Mary Randolph (1) (1762–1828)

Fascinating cookbook that required me to use a dictionary to understand some of the archaic terms; I loved reading it. I also determined that I would not have been able to cook during those times. WOW! The amount of work just to prepare anything to be used for cooking! I grew up helping my parents tend their garden, from watering to gathering the produce and then either canning or freezing the particular item. This was especially true during the summer months. We also raised chickens and turkeys for several years, so we had those chores to perform: watering and feeding the fowls, gathering eggs, changing the straw in the nests, preparing the individual fowl for freezing - especially after my parents bought a huge freezer. Also, I was intrigued by the amount of wine and liquor used in many of the recipes.… (meer)

This was an intriguing and amusing book. The recipes! Crazy! Everything seem to take a pound of sugar or salt, or brandy, and it all takes hours and hours to cook. It's amazing how many different dishes they made with the same ingredients. If you wanted to try to recreate them, you could, but the amounts are a bit off and there is no mention of how many each dish feeds - so you might end up with enough stew for a whole plantation! Some of the cakes and roasts look tasty and I might try my hand at making a version more suited to our era. Worth reading!… (meer)