Farm Journal

How To Do Things, published in 1919 by the Editors of The Farm Journal, overflows with rural wisdom and, as the title promises, "How To's" for life on the farm. Unlike contemporary DIY books, which often include detailed directions, recipes, etc., this book assumes a good bit of knowledge on the part of the reader. For example, one must know where to obtain "Paris green" and "Bordeaux" to mix up an effective fungicide for plants...probably helps also to know what these ingredients are! Also, show more in order to use many of the book's ideas, one would need help from one's blacksmith, one's seedsman, and one's milkman...among other obsolete professionals. However, the Editors' recommendations range across all aspects of farm life, including child-rearing, entertaining, cooking, home improvement, and on and on and on. The book offers a fascinating glimpse into agrarian life in America following World War I. And, despite the historical flavor of the text, I learned numerous useful skills: how to fit a cork into a bottle, how to make a twine holder out of a coconut, how to make cheese, how to make a charming kitchen apron, how to grow a woodbine fence, how to make a box kite, how to have a potato peeling contest, and how to make a newborn foal poop (which I may not have to practice any time soon). I love this book...my copy belonged to my father, and to his father before him. And both men definitely knew "How To Do Things." show less

The cookies are pretty uniformly excellent, if occasionally a bit odd. Ketchup cookies: a testament to our foremothers' creativity in the face of desperation, or just high weirdness? I'll let you know as soon as I work up the nerve to try them.
The book also has interesting and useful lists of cookies--such as "cookies that sell well at bake sales", "cookies that mail well", "cookies that do not fly into a million crumbs at first bite and are therefore practical to give to a toddler without show more first equipping him or her with a flypaper bib"--that reek of hard-won experience and are honestly quite practical.
As a special bonus, the book comes larded with quaintly sexist advice, for your guffawing pleasure! (Disclaimer: I have the 1971 edition. Maybe they've updated.) show less

If I could keep only one cookbook from my collection, this would be it. I use it more often than any of the others I own. Some of the recipes feed lots of people, so I can always find something seasonal to make for a church dinner. Other recipes, especially those for canned vegetables, feed smaller groups of 4 to 6 people. These are ideal for every day meals. Most of the recipes use ingredients people commonly keep in their pantries, making it easy to come up with a side dish on the spur of show more the moment. My copy originally belonged to my grandmother, so I have the added benefit of her margin notes by the recipes she used. The book is out of print, but you might be able to find a copy at a yard sale. show less

The main dish pie section is quite good. I want to make more savory pies, but recipes I find in most cookbooks tend toward variations on the pot pie concept. While I love stew in a pie crust, I figured there had to be something more. Particularly, finding vegetarian pies has been a pain for me. The ones I do find tend to be unappealing. With a number of vegetarian friends, I really want them to have a reason to come to Pie Night. For a cookbook targeted at the strongly carnivorous country, show more Farm Journal’s Complete Pie Cookbook has a surprising number of hearty, tasty-sounding vegetarian recipes. show less