Item: 1 1991 Fannie Farmer Cookbook

This is another cookbook that has gone through several editions, starting in 1896. This is what the copyright notice looks like:

Published originally in 1896 under the title The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book by Fannie Merritt Farmer.  Copyright 1906, 1912, 1914 by Fannie Merritt Farmer.  Copyright 1915, 1918, 1923 by Cora D. Perkins.  Copyright 1930, 1933, 1934, 1936, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1946, 1951, (c) 1959, 1962, 1964, 1965 by Dexter Perkins Corp.

There's a history, right there. The one that I have happens to be the 13th edition, written by Marion Cunningham (although not, I assume, the one from Happy Days).  Cookbooks are great reading at any time, because they are necessarily concrete and packed with sensory details - smells, color, texture, thickness.  Flipping through the recipes, on its own, is enough of a plot to get me interested:  Sesame Seed or Benne Pastries, Hungarian Goulash, Roast Chicken, Cheese-Bread Pudding, Irish Soda Bread, Meringues, Lemon Curd, Roasted Chestnuts, Fried Apple Rings, Delmonico Potatoes.

This cookbook is also a good one to curl up with because I like the commentary in all the sections.  Each cookbook has its own prose style, and Fannie Farmer's is probably my favorite.  The tone is knowledgeable, but not overly serious, helpful without being patronizing.  While never effusive, it's clear that the people behind The Fannie Farmer Cookbook are people who like cooking and like food, and think the whole enterprise is great fun.

"Every meal should be a small celebration," says Ms. Cunningham in the introduction.  I've almost always been pleased with the recipes I've tried from here, giving me the impression that there's nothing in here just because it's convenient or will feed a lot of people, or because they needed another recipe featuring beets.  The things in here are here because they're good to eat.