OP: Catering for Special Occasions with Menus and Recipes
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David McKay, Publisher, Philadelphia, 1911. Hardcover. Very Good.
Fannie Farmer (1857–1915) was a major figure in the history of cooking and recipe standardization in the US. She ran, and then owned, the highly influential Boston Cooking School and was sought for speaking engagements and demonstrations around the country. Her Boston Cooking-School Cook Book (1896; later called The Fannie Farmer Cookbook) was one of the most widely used cookbooks of the early 20th century and remained in print for over 100 years.
Though her other works are easily lost in the shadow of the first’s success, they are equally practical and, in many ways, offer more insight into food history of the late-19th and early-20th centuries. There were, among several others: Chafing-Dish Possibilities (1898), Food and Cookery for the Sick and Convalescent (1904), and this 1911 manual, Catering for Special Occasions with Menus and Recipes.
The word “catering” in the title might be better understood as “entertaining.” Farmer lays out menus and recipes for all sorts of festive gatherings–-New Year’s teas; Washington’s birthday spreads; Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas dinners; children’s parties; and St. Patrick’s Day lunches—leaving few excuses to be unprepared when guests come a-callin’.
While yields are not given, we would judge from the ingredient quantities that the menus are designed to serve in the 6–8 range, certainly not more. Flexibility in scaling up or down will be up to you.
Our copy, while lacking the jacket, is handsomely bound in green cloth with a color pictorial label. Black and white cherub illustrations throughout by Albert D. Blashfield, a popular artist whose work appeared on the cover of early issues of Vogue and other magazines, plus black and white tablescape photograph inserts. Largely clean with the very occasional blemish. Minor shelfwear.
