Want to cook like Grandma used to?
By AmberLynn
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104615)
United States
July 21, 2018 9:02pm CST
I just came across this site that has gathered a database of digitally accessible cookbooks from as far back as the the 1700's (maybe earlier). There is also a link for other language cookbooks.
I thought it might interest some of you and so I am sharing the link here.
What is the oldest cookbook you personally own?
I have one that was my great grandmother's,
Yes, You Can Cook Like Mother Used to... And Grandmother. And Great-Grandmother. And Great-Great-Grandmother. And so on... Thanks to modern technology, many long-forgotten cookbooks from the 18th, 19th, and 20th Centuries (and some even older) are now avai
8 people like this
10 responses
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104615)
• United States
22 Jul 18
Yes and techniques of cooking that people don't use today.
The site warns that pre-1850's books also have medicinal recipes that shouldn't be adhered to since this was before science ruled the methods as being dangerous.
1 person likes this
@Shellyann36 (11383)
• United States
22 Jul 18
All of my cookbooks are packed up but I have a few old ones. This is a neat link. Thank you for sharing.
@Shellyann36 (11383)
• United States
22 Jul 18
@ScribbledAdNauseum Oh yes, have you ever seen anyone cook or bake on a woodstove? In our area, there is a working museum and they have a kitchen set up and the people dress up in period costumes and cook Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. It is very interesting to watch.
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104615)
• United States
22 Jul 18
@Shellyann36 My grandmother on my dad's side had a wood stove in her house. I don't think anything was ever cooked on it. It was actually set up in the livingroom area.
I'm sure I've seen people cook on one before. We have a Moravian Living Museum here in my city. "Old Salem Museum and Gardens" if you want to look it up.
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104615)
• United States
22 Jul 18
You are welcome. I'm spending more time looking at the recipes on it today.
It's fun to read and especially observing the measuring system of housewives. "Take a coffee cup full of sugar" for instance.
1 person likes this
@marguicha (230365)
• Chile
22 Jul 18
I think that the main difference in their cooking was that they did it all from scratch.
@marguicha (230365)
• Chile
22 Jul 18
@ScribbledAdNauseum I still say "coffee cup" and "tea cup" when I give out recipes.
A long time ago, the very small coffee cups were used to have coffee after dinner.
A long time ago, the very small coffee cups were used to have coffee after dinner.@ScribbledAdNauseum (104615)
• United States
22 Jul 18
That was one of the main differences. Some of the terms they used are outdated now. I had to look up one word, I forget what it was, but I saw that it meant baking soda. It wasn't Bicarbonate of Soda but something else that started with an S.
A lot of these cookbooks have measuring suggestions like "a coffee cup full of sugar."
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104615)
• United States
22 Jul 18
I've wanted to get a Medieval cookbook. I know some medieval era enthusiasts have adapted thsoe recipes to modern times.
I do like to read first hand accounts of the way things were "back then."
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104615)
• United States
22 Jul 18
@LadyDuck Yes. I am sure it had a lot to do with what was available for them and what they were able to trade.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (502729)
• Italy
22 Jul 18
@ScribbledAdNauseum Medieval cooking was very different through the different countries around the world.
@thislittlepennyearns (68246)
• Defuniak Springs, Florida
22 Jul 18
I have a Julia Child cookbook and the art of cooking and some hilarious seventies and eighties cookbooks.
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104615)
• United States
22 Jul 18
I love things like that. I once had a book on home design from the 60's. I got it when I was like 12. The middle school I was going to was closing down and becoming a different kind of school and so we got to take home lots of books.
@thislittlepennyearns (68246)
• Defuniak Springs, Florida
22 Jul 18
@ScribbledAdNauseum I got a portable record player that way. Lol.
I bought mine at the thrift store. There are some pretty horrible recipes in them.
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104615)
• United States
22 Jul 18
@thislittlepennyearns Nice! We were just offered dictionaries and books they hadn't used in decades. 
I've seen a few recipe books at the thrift store, some of which are like Betty Crocker recipes from the 50's.
I've seen a few recipe books at the thrift store, some of which are like Betty Crocker recipes from the 50's.
@jstory07 (148764)
• Roseburg, Oregon
22 Jul 18
I had one cookbook since I good married the first time and I could not find it after we moved.
@petatonicsca (7070)
• Japan
23 Jul 18
I used to have cookbooks. My mother tended to cook out of cans and boxes. My dad had grown up on a farm and was very creative. I never knew it, but I ended up being like him. I look at what is around and can throw together a tasty stew, pancakes, whatever. I only look at cookbooks to get a general idea and then I go for it. That is how my auntie (on my dad's side) used to cook too, and I watched her.
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104615)
• United States
23 Jul 18
When I was a little girl I would sit on my grandmother's counter and watch her. I don't use cookbooks that often but I do like to look through them. I will look at a recipe and then make it my own.
I'm not the best at "throwing things together" but I think I do alright. My mom wasn't a very good cook but she could bake. I can not bake. I guess I do not have the patience for it.
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104615)
• United States
22 Jul 18
I have a box that has my grandmother's handwritten recipes. I think I might have my mom's as well.
There are some Betty Crocker recipe cards within as well.
1 person likes this
@responsiveme (22923)
• India
22 Jul 18
@ScribbledAdNauseum personal ones are so great...For the recipes...For the remembrance
@Jessabuma (31696)
• Baguio, Philippines
22 Jul 18
Wow! That's nice and interesting. We do have tempting chicken cook book
@Jessabuma (31696)
• Baguio, Philippines
22 Jul 18
@ScribbledAdNauseum Ohh that's sounds good to me. It made e feel hungry..
