The Vintage Cookbooks

I don't know much about these two books, but, what I do know I promise to tell you.

They have been sitting in my mother's kitchen for a few years now, and before that were tucked away in my grandmother's beautiful red tiled kitchen. Both of these two kitchens were (and still are in my mother's case) the centre of home. But, for a while these old books lived a quiet life on the shelf. As is often the case for recipe books, old ones get shunned for new publications and over time popular recipes slip into the background in favour of new ones.

My grandmother would have inherited these cookbooks from Mary, her grandmother in-law (my great great grandmother) and her own mother, Catherine.

Mary's has been typed up into a leather bound book. She had her initial's (M.M.G - Mary Middleton Guinness) and those of the house where she initially lived in in Ireland (B.H) stamped onto the front.

Mary's is based on an original written book (a few pages of which have been slotted into the front cover) and chances are she did not cook all of these recipes (I suspect the household cook did). Needless to say it's a treasure trove, packed full of newspaper clippings dating right back to the early 1900s. From cooking cows head, tongue and cheek, creating wartime sandwich spreads and rustling up the odd suet pudding, this book is a throw back to the past. Oh, and I forget, Mary even includes household tips! From cleaning brass to getting rid of moths, it's all in there (and yes, I promise to share these with you).

Catherine's cook book is handwritten and has been updated by my grandmother. From decadent chocolate mousse to how to cook a wedding cake, this collection is full of classics.

My aim, is to slowly work through the books and take you back to the old kitchens of the early 1900's right up until the cookbooks stop. There will be highs, there will be lows, there will be delicious recipes and, there will be some that question the modern palette. Nonetheless, I hope you get as much out of them as I do and I can't wait to share the journey!