The Household Companion (Wordsworth Reference) (ISBN 1840224894)

One of the great joys of reading ...:
is finding off-beat connections between books. In the Preface to the 1905 edition of Kidnapped (Scholastic Classics), Mrs. Stevenson writes: "One day, while my husband was busily at work, I sat beside him reading an old cookery book called 'The Compleat Housewife: or Accomplish'd Gentlewoman's Companion.' In the midst of receipts for 'Rabbits, and Chickens mumbled, Pickled Samphire, Skirret Pye, Baked Tansy,' and other forgotten delicacies, there were directions for the preparation of several lotions for the preservation of beauty. One of these was so charming that I interrupted my husband to read it aloud. 'Just what I wanted!' he exclaimed; and the receipt for the 'Lily of the Valley Water' was instantly incorporated into Kidnapped." (The recipe for Lily of Valley Water is one of the four gifts that David Balfour receives in Chapter One, as he is leaving his home town and setting out on his own at age 17.) This volume is beautifully printed by Wordsworth Editions, and is a great fun to read and, perhaps, to make your own Lily of the Valley Water. Robert C. Ross 2008

Fascinating.:
This book is very interesting. It contains countless recipes, not only for cooking, but also for remedies. I mean all kinds of remedies, everything from common cold remedies, to remedies for consumption. Even a recipe for laudanum. It even tells you how to make your own paint. I found it absolutely fascinating.