I have just acquired a reprint of the 1896 first edition of the Boston Cooking School Cook Book by Fannie Merritt Farmer. What an eye opener. I have heard for many years this was a revolution in its day and now I see why. It looks like any modern cook book published today.

Some of the really old cook books I have can be difficult to use. The recipes were written in paragraph form with no list of ingredients. They also used no consistent methods of measuring so you have no clear idea of the amounts intended for many of the ingredients. The older cook books are even worse. Often there would be no organization. You might find recipes for cakes, sausages and potatoes all on the same page. And looking for the index to locate the recipe you need, would be an exercise in futility.

But thanks to Ms. Farmer we have a standardized set of measuring spoons and measuring cups. We also have an easily recognizable format for our recipes. We owe this pioneering woman a debt of gratitude for the changes she made to the way our cooking is done today.

Here are some examples of the kind of recipe that could give today's cook a challenge.

These are from a book titled: Home Cookery: A Collection of Tried Receipts, Both Foreign and Domestic by Mrs. J. Chadwick. On page 16 under the category of 'Common Cakes' she has listed these three 'receipts':

One of the most popular cook books at the time of the Revolutionary War was by a lady named Hannah Glasse. Her recipe for waffles was pretty blunt and to the point.

Here is what I used:

Mix the sugar into the softened butter and stir in the cinnamon. Add the orange extract and the water mixing to blend well. Blend in the flour and cook on a hot, well greased waffle iron.

These were in my opinion more like cookies so I baked some of the batter in the oven to see what would happen. I recommend the waffle iron. The flavor was excellent if eaten without any adornment. Just don't expect them to be like any waffles you know.