The 1927 Butterick Book of Recipes | Chickens in the Road

Oct
26

The boxes are eating me.

Okay, not exactly, but the attack of the boxes continues as I try to, finally, get unpacked around here seven months after moving. What with goats and chickens and giant puppies, spring and summer zipped by without completing the “moving” part of moving into our new farmhouse. A lot of these boxes contain things I haven’t seen in nearly three years. The old farmhouse came furnished, in fact jam-packed, so I only brought necessities with me there, leaving the rest in storage.

It’s entertaining to open boxes that I packed so long ago, I don’t remember what’s in them, and discover things I had forgotten I had.

The cats enjoy the process, too.

Buttercup totally snarled at me when I made him get out of this box, which I hadn’t even finished unpacking before he took up residence.

Meanwhile, Spice nabbed another box.

There was a waiting list to get in there when she was done.

In case you’re new here, I have eight cats. I’m the crazy cat lady. Whew. Glad that’s out in the open.

A lot of the stuff in the boxes is semi-boring. Glasses, odds and ends, a cookie jar, teapots. (I like this cute Beatrix Potter one.)

It was fun to find a few remnants of my kids’ baby dishes and silverware. I can just see them eating their little spoonfuls of oatmeal out of that ABC bowl…..

Then I found some cookbooks I hadn’t seen in a while, and some well-worn recipe cards holding old favorites. Yay!

Then I hit the motherlode. The Butterick Book of Recipes and Household Helps.

It was published in 1927.

Inside, handwritten, is my great-grandmother’s name.

Jessie Woodall was my great-grandmother on my mother’s side, the flatlander side of my family. My father was, after he completed his bombing missions during World War II, stationed in Oklahoma. He made off with my mother and took her away to the holler, just as Jessie’s husband took her away when they married, hauling her off to Oklahoma before it was even a state. (Trivia: Oklahoma didn’t become a state until 1907.) My great-grandfather claimed land in part of the government’s effort to settle the area, making him one of the state’s early pioneers. My great-grandfather had to haul lumber back and forth across the prairie, by lantern-light when necessary, to build them a house.

Jessie was a good cook, by all accounts, and I like having her cookbook. I like to imagine her turning its pages, and I wonder which ones were her favorites. There’s an X by the recipe for Little Chocolate Cakes. I wonder if that means she didn’t like it?

There are plenty of tips included for the domestic goddesses of the time, such as this one for how to make it easier to see things inside your oven while you’re baking–paint the inside of the oven a light color with aluminum paint. Hmmm. I think I’ll stick with that lightbulb thing….

I bet Jessie always had her table set properly.

“The handles of all of the flat silver placed to the right and left of the plate must be in a perfect line with the edge of the table.” Or your table will explode!

I’m not sure about this whole personal hygiene section belonging in a cookbook.

But now that I know how to shampoo correctly, I can be clean as the prairie sky.

I’m excited about trying out the wonderful old-fashioned recipes in this cookbook, and you can bet I’ll be posting some of them soon!

And, I’ve got a lot more boxes to unpack. No telling what else I’ll find, but whatever it is, you can rest assured….

….the cats will be the first to know.

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40 Responses
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10-26
4:42
am

I love old cookbooks! I have a few too from that era and some call for some interesting ingredients.

TeresaH - Reply
10-26
6:29
am

What fun!!! I LOVE old cook books and hope to get my grannys mamma’s one day…. As you said to wonder about what ones she cooked and liked.. Great history isnt it?

Heidi - Reply
10-26
6:54
am

My FIL just blessed me went some old cookbooks and recipe cards. So old they smell of mold. Can’t wait to go thru them. I always write notes on all the recipes I use. Hopefully down the road someone will care about all of then.

