A Tale of Two Fannies

My hubby gave me a Barnes and Noble gift card for Valentine's Day this year. I knew that I wanted to get a cookbook with it, but was tossed up on which one. I wasn't sure if I wanted one for a specific type of food, like the ice cream book I had been eyeing, or if I wanted a go-to book that would cover a wide range of foods. I finally decided on the Fannie Farmer Cookbook, because it has been my dad's kitchen bible for years and years. The photo above shows my shiny new book alongside his with a copyright from the sixties that he got shortly after he and my mom married in 1970. It has tape holding the spine together and is in danger of falling apart at any moment. I think this is the sign of a good cookbook. The books have changed over the years, the newer ones containing recipes for microwave cooking and eliminating recipes for dressing game, but many of the recipes are still the same. I recently made corn bread and the only difference in the recipes from the two books is that the older one called for 1/4 teaspoon more salt than the newer one. So if you're in the market for a new all-around cookbook that has stood the test of time for more than 100 years, consider Fannie Farmer.