White House Cookbook

by Fanny Lemira Gillette, Patti Bazel Geil

: Revised and Updated Centennial Edition

The most tasteful text to come out of the White House in the last 100 years, The White Cookbook arrives just in time for the 1996 presidential election. The original 19th-century American standard (first sold through the Sears Roebuck catalog), this edition has been modified for today's tastes and health and time constraints. 125+ recipes. Photos & illustrations.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, History, Food, Nonfiction, Ebooks, Historical

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1887

Reviews

[Willow · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was fascinating: a sort of glimpse into the past. I would be somewhat hesitant though to try some of recipes with it's wonky measurements. For instance what's the difference between a coffee cup and a teacup? The eggnog recipe was a hoot with enough booze in it to light a fire. :D

Edit: I just saw the measurement index in the back. One coffee cup is 8 oz. I still think the measurements and heating times are wonky. lol

[Karen Charbonneau · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful read, especially the recipe for squirrel soup. You must strain the soup before eating in order to avoid the "troublesome little bones." The desserts are wonderful. My husband even made a brandy soaked apple cake, attempting to follow the recipe. The measurements - a wine glass full - can be challenging. How big a wine glass? Red or white? The full adventure is on our blog, Letters from Shenanigan Valley. You can read this cookbook free by downloading it from Googlebooks.com

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Has a little bit of everything from soap making to place the flat ware

[Yvonne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book for researching food history and recipes.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

My copy is actually from 1903; based on the full title here, I'm assuming it's the same complete household management book. It includes priceless medical information--including the tip that wrapping one's chest in a muskrat skin is a guaranteed cure for asthma--along with a remarkable breadth of recipes, cleaning products, etiquette rules, home safety tips and historical tidbits about what life was like in and around the White House when it was first published.
The recipes are tough to use; this is before standard measurements or temperatures, so whether it's useful is somewhat dependent on your ability to handle a recipe that includes soupspoons for measuring utensils and directions like "cook in a hot oven until done."

[S Vanorse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Considering it was 1887 it’s quite impressive, the food that was made, the process, measurements, very old way of many things that are made today, puff pastry which I am assuming is pie crust but also a recipe for what we know as puff pastry but ingredients quite unusual, makes you want to try it. Oven temperature hot oven, quick oven, imagine trying to regulate oven temperature. Also has a section Health-Suggestions, “People swallow more colds down their throats than they inhale or receive from contact with the air, no matter how cold or chilly it may be”. Same section has treatments for illness many of which have the ingredient opium, interesting. I would love to go back and spend a few days in that kitchen, I’m sure I would learn a thing or two.

[Susan Tydings · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. As I pursued through the pages, familiar with the food and dishes as I am, I was amazed at the finished dishes provided with the limited ingredients available at the time. I so loved reading sections on the use of offal, the odds and ends and bits and pieces, taken from tail to snout. I frequently use the book for reference, and actually enjoyed this read as one of the top 10 books I read in the past year. Happy, happy, happy, I was referencing the pages for creative uses.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

My copy of this book was published in 1910. While most of the book is filled with recipes which might have been used in the White House kitchen over a century ago, there is also a short section in the back which discusses other things like treatments for common ailments and White House meal plans. It's an interesting book, though not exactly easy for a modern cooker to follow, since there were no oven temperatures during that time and often seasoning amounts are vague. But it was interesting to read moreso as a depiction of what wealthy would eat at the end of the Victorian era in America.

[Carrie Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the old world look at the culinary arts. A time when the kitchen was the heart of the house and the life blood of the family. Beyond classic recipes of the Americana, this book also contains lost health remedies, etiquette and menus for heads of state. It is a look into the past that reminds us not just of how far we have come, but of how young our nation is.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a little disappointed with this ...I was expecting recipes from various presidents and first ladies, but all recipes either came from the late 1800s or the 1990s (complete with egg substitute, margarine & liquid butter substitute). I would have preferred recipes that included background & history.

[Cheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Reference

I was super excited to come across this. It has a wealth of information in it. It covers fine dining, household recipes, cleaning recipes, carving !eats, seasonal meats, and much more. Although it's for 1887, I feel that some of this can apply today.

[Pyper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent Forgotten Wisdom, Skills, & Recipes

This book is packed with useful information and recipes. Much of this has been lost to time or discarded by modernity. However, most of the wisdom is still practical and helpful.

[Andee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a fantastic look through history, of who ate what, and the sorts of events occurring when it all happened.

[Doris Raines · Rating 3 out of 5]

I MUST HAVE THIS WHITE HOUSE COOK BOOK.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful way to learn about history through cooking yummy recipes!

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recipe for a Felon! Use your imagination, but yes it is written in a cookbook.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

i enjoy old cookbooks, especially the ones with household hints. Clean things with kerosene, what could go wrong ?

[Cyndi Beane-Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

As most readers of my reviews know, I am an avid cookbook collector. Therefore, when I received some money for a Christmas gift this past Christmas, I ordered this beautiful book.

Hardback, it covers 46 different areas of cooking and etiquette for the time period. Beautifully written, one must be aware before purchasing that this is written just as it was in 1887.



So what does that mean for the modern cook? Well, it means, no temperatures are given (other than a "hot" oven, a"medium" oven, etc.) Measurements may be something as simple as a "a pinch", or a "dollop". So if you are planning on cooking any of the recipes and don't understand the measurements, you may wish to purchase a guide for conversions. Amazon.com has several when you perform a search, some as low as $3.99. Or you can get a free one here. (Simply copy, paste and print it off.) You can also google for conversions if you like (I [prefer this method.)

There are no photographs of meals, but there are of the White House dining rooms, and the First Ladies whose recipes are included.
The book has gold impressed print on the front, and the paper edges are gold leafed. This makes a beautiful collectors piece. Or a gift for the cook you love!

I rate this wonderful old book with...Five Stars...and a big...Thumbs Up!
I also give it my... Highly Recommended Award!


DISCLAIMER: This book was a private purchase and as such was under no obligation for review. The opinions listed above are solely those of the blog's author.

[Scherry at The Novel Lady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before I start with my review, let me assure you... THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL REVIEW! This is not even a political cookbook. It is a historic cookbook.

I know! I know! This is not the type of book you usually see being reviewed on my blog, but there is a reason I had an interest in this.

My mother had one of the original hard cover copies of this book, which is currently worth a good penny. That book, originally owned by my grandmother and handed down to my mother, is now in the hands of my sister. And although I am sure she would have loaned the book to me for my research on a book I am currently writing, I didn't want to take a chance on damaging it. So, when I saw that an e-book version has been created for only a few bucks, I grabbed it!

Please do not buy this book for the recipes... unless there is something seriously wrong with you or you are anxious to learn how to tell the difference between a young pigeon and an old pigeon that you plan to purchase for tonight's dinner. WHO COOKS PIGEONS? Want to know how to cook a calf's head? It's all right there on page 133.

But if you want to read this cookbook for its historical significance, then dig right in! I loved this! And I am so much more knowledgeable now that I have read it. I now know that tobacco smoke, puffed into the ear, has often been effectual in curing an earache. Huh?

And did you know "that the flavor of cod-liver may be changed to the delightful one of fresh oyster, if the patient will drink a large glass of water poured from a vessel in which nails have been allowed to rust." ACCKKK!! Did people actually do that in 1887?

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm biased when it comes to this book. My mother has this book that has been passed down from her mother's grandmother. You can read the book on project gutenberg
( http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13923 ). It has recipes and the basics for keeping the perfect 1887 household, including how to dye silks, kill moths in armchairs, cure freckles, and host a formal dinner party for the aristocracy.

Here's the best ginger cake in the universe,dense and moist and wonderful. If you doubt the cookbook try this and you'll be a believer.

SOFT GINGER CAKE.

