About

Some time in the 1800's a set of cookbooks began! A collection of household tips and recipes that were put to paper and bound into two big leather books. 

They started in Ireland and date back to the 1890's. Full of forgotten breakfasts, old fashioned lunches, delicious dinners, tea time treats, questionable cures for common ailments and old fashioned cleaning tips. 

As a set of family cookbooks they've been passed down through the years but used less and less. So curious as ever, I decided to dust the books down and start cooking! 

These books take you on a culinary adventure! So, prepare to go back to the bustling Victorian scullery, taste the kitchen of World War I and drink the cocktails of the roaring twenties. Take a sneak peak of the rations of the 40's and continue right up to the present day. 


FAQs

Where are the books from?

They started in Ireland and since then they have been passed through my family.  My great great grandmother was Irish. She married an English man and the books traveled with her to England.

Who started the books?

I'm guessing they must have originally belonged to the household cook. There's lots of different recipes from entertaining guests to staff meals. As times changed, the books seemed to have evolved into a personal collection. They are stuffed full of newspaper cuttings (which are great to read) and recipes my grandmothers' must have scribbled down.

Are you still carrying them on?

Yes, very much so. My mother has a third book, a beautiful old scrap book that was her grandmother's. Her mother kept adding to it. Now my mother adds her very best recipes into it, so it is jammed pack with delicious food.

What's with the rest of the blog?

A lot of the recipes in these two books are actually pretty unpalatable, so if I were to blog only through the books I'd be giving you a reading list of a very mixed bag of food. Plus, I'd be done before you know it. So it makes sense to mix it up. 

Contact

You can drop me an email on vintagecooksbooksandstories@gmail.com. 

Or you can find me on twitter at @LorsieM