Emma Bland Smith

Why was Fannie Farmer (1857-1915) so fabulous? The "mother of measurement" changed the idea that "feminine instincts" were all you needed for home cooking. She attended, then taught at, the Boston Cooking School, and eventually rewrote the book - with precise measurements. Her strategy was "a recipe for success."

In addition to the sourced quotes throughout, there is plenty of back matter, including two recipes (popovers and angel food cake), a timeline, a bibliography, photo credits, resources for kids who like to cook, and more information about Fannie Farmer, including a note on "Fannie's Physical Condition" (she likely had polio as a teen).

See also: Try It! by Mara Rockliff; The Polio Pioneer by Linda Elovitz Marshall, Junior Bake Off (TV show)… (more)

First sentence: In a house near Boston in the late 1800s, Fannie Farmer sat at the kitchen table, swinging her legs and peeling potatoes. Or so we can imagine. Like many girls across America, Fannie likely grew up learning to cook from her mother, making dishes that had been passed down for generations. Now, back in the old days, recipes were different from today. Both in books and out loud, the instructions were often cloudier than clam chowder, and the measurements could be downright silly! "A suspicion of nutmeg," "sugar to your taste," "as many yolks of eggs as may be necessary," "yeast sufficient to make them light," "a good lump of dripping or butter."

Premise/plot: The Fabulous Fannie Farmer is a nonfiction picture book--a biography--about Fannie Farmer and her cookbook. Farmer was instrumental in the field. She is the "mother of measurement" and helped revolutionize modern recipes--that is HOW recipes were written. The book is great at contrasting before and after.

The book includes two of her recipes.

My thoughts: I loved this one. The narration was great--plenty of engaging storytelling. I loved the inclusion of back matter. This one is a good example of a DELIGHTFUL nonfiction read. They sure didn't write biographies like this when I was a kid.… (more)