First; a little background into history.....
The World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition, celebrating the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's landing in America, was actually held in 1893, a year later than had been planned. New York City, Washington, D.C., St.Louis, and Chicago had all vied for the honor of housing the exposition, and it was during this vigorous and often vocal competition that Charles A. Dana, editor of the New York Sun, dubbed Chicago "that windy city." Chicago's lobbyists finally won out and, on April 25, 1890, President Benjamin Harrison signed the act that designated Chicago as the site of the exposition. It took three frantic years of preparation and work to produce the exposition. Although dedication ceremonies were held on October 21, 1892, the fairgrounds were not opened to the public until May 1, 1893. The exposition closed on October 30, 1893.
This cookbook was compiled and released by the Lady Manager's of the World's Columbian Exposition (the World Fair) to raise funds to help pay expenses for those not able to attend. The cookbook is; FAVORITE DISHES A COLUMBIAN AUTOGRAPH SOUVENIR COOKERY BOOK. OVER THREE HUNDRED AUTOGRAPH RECIPES, AND TWENTY-THREE PORTRAITS, CONTRIBUTED SPECIALLY BY THE BOARD OF LADY MANAGERS OF THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION COMPILED BY CARRIE V. SHUMAN, CHICAGO, 1893
Favorite Dishes is due to the fact that the noble women who have labored for the best interests of mankind and womankind, in the development of the Women's Department of the World's Columbian Exposition, found time to contribute this collection of recipes, as a means of enabling the compiler to open an additional avenue for women to provide the necessary funds to pay the expenses of a visit to the Exposition.
The compiler is most happy to congratulate the Lady Managers and Lady Alternates of every State and Territory of the United States, including Alaska, upon the fact that their prompt responses to the statement of the object of this publication bring them together in this place as the exponents of the Art of Cookery, at this stage of its best development in this country, and as cheerful assistants of women who need the encouragement and blessings of their more fortunate sisters. It is to be regretted that all of the letters of commendation cannot be published, but as they would alone constitute a fair sized volume, only a few have been inserted.
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I intend to make and bake various recipes from it over the next 1 1/2 weeks as there are a few ingredients I will have to pick up this weekend before I can. The recipes are just how I love them; No fluff. No coddling. Just straight forward 'common sense' writing. There are tea-cups and coffee-cups for measurement as well as the literal tablespoon, tea-spoon and saltspoons as well. Butter the size of an egg, a 'gill' of liquid and a pound of this and that.
Here are just a few recipes to show a sample;
CHAPERONE PUDDING. From MRS. ANNIE L. Y. ORFF, of Missouri, Alternate Lady Manager. One pint nice, fine bread crumbs to one quart of milk; one cup sugar; yolks of four eggs beaten light; grated rind of one lemon; butter size of an egg; bake until done, but not watery. Whip the whites of four eggs beaten stiff; beat in a teacup of sugar; then add the juice of one lemon; pour over pudding; eat cold.
ALMOND CREAM CAKE. From MRS. FLORA BEALL GINTY, of Wisconsin, Seventh Vice-President Board of Lady Managers. Two cupfuls of pulverized sugar; one-quarter cupful of butter; one cupful of sweet milk; three cupfuls of flour; two and a half teaspoonfuls of baking powder; whites of four eggs, beaten very light; one-half teaspoonful of vanilla. Bake in four layers. Whip one cupful of sweet cream to a froth, stirring gradually into it half a cupful of pulverized sugar, a few drops of vanilla, one pound of almonds, blanched and chopped fine. Spread thick between layers; frost top and sides.
GUMBO FILÉ From MRS. ANNA M. FOSDICK, of Alabama, Lady Manager. Cut up a chicken; sprinkle with flour, and fry in the vessel in which the gumbo is to be made. When the chicken is nearly done, chop an onion and fry with it. Pour on this three quarts of boiling water, and let all boil slowly till the flesh leaves the bones of the chicken. Then add the liquor from the oysters, two tablespoonfuls of tomato catchup, and salt and pepper to taste. Let this boil a short time; then add one hundred oysters. Do not allow them to boil more than two minutes. Remove the vessel from the fire, and before pouring into the tureen, sprinkle in two tablespoonfuls of filé. Serve always with rice. To Prepare Filé for Gumbo.—Gather sassafras leaves, as late as possible in the season, before they turn red. Dry them in the shade and open air. When perfectly dry, pound thorn, sift the powder and bottle it Keep tightly corked.
SALLY LUNN. From MRS. MARGARET M. RATCLIFFE, of Arkansas, Alternate Lady Manager. One pint of milk; three eggs, well beaten; salt; one large spoon of butter; half a teacup of yeast, and as much flour as will make a thick batter. Pour into a cake pan and place in a warm spot to rise. Bake in moderate oven. When done, cut with sharp knife crosswise twice, pouring over each part drawn butter. Replacing the parts, cut then like cake, serving at once
This book from 1893 can be downloaded for FREE on your Kindle or using a Kindle app on your android or tablets! (That is the version I have):
But if you prefer a hard copy, that is available too as a special published offering:
This book was originally published prior to 1923, and represents a reproduction of an important historical work, maintaining the same format as the original work. While some publishers have opted to apply OCR (optical character recognition) technology to the process, we believe this leads to sub-optimal results (frequent typographical errors, strange characters and confusing formatting) and does not adequately preserve the historical character of the original artifact. We believe this work is culturally important in its original archival form. While we strive to adequately clean and digitally enhance the original work, there are occasionally instances where imperfections such as blurred or missing pages, poor pictures or errant marks may have been introduced due to either the quality of the original work or the scanning process itself. Despite these occasional imperfections, we have brought it back into print as part of our ongoing global book preservation commitment, providing customers with access to the best possible historical reprints.