Wammy - Reply
10-26
7:14
am

What is it with cats and boxes? Our largest cat loves to find the smallest boxes or baskets and see if she can fit in them. When she looks at us I’m sure she’s asking “Does this make my butt look big?”

beth - Reply
10-26
7:57
am

What an awesome find! I just love old cookbooks and scour yard sales for them.
:J

MamaJayne - Reply
10-26
8:01
am

It’s like an early Christmas for you and the cats!
I also have some old cookbooks and helpful hint books.

Becky - Reply
10-26
8:31
am

We moved in January of last year, so I’m a couple of months ahead of you, and even though I spent every day during the cold days of last winter opening boxes, I’m still not done. I sold my house in California and put everything in “temporary” storage. “Temporary” turned into over five years before I found my farm and actually moved. We stayed with my son all that time, and he had most of the basics so I didn’t unpack.

I found my grandmother’s cookbood from the 40’s and the fascinating part was the emphasis on recipes that used little or no sugar. It was wartime, and sugar was rationed! I never thought about the war in those terms. I learned about the battles in shcool and from my older relatives, but I never focused on how the war impacted the women back home. You could send cookies to your serviceman, but you had to save ration coupons to get the sugar to make them. My great-aunts would give their coupons to my grandmother so she could bake those cookies for my uncle. I guess we’ve been in war before and survived. But it’s hard, isn’t it?

WV_Hills - Reply
10-26
8:47
am

:purr: Our cat’s love to “investigate” when we bring in new things, if its a box no matter the size it is loved. :purr:

What a neat way to spend time, shopping for memories! And that cookbook PRICELESS!!

MissyinWV - Reply
10-26
8:49
am

What a treasure to have such a wonderful part of your past and it also has recipes…fantastic!

It is very nice of you to share your boxes with the cats as you unpack all your wonderful finds you had forgotten about. Very cute photos!

Shari C - Reply
10-26
9:27
am

What a great find for sure. I love old cookbooks. I have some old canning cook books too. I also have my mothers 1950 cookbook. it is all patched up too. WV – what a reminder that we take so much for granted. I have been stock piling sugar for canning and fudge so my pantry is full – hmmmmm – then I hear your story. during the war was when my mother quit drinking sugar in her tea and she never did again. people from that time really knew about sacrifice too.

I cant wait for suzanne to have some good recipes for us from the cookbook. A lady at church let me see her Iowa cookbook from the 20s. and get this it was put together by women doctors to raise money for a new hospital. i thought women docotrs in the 20s. they used a president’s wife’s recipe to head each section. it was fascinating. they also had household tips – like Monday is wash day and sunday you dont sweep the porch or hang anything – hmmm no telling what happened to you if you did!!!!

jane - Reply
10-26
9:37
am

Here’s a deal…. I’ll let you keep the Butterick Book of Recipes for that little cat cookiejar in the fifth photo down. That is adorable!

Lucy - Reply
10-26
10:18
am

What a neat find. I have a several really old cookbooks, I will have to go pull them out and post about them sometime.

The Jillybean - Reply
10-26
10:23
am

I collect cookbooks, but sadly, I have nothing quite that old.

Minna - Reply
10-26
10:45
am

I also have a fetish for cookbooks and have some old ones as well. My Mom used her old 1950 Betty Crocker cookbook
not only for the recipes, but also as a file. She had every
thing from old letters, receipts and newspaper clippings!
Cats and boxes go together. I love watching cats playing in a box or curled up sleeping. They sure do like to help unpack!

Gail - Reply
10-26
11:05
am

I recently just moved also and have been unloading boxes but I have no treasures such as your cookbook. What a joy it must be to read the same recipes your great grandmother read and used.

