Treasuring a Tattered Book

In the packed bookcase in my kitchen stands a tattered hardcover book, a 1979 edition of Joy of Cooking.  Its dirty white cover, taped spine, and yellowed, stained pages, all indicate that I should toss out the volume, but I hold onto it for sentimental reasons and for some weird recipes along with good ones.

The old Joy of Cooking has two recipes created by my great-grandmother, Posie.  One was originally called “Posie’s Custard with Whipped Cream” (simply called “Rich Custard” in my edition) and the other was “Raised Dumplings or Dampfnudeln.” In a note that refers to Posie, the authors write, “A well-known Cincinnati hostess serves this dish as a dessert at formal dinners with much success” (p. 663).  It’s fun to think of my great-grandmother as a well-known hostess.  (I remember her only as a very old, frail lady, smelling of powder and perfume.  I never really knew her strengths.)

Another reason I keep the 1979 edition is that the text amuses me with its strange instructions for skinning, dressing, and cooking wildlife: porcupine, opossum, squirrel, racoon, woodchuck, beaver, armadillo, and bear, among others.  The authors state, “Small game such as rabbit, squirrel and muskrat may be substituted in most recipes calling for chicken” (p. 513).  I wonder how common it was to prepare small game when the book was first published in 1931, and how much hunting continued through 1979, when my edition came out.  Subsequent editions cut out the passages on preparing game; when did the practical food source die out of fashion?

Finally, I keep the book because I have used many of the recipes to create meals, from hors d’oeuvres to desserts.  Ironically, I have never made my great-grandmother’s recipes; one is too rich for my taste and the other takes too much work for my impatience in the kitchen. These days, I get most of my recipes online, but it’s good to have the old Joy of Cooking as a resource and memento.  I savor it.