Grandma’s Cookbook. A Collection of Tried Recipes
Rare Books and Manuscripts Library
TX715 .L77 1900

"Go forth, oh book, with wishes sped
To home where cooking is a dread
Bid them turn your pages and find
Help and blessing for womankind."  

Grandma’s Cookbook. A Collection of Tried Recipes by Mrs. Ella Bentley Lloyd is a 200-page cookbook published and signed February 1900 in Portsmouth, Ohio. Dedicated to her children, the recipes range from soups to waffles, and pastries to poultry. In addition, loose pages of hand-written recipes, recipe cards, and recipes from magazine and pamphlet clippings are folded into the front and back of the book and interspersed throughout. The book is very worn from age and use, nearly falling apart, and throughout there are various stains and splotches. The book is literally overflowing with its experience and falling apart from loyal use. 

Preparing food is still often seen as a feminine task today. It is a communal activity for women to prepare food for those they love together. While familial and traditional knowledge may seem less relevant now with the wealth of information available online, a quick Internet search cannot replace the knowledge collected over years of experience and the sentimental value of a family cookbook.