Stir to a cream one cupful of butter and half a cupful of brown sugar; add to this two cupfuls of cooking molasses, a cupful of sweet milk, a tablespoonful of ginger, a teaspoonful of ground cinnamon; beat all thoroughly together, then add three eggs, the whites and yolks beaten separately; beat into this two cups of sifted flour, then a teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a spoonful of water and last, two more cupfuls of sifted flour. Butter and paper two common square bread-pans, divide the mixture and pour half into each. Bake in a moderate oven [note, this is 350 in an electric oven]. This cake requires long and slow baking, from forty to sixty minutes. I find that if sour milk is used the cakes are much lighter, but either sweet or sour is most excellent.

[use the sour milk, it really is better. Add a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to the milk and stir until it thickens and curdles - looks gross, bakes up wonderfully]

[Sarah Brazytis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fabulous, and exactly what I needed! I had seen the content through gutenberg.org, but soon after beginning my book The House on Harmony Street, I realized that I needed this book in my hands. I found and purchased it for a very reasonable price on Ebay, and the love affair began.

This is a treasure-chest of information. From menus and household tips, to recipes and methods of cooking and preserving food, it gives you a wonderful peek into the late 19th century kitchen. I was able to have my characters preparing, eating, and enjoying real, genuine, 19th century dishes - and I'm definitely going to try some of these recipes myself! How could Chicken Pudding, Apple Dumplings (wrapped in biscuit dough, in 1887, not pastry), and Cocoanut Jumbles NOT be good, even in 2021? As soon as the weather cools here in Ohio, I plan to take out this cookbook again and get baking.

The White House Cook Book was worth every penny, both as a guide to the Victorian house, and as a valuable cookbook. I'm so glad I bought it! And don't forget - if the physical book isn't in the budget, take a look at gutenberg.org!

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love reading old cookbooks. It's interesting to read how food was prepared long ago.

Sample recipe from this book:

"PUFF BALL DOUGHNUTS.

These doughnuts, eaten fresh and warm, are a delicious breakfast dish and are quickly made. Three eggs, one cupful of sugar, a pint of sweet milk, salt, nutmeg and flour enough to permit the spoon to stand upright in the mixture; add two heaping teaspoonfuls of baking powder to the flour; beat all until very light. Drop by the dessert spoonful into boiling lard. These will not absorb a bit of fat and are not at all rich and consequently are the least injurious of this kind of cakes."

Sample note from this book:

"Great care is requisite in heating an oven for baking pastry. If you can hold your hand in the heated oven while you count twenty, the oven has just the proper temperature and it should be kept at this temperature as long as the pastry is in; this heat will bake to a light brown and will give the pastry a fresh and flaky appearance. If you suffer the heat to abate, the under crust will become heavy and clammy and the upper crust will fall in."

[Kris Larson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the chapters on manners in this. And it is quite entertaining to watch the modern White House desperately attempt to distance themselves from the artery-clogging tastiness of 1894 recipes by including new, low-fat versions. "Without a heavy sauce of eggs and cream, the natural goodness of asparagus shines through." Like a modern-day reader will be unable to differentiate Grover Cleveland's asparagus preferences from the Clinton administration's policy on obesity?

But anyway, the old stuff is delightful, and I have to admit that I appreciate the modern versions because I need solid measurements when I cook.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recipes from another age.

Because it's fun to find recipes where the ingredients are tossing into a cauldron. Also, before reading this book, it never occurred to me that people used to make homemade ketchup and mustard.

[Edmund Davis-Quinn]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11023360

Looks like a very wacky and interesting time capsule of a book.

[Adrienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an interesting book! We have lost some of our manners, like no elbows on the table. Some of the recipes sound wonderful, and the old pictures are interesting as well. I would not want to be sick, though, during that time. Some of the cures seem worse than the illness!

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review: https://hiplibrariansbookblog.com/201...

[Cherie]

I have a copy published in 1910

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

The American presidents have had various tastes in food and there has been a succession of cooks/chefs at the Whitehouse. This is a collection of recipes for food that has been served there.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything the 1887 housewife needs to know!