Carole @ Fowl Visions - Reply
10-26
11:36
am

I love old cookbooks! I’ve found some treasures over the years. None from my grandmothers though. I have my mother’s favorite Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. Somehow along the way I just started collecting interesting cookbooks just to read them. I don’t cook much, mostly my husband does the cooking. PS. My cat loves boxes too. I thought it was just her, not a species thing. She has one moving box on it’s side in my office as a permanent cat “house” that she takes naps in. I decided not to move it after she adopted it and moved in. ;-) LOL

Jodie - Reply
10-26
12:08
pm

That old cookbook is a treasure! I hope it stays in the family for years to come! I’m interesting in knowing what other jems are hidden away in those boxes!!!
;o)

Kayis - Reply
10-26
12:10
pm

I wonder if a person could find an old copy of Buttericks book of Recipes ? Would any one know how to find one ? Happy reading Suzanne !

anne - Reply
10-26
12:12
pm

I have a couple old cookbooks and one was my husband’s grandmothers – not as old as yours though and no fun instructions lol.

As far as crazy cat lady – we have a lot in common lol. I had 7 and now only have 6 but those are just the inside cats. At the moment I have 4 (3 permanent) outside ferals but the males come usually for a year or two and then go on their way. I have a permanent supply of boxes throughout my house lol. :purr:

catslady - Reply
10-26
12:50
pm

I have the same Beatrix Potter teapot that you have. It’s packed away and seeing yours reminded me that I need to find mine. Your cookbooks are a treasure. Even though I don’t cook a lot I do enjoy reading cookbooks.

Susan

SusanD - Reply
10-26
1:20
pm

Suzanne, I LOVE that picture of the hills/meadow above.

The cats are killin me…so funny. Why sure! They want to play too…get in there and investigate. LOL After all, there could be a mouse in there, for them!!! :mrgreen:

I went through my mother’s recipes and found old things too and it was so exciting – be it a card she wrote to a school for cake decorating, she attended..or a magazine clipping of an old advertisement of a food, or product…she had old cookbooks, but I think my brother got them. I have her old Betty Crocker cookbook and cookie book.

I have read some old books with hygiene tips, like how to look glam when “your man” comes home..meet him with a drink at the door…that type of stuff and it cracked me up. LOL Old finds are fun. Hey, that reminds me… need to find out WHO got my baby spoon!!! LOL

Donna - Reply
10-26
1:32
pm

I have a McCalls magazine Pocket Cook Book from 1943, and it has all kinds of substitutions for sugar. I wish the front cover had not fallen off tho. But I have it and use the book on occasion. I have several of my grandmother’s hand written recipes, held together with a brass duck head clip that can hang on the wall. My granny on the other hand always said to me “you know I don’t measure anything, just add (whatever)til it looks right. She taught me alot about cooking over the phone. I would call her and she would talk me thru whatever I was trying to cook. My mother recieved a Betty Crocker cook book for a wedding gift (1955), and I wore it out when I was at home, and the cook. I also have my mother in law’s compilation of cook booklets that were put together in a hard back cover as you collected them each month. I can sit and look thru cook books forever, and yes they do “smell”, like home, to me. Enjoyed your pics as usual, and the cats make me wish I had one again, (grandson is allergic).

Terry - Reply
10-26
1:49
pm

It almost sounds like you are celebrating Christmas early!

Susan - Reply
10-26
2:19
pm

Your old cookbook sounds as fun as my 1959 edition of Emily Post’s Etiquette. :smile:

Tori Lennox - Reply
10-26
3:20
pm

I have 5 cats and NO box is safe in my house.

Estella - Reply
10-26
3:37
pm

I collect cookbooks. I have so many. I’ve got one called 1001 sandwiches. So I guess it’s not really a cookbook, but a sandwich book, it is dated 1928 & 1936. You wouldn’t believe some of the sandwiches listed, such as the Raw Liver Sandwich. Remove any skin, place in hot water for a few minutes, then chop fine or scrape. Season with salt, pepper and a little grated onion, or horse-radish. Serve between slices of lightly buttered bread. Can you believe it? I bet that ruined everyone’s appetite. Looking forward to your good recipes.

