First published in 1796, American Cookery by Amelia Simmons is considered the first true American cookbook, with recipes for such indigenous foods as pumpkins, cranberries, and cornmeal. Cookbooks published here previously were English in origin with food and recipes written for English audiences. 

American Cookery is the bedrock for all important cookbook collections and MSU Special Collections is fortunate to hold several early editions of the work, including the second printing of the first edition, published in 1798. We recently acquired another—the 1808 edition—published in Troy, New York. 

Any early edition of this important work is special, but this particular volume is extra special for its provenance. Boldly written on the inside of the front cover is the name “Ruth Doty,” who moved to Detroit from Troy, New York with her merchant husband Ellis Doty (a descendant of Edward Doty who came to America on the Mayflower). This volume was published three years after their marriage in 1805, so perhaps this was one of Ruth’s first cookbooks—and most likely journeyed with her over ten years as she and her growing family made their way west to Detroit by the early 1820s. 

In addition to the inscription of Ruth Doty, there are other ownership clues in the book. On the inside of the back cover there are two manuscript recipes for cakes, in a different hand than Ruth’s. Most intriguing of all, on the verso of the title page is what looks like the name of another Doty… Can you make out what it says?

One can only speculate as to whether the cookbook stayed in the Doty family after Ruth’s death in 1866 at the age of 82, but its remarkably good shape despite its age, travels, and use clearly suggests that whoever owned the book realized its importance and historical value.

~Peter

dianacloudburst:

Just added a Grimoire/Book of Shadows page for the cannabutter recipe I’ve been using!

Sea creature pancakes… brilliant. 

Photography by Con Poulos

Sheet-Pan Chicken with Sourdough and Bacon

I wanna hear some new healthy meal ideas! What’s one of your favorite healthy recipes !? I’ll repost the one that sounds the best !

Comfort Tomato Soup

This soup is prepared with herbs and vegetables to promote healing, boost mental energy, and give your soul its strength back.
Serve to friends going through tough times, or enjoy for yourself after a draining day.

1 medium carrot
1 medium onion
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup chicken broth
½ teaspoon paprika, salt, and pepper
1 celery stalk
1 stick of butter
3 cups chopped tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1 cup milk

Mince the celery, onion, and carrot. Sauté in a skillet with butter until soft. Add tomatoes, broth, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. Simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Carefully remove bay leaves.
Serve with a cup of milk on the side.

No Knead Easy Bread

4 c all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tb sugar

2 c ice cold water

¾ tsp active dry yeast

Bit of vegetable oil

Mix dry ingredients. Add water, stirring only enough to combine. Don’t over mix it! Brush the top with some oil. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate 13-18 hours. Remove, let stand at room temp 2 hours. Remove cling wrap, and with an oiled spatula, scoop down the sides of the bowl to unstick dough. Preheat oven 425, and while the oven is preheating let the bread pan heat up. When oven is preheated, remove bread pan with oven mitts and dump the dough in. It doesn’t have to be smoothed or flat in the pan, it will even out when it’s cooking. Cover the pan and bake 55 min. Remove cover and bake until tip is browned, maybe 7 minutes. You can add herbs to the dough before you bake if you’d like. Delicious warm, easier to slice cooled Keeps about a week

dduane:

petermorwood:

Another of @dduane’s last-week baking experiments: Torta della Nonna, “Granny’s Custard Pie”.

It’s Tuscan, a shortcrust pastry filled with lemon custard under an (optional) pastry lid and a sprinkle of pine-nuts, then finished with a dusting of powdered sugar and fresh lemon zest once it’s cooled.

It tasted as good as it looks in the pic. The filling is much more delicate than lemon meringue, and the pine-nuts toast in the oven to become wonderful.

There are various recipes on-line, and one provides this useful info:

How long does Torta della Nonna last?

Torta della Nonna will last for around 4-5 days in the fridge although the pastry will start to soften after a day or two.

