The introductory texts reproduced here were written by the original Feeding America team to contextualize the books that were selected for inclusion as part of the 2001 digitization project.
The Blue Grass Cook Book, Comp. By Minnie C. Fox, With An Introduction By John Fox, Jr.; Illustrated With Photographs, By A. L. Coburn.
New York, Fox, Duffield & Company, 1904.
Here we have an authentic Kentucky cookbook. It went through at least four additional printings (sometimes, revised) after this first printing in 1904.
It is suffused with the essence of Kentucky cooking. There are recipes named Kentucky for Batter Bread, Corn Dodgers, Burgout, Cake, and Chow-Chow. There are recipes named Blue Grass for Roast Quail, Corn Pudding, Pudding, Plum Cake, White Cake, Tomato Pickle, and Pastry. Among the typical Kentucky Beverages can be found: Bourbon Whisky Punch, Blue Grass Apple Toddy, Old-Fashioned Kentucky Toddy, Kentucky Catawba Punch, and Kentucky Champagne Punch. Many recipes are attributed to Marcellus, one of the 10 African-Americans whose photographs grace these pages. These recipes include Marcellus's: Corn Muffins, Nos. 1-2, Cornmeal Batter Cakes, Wheat Muffins, Omelet, Potato Soup, Nos. 1-2, Chocolate Ice Cream, and Peach Ice Cream.
The Blue Grass Hams section includes Baked Ham ("Never bake a ham under a year old"); Col. Wm. Rhodes Estill's Recipe for Curing Ham ("Kill your hogs when the wind is from the northwest"); Ham Cooked in Wine ("Scrub well and soak an old ham in plenty of water for 48 hours"); Kentucky Baked Ham ("Take a good magnolia ham 1 or 2 years old and let it soak 36 hours"); and Sugar-Cured Hams (Let the hams lie in dry salt for 4 weeks after the killing").
This book has many other Southern recipes in addition to its specific Kentucky flavor. We have not listed this book under charity cookbooks because no specific reference to a charitable cause is indicated.
However, the fact that many of the recipes were contributed and signed by local ladies might seem to indicate that this was published for charitable causes. There are instances of other books, now identified as charities, which also did not specify such within their pages.
