I have an old cookery book, probably from the 1950’s or maybe earlier, called Modern practical Cookery which was published by Allied Newspapers. In trying to find out the actual publication date of it I have come across many for sale on-line, but very cheap, so I am guessing that there must have been thousands printed!
It has over 2000 recipes, and black and white photographs illustrating not just the dishes it has recipes for, but also showing different techniques, for example, inside the front cover there are four photos showing how to make cream horns… Cream horns, are they still made these days? I remember them when I was little, a cone of pastry filled with cream, with a dab of strawberry jam in the bottom; my mum once made a savoury version for a dinner party with smoked salmon in sour cream with chives… mmm, they sound pretty good!
Obviously, some of the recipes sound very old-fashioned, but some of them have come back into fashion… so many recipes seem to show marrow bone being served, and lo and behold, here is a recipe for marrow bone and apples. Meat loaf and bananas… that sounds a Masterchef dish for the creativity test!
In the back is a section on ‘the A.B.C. of cleaning and removing stains’; I smiled at this and then thought how lucky we are not only with all the cleaning agents we have, but also the mechanical devices every home has, and also how our new fabrics are much easier to clean anyway. After nine pages of stains there is a chapter on preparing for a wedding: the bride’s kitchen, the workshop, marking the linen, personal linen, the wedding cake, wedding refreshments, the wedding arrangements, the reception, and finally in this section – training a maid! What every bride should know!
Lois Elsden 
Thanks for posting this! I am currently working my way through my own cookery book from 1912, trying to bake a bread for a competition. It’s incredibly helpful (I never stuffed the gaps in the door of a freshly cleaned room with newspapers before cleaning the adjacent room, do you?) and untainted by health and safety. Even the ‘diet’ section at the back uses lard. However, I couldn’t find anything on how to train your maid. I might have to contact you, should I ever need it!
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Oh please do, Ginger! I have found it invaluable in training mine!
Have you a particular book you are following? Or do you mean you are writing your own… if you are writing your own let me know when it’s published! …if the competition is just to actually bake some bread…. I wonder if I have any old recipes… Not that I baked, but from books I have!
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It is my family cookbook, the ‘Kiehnle Kochbuch’, which used to be some kind of a gold standard in my region. You can find the event at http://www.hefe-und-mehr.de/en/2014/05/bread-baking-day-68-althergebrachtes/ – hope to see you there!
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How interesting! Unfortunately we are away until the beginning of June, but if it is an annual event I will look for it next year… I love the themed ideas, and i think ‘Ancient’ is a fascinating idea! I shall enjoy looking at the results and having a go at some of the recipes!
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Enjoy your break! I posted my recipe, including some pictures of the cookbook – I hope you’ll enjoy it!
http://gingerandbread.com/2014/05/21/german-black-bread-schwarzbrot/
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Thank you, gosh it is wonderful! Great post too!
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