Pennsylvania Dutch cook book of fine old recipes, published in 1936 in Reading, Pennsylvania by The Culinary Arts Press, is a cookbook showcasing the cooking of the Pennsylvania Dutch homemaker. All of the expected recipes are there: from Schnitz un Knepp to chicken pot pie (the real recipe with noodles as well as the pie) to dandelion salad to shoo fly pie. My mother used many of the recipes and there are notations with the changes she made in recipes. And what a taste treat. My favorite was mojhy apples (a caramel coating over a whole apple). Be aware, however, that some recipes call for using uncooked eggs, which has been declared unsafe. (I'm sad that I can't make the delicious egg nog recipes I remember from long ago.) There is an index but it isn't really needed as the book groups like recipes together.

The book opens with the Pennsylvania Dutch poetry of William J. Meyer. Throughout the book, there are sayings and words in Pennsylfanishe Deitsch, English and High German. The accompanying illustrations are charming.

There is a reprint of an article on Berks County's Shartlesville Hotel first published in Esquire Magazine by F. Gregory Hartswick, "Meals served country style." If you've never experienced a real Pennsylvania Dutch smorgasbord, you need to read this article. The hotel has closed but there are still a few restaurants like this in Lancaster County.

If you like to eat well and want to cook delicious meals, this cookbook's for you. ( )

"Fine old recipes made famous by the early Dutch settlers in Pennsylvania." Approximately 220 recipes for soups, breads, meat dishes, desserts, beverages and more. ( )