Janet - Reply
10-26
3:45
pm

Hon, you did hit the Mother Lode! I grew up in Oklahoma. My adult daughters reside around the Tulsa area. I raised them in Norman, Oklahoma. Now I am a Texan! I so enjoy all your entertainment. Yes, there’s nothing a cat likes better than a box. I just posted photos of mine in box-like places last week, I believe.
Brenda

Brenda Kula - Reply
10-26
3:53
pm

Your cats are all so gorgeous! I have 4 and they don’t all get along. I can imagine the fights mine would have over who got the box. My mother collected cook books and was renowned in the county for her cooking. I was honored to learn I got the cookbooks when she passed. Some are really really old, and I love the ones with household and entertaining tips like yours. We’ve come a long way baby! LOL :rockon:

Patty - Reply
10-26
4:48
pm

What a great find. Old cookbooks are fantastic and to have one that belonged to family are even better.

I love the cats. What is it about boxes that they find so interesting?

jean - Reply
10-26
5:24
pm

It would be wonderful if you could post the “Cheesy Sour Cream Enchilada” recipe. It sounded wonderful. Your website is just delightful. I live in a farmhouse on 5 acres in Alpharetta, Georgia. Thank you for the joy you add to my day! God bless you.

Julia - Reply
10-26
5:39
pm

You’re going to want me to bite my tongue, but I saw the cat in the box and thought, ‘Oh no! She’s having more kittens!’.

Lisa - Reply
10-26
6:12
pm

You make me wish I had old cookbooks! I inherited my Mother’s when she passed away, including her Joy of Cooking.
And I have 7 cats and feed several strays in our neighborhood, so you’re not the only crazy cat lady! I want a t-shirt that says “I AM the crazy cat lady”. *G*

Brandy - Reply
10-26
6:28
pm

I love your website and pictures of rural W. Virginia. My Great Grandfather was born in Big Lick, Roanoke County, W. Virginia in 1846 so I check out your website to look at those pictures, and the recipes, and your entertaining stories of your family and animals. What a wonderful life you have there!

Joy - Reply
10-26
6:36
pm

Cats do like getting in the middle of things, don’t they? Wonder what else you’ll find?

Kacey - Reply
10-26
7:42
pm

Some of my favorite recipes come from a cookbook handed down to me. Speaking of recipes, Suzanne, you showed us how to make ricotta cheese. However, I am very curious what you can do with the leftover liquid. I have never made cheese but I want to sometime. :thumbsup:

Teresa in nc - Reply
10-26
10:53
pm

Nothing say home sweet home like the family heirloom of a passed down cook book and old recipies. There are so many people that would have pitched it in the garbage not realizing their cherished heritage rest on those old stained pages.
You posess a much older soul than body… as do I.

Martha F. - Reply
10-27
12:33
am

Your Butterick book takes me back to junior high Home Ec – about 1957! Oh, boy – we learned about wearing aprons, greeting our “hard-working husbands” with a smile at the end of their day…never mind what a woman’s day was like. It’s priceless!! :catmeow:

Nancy in Atlanta - Reply
10-27
10:51
am

We have three cats down from four over a year ago. We may end up with some barn cats if we find the mice bothering things out there. They are sometimes friends, sometimes playmates, and sometimes in all out war it seems. I also have some old hand written cookbooks my grandmother wrote out in tablets. They are packed away but I can’t remember if they are at my son’s house or here at my daughter’s as some of my stuff is in both homes after selling my house in Georgia. I think I might check it out today in the basement here. Blessings.

Abiga/karen - Reply
10-30
12:05
pm

i went to a yard sale and there were a lot of book in this box and as i was looking in it there was a 1888 cookbook that the cover wasn’t in the best of shape so i ask how much was it and the man so you can have it. there is alot in the cookbook but afraid that if i really get into the book it might fall apart the pages seem to be so brittle.
i have it wrapped on a towel and put away. do you have any ideas how to care for it. i wrote to a book collector but got no answer. thank you

cindy smith - Reply
11-1
8:13
am

Cindy, I don’t know. My Butterick book is really old and kinda fragile, too. I’m just going to photocopy it so that every time I use a recipe, I don’t have to use the book because I don’t think it can take a lot of use.

Suzanne McMinn - Reply