use at the living history farm.  At the time, I just enjoyed reading the old entries and (carefully) flipping through its 168-year-old pages.  Now, it's time to put it to the test!  This shouldn't be too hard, right?

Right?...

Gulp.

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