Helen Witty

I blame them for my DIY addiction!

OK, maybe not entirely the fault of these authors... but they fed it yeaqrs before hone preserving, pickling, chaucuterie, breadmaking etc. were trendy Things. I grew up on the Little House books, and was primed to start making things myself... and this book fed that addiction!

I'm dating myself, but I know I got it early in our marriage, which was over 30 years ago- WAY before there was much available for DIY cooks, except classics like the Ball book for show more canning. And this book had SO MUCH! Duck confit! Pastrami! many kinds of pickles and condiments! CAVIAR, for heaven's sake, which I would love to try but have not! The only really obvious gap is that they have no recipe for home-made bacon... but they have versions of damn near everything else I can think of.

Although I've been in a very DIY mood of late I hadn't dug this one up... until I saw a video on an easier way to peel chestnuts. The first year we were married, I used the recipe in this book to make a totally gorgeous chestnut/vanilla syrup for holiday gifts... but peeling the nuts was such a pain I haven't made it since, though I remember it with great adoration. I think I'll do it again this year!

And in flipping through the pages, I am reminded of what a valuable resource it is. Many of the recipes and directions pre-date more specialized cookbooks now, but with no less skill and imagination and a far vaster focus.

HIGHLY recommended! I wouldn't give up my tatty copy for anything! show less

Love this cookbook. Recipes are clear and turn out great. I have made the California Fruit Cake many times. Love the raspberry vinegar. The recipes are a mix of standard pantry items, and interesting ones (like banana or mushroom ketchup) that you won't find outside of a specialty food shop.

One of the best make-it-yourself cookbooks in my collection. I refer to it often and we've liked everything I've made from it. When I find this out-of-print gem at a book sale, I always grab it as every time I share a recipe from the book people always want their own copy. It's fun to just sit and read as well as being an excellent recipe source. Where else could I have read of tomato figs and find a recipe to follow?

A compulsive read. Some recipes are very useful, eg Chocolate Sauce or Flaky Cheese Twists. Others, let us be honest, are less likely to see the light of reality, such as Gefullte Fish or Pastrami. It is, after all, our duty (as Hillaire Belloc recognised) to give employment to the artisan, in the form of the delicatessen.