*crispy waffle*

Well, hi there, ladies and germs, it's great to be here, I just flew in from the coast and boy are my arms tired. HA! HA!

Seriously though... I had all kinda plans for my first post here, but they've been trumped by a link I just saw, for Michigan State University's new Historic American Cookbook Project.

From the site:

The Michigan State University Library and the MSU Museum have partnered to create an online collection of some of the most influential and important American cookbooks from the late 18th to early 20th century. The goal of this project is to make these materials available to a wider audience.

Digital images of the pages of each cookbook are available as well as full-text transcriptions and the ability to search within the books, across the collection, in order to find specific information.

Browsing the collection brings up wonderful things: A Chinese-Japanese cookbook from 1913, with liberal use of "syou" sauce (sure, Kikkoman was already 200 years old then, but could you get it in the US?) or a wonderful specimen called The Frugal Housewife, Dedicated to Those Who Are Not Ashamed of Economy (with recommendations for treating sore throats by slathering them in bear grease and so forth).

It's a beautiful thing. I've already burnt several hours paging through the facsimiles.

posted by david adam edelstein | 2:11 PM |