4-5 days? Maybe if the fridge is locked and the house is empty. In real life it lasted two enthusiasts about two days, and the pastry never had a chance to go soft…

I accompanied one slice with a glass of unsweetened espresso; no idea if that’s an authentic approach, but if it isn’t it should be. The contrast of temperatures and flavours was amazingly delicious, deliciously amazing and damn good too. :->

BTW, here’s the link to the recipe I was using. It comes from the blog associated with a Tyrol-based grocery that we order from sometimes. 

https://suedtirol-daheim.com/en/torta-della-nonna-recipe/

wehadariverboatinourlivingroom:

Lemon Sponge Pie

I found a recipe for Lemon Sponge Pie tucked into my Grandmother D’s wallet. It is jotted on a receipt from the M O'Neil Company, which was one of the two largest downtown department stores in Akron, Ohio (the other major department store being Polsky’s).

Both stores had large plate glass windows in which large moving Christmas displays were unveiled each year on Thanksgiving night.

When Grandma was in her late 70’s, she and Mother (in her 40’s) were shopping here. They were on an escalator when Grandma suddenly reached over and grabbed Mother’s hand. Mother gave her a startled glance and saw Grandma pointing to a sign. It said “Please, hold your child’s hand.“

I have included a picture of Grandma’s wallet and her charge card. The card was for three downtown stores. The original charge cards were metal plates, but this one is plastic, probably because Grandma obtained it in her own name after Grandpa’s death. The china in the picture was passed on to me from my sister.

The pie is subtle- not so sweet as I expected. I prepared it just as set out in the recipe.

I can’t call it ‘Grandma’s Lemon Sponge Pie’ because I can’t guarantee that she ever made it. I know she liked it though, or why would she have copied the recipe?

Our friends got robbed this week, which is always terrible, but especially when you live out of the country and are permanently broke. So today we baked them a cake and brought them one of our new puppies to play with, because come on, if those can’t cheer you up, then nothing can.

KEY LIME COCONUT CAKE
Recipe from Smitten Kitchen

Note: Serves 8 really hungry people, so actually a lot more

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon grated Key lime zest
• 2 large eggs
• 1 ¾ cups self-rising flour*
• ¾ cup whole milk
• ¼ cup fresh key lime juice, divided
• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 tablespoon rum (optional)

* Make your own: For every cup of flour, add a ½ teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of baking powder, whisk together very well and sift the mixture. 

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Generously butter an 8- by 8-inch square or 9- by 2-inch round cake pan and line bottom with a round of parchment paper.
• Toast coconut in a small baking pan in oven, stirring once or twice, until golden, 8 to 12 minutes. Cool. Leave oven on.
• Beat together butter, granulated sugar, and zest with an electric mixer until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir together flour and ½ cup coconut (reserve remainder for topping). Stir together milk and 2 tablespoons lime juice. At low speed, mix flour and milk mixtures into egg mixture alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour.
• Spoon batter into pan and smooth top. Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool to warm, then turn out of pan and discard parchment.
• Whisk together confectioners sugar, remaining 2 tablespoons lime juice, and rum (if using) and pour over cake. Sprinkle with remaining coconut.

scissorsandthread:

Saucy Sesame Noodles|Tadka Pasta

Oh my gosh, this looks so delicious. I used to hate pasta salads because they would be too acidic and leave a nasty taste in my mouth, but this noodle salad is light and crunchy. I can’t handle even a touch of chilli so I omitted the chilli garlic sauce and added crunchy noodles instead of peanuts. That’s the other thing I love about this recipe - you can omit or add what you like to suit your tastes. Add the ingredients to your shopping list now!

fullcravings:

Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread with Espresso Mascarpone

Fashion. Mode. 時尚.ファッション. http://wp.me/p6RLYi-dJJ

Pumpkin Spice Baked Oatmeal with Cranberries + Weekly Menu #FoodnDrinks #Recipies #LoveFood

Fashion. Mode. 時尚.ファッション. https://wp.me/p6RLYi-dJv

The Dude Diet: Pizza Steak Quinoa Bake #FoodnDrinks #Recipies #LoveFood

vegan-yums:

Sweetheart cherry hand pies (GF) / Recipe