Anonymous The American Housewife: Containing the Most Valuable & Original in White

Fantastic history of early1800s cooking homemaking! Nearly 400 recipes for just about anything that could be eaten at the time including pickles jams and many household tips on subjects such as removing stains, making glues and dyes, repairing broken dishes, etc. Im quite sure it was written by an educated, fairly welltodo American homemaker, as there were very few uniquely European spellings, phrases, or words her (I assume) grammar spelling are nearperfect. One gets a good look at what living was like during that era, certainly making me appreciative of my gas range, dishwasher, and refrigerator (rather than hearth cooking, and, if lucky, an icebox.) While it is somewhat dry to read covertocover, Im sure it is historically correct, including some ingredients that even Wikipedia doesnt know, and use of substances (mostly chemicals ) that our grannystate government has restricted or banned from noncommercial use. The book does have a functional Table of Contents, (starting about page 6) which should have earned it six stars. I recommend it book without reservation. (Marian Otis) | Anonymous The American Housewife: Containing the Most Valuable & Original in White