Very old cookery book

[Topaz]

While at a boot sale i spotted the Isle of Wight cookery book which was compiled by the women's institute and first publication date of 1934

Some great recipes in there and also a few things to make you giggle like
Hair restorer ..... 1oz of castor oil, oil of almonds, lime water, 2 drops attar of roses and 2 drams of tincture of spanish fly, mix well together and rub into area


lol mde me giggle as hubby doesn't have a hair on his head but he won't let me try it out.

It also has an interesting idea for pastry and that is if you melt the butter or lard and beat it to a cream before adding to the flour only half the required amount will be needed. Sounds great to me in this day and age of trying to save a little here and there.

If anyone wants ideas for making their own furniture polishor other things let me know and i'll pass on the recipe

[Snadger]

I agree, some of these old WI books make facinating reading. The Womens Institute were very 'involved', especially in rural areas.

I have an ongoing project for researching a now defunct village where my Dad was born.
The main records that have survived over the years are the minutes of a thriving village WI spanning about 30 years at least!

[Jardiniere]

I love books like that.
I have some 1930's books including a vegetarian recipe one with absolutely disgustingly plain recipes - also a wonderful Good Housekeeping book from 1944 - priceless.....

[Flummery]

I've got my grandad's vegetarian recipe book from during the war. I think he lived on flavoured flour!

[number 1 suspect]

Flumery you gots to post a couple of em:-) Would love to know what he done with his food

[Flummery]

Good idea. I'll have to search for the book though. This house is like a library!

[grannysmith]

I admit to having found some of the best recipes out of an old WI cookbook when I first moved to the UK.

On another note, if anyone likes reading this kind of thing, "Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management" is fascinating, both for its advice and also for its historical perspective. My father-in-law got it for me when I first got married because he knew I quite liked that sort of thing, and every time I pick it up, I find myself immersed in it and unable to put it down.

I know, I know . . I need to get out more.

[Flummery]

I've got a 1970 copy of Mrs Beeton - now you know when I got married! I find the bits on laying up the car for winter and hiring household staff a real scream!

[SarzWix]

I've got 2 books (Vol 1&2) called Farmhouse Cooking, by Mary Norwak & Babs Honey, which has extracts from recipe books and personal notebooks going back to the 1800s. Some of it is hilarious, some utterly gruesome, but a lot of it is really useful - there's household tips, drinks, preserves, sauces, beauty treatments, etc.,etc. And the Cornish Pasty recipes are spot on! (My OH says they taste like his Grandma's, a 'proper' Cornish lady)
If you come across any books by Mary Norwak, grab them - she's done loads on preserving, baking & freezing, also a couple of kitchen gardening/cooking books, way before Delia & Gay Search came on the scene