A Note from the Author

The recipes I included here exemplify both the differences and the similarities between baking a century ago and today. The older recipes tend to be a bit light on the instructions, some of them requiring much guesswork about time spent stirring or folding, or even baking. Ingredients are not always listed in the order used, if they are listed at all. Oven temperatures are described as “moderate,” “quick,” “hot,” and “very hot.” Much is left to the housewife’s intrinsic baking acumen and/or imagination.