nians who worshipped here, often at the risk of
life. Brave, God-fearing men they w^ere, who
found time amidst their grievous work of break-
ing virgin forest and protecting their homes from
the lurking savage, to build a church in the wil-
derness; and loving, capable, home-making
w^omen, not too worn with their brewing, butch-
ering, cooking, spinning and scrubbing to rear
their children in the Christian faith according to
the stern tenets of John Calvin.
Lest we forget those by-gone men and women
whose faith and works have made us what we
are, we speed this little book on its way, that our
children and our children's children may take
pride in old Paxton, and find in its history in-
spiration to cling to the old beliefs for which our
fathers died — harder yet, lived, through long
years of stress.
Besides our reverence for the church of our
fathers we have a heritage of mothers who were
famous cooks. In considering the form of this
memorial came the thought, "Let us link with
the historic lore of old Paxton Church the rules
and recipes that have made an invitation to our
church picnics and receptions coveted by the
countryside.
We do not claim that there is any crying need
for a new recipe book : we do claim that a book
which has collected the noted recipes of the
Kutherfords and Elders, famed through many
generations for delicious cooking, it will be a
rare privilege to own. They are born cooks,
these women of Paxton; and the born cook is
6
as loath to pass on her recipes as is the doting
father to give up an only daughter to her lover.
Not that this born cook of ours, like the colored
mammies, fears to be "overlooked" if she ex-
plains how her delicacies are prepared ; she only
dreads the fate of her pet dishes in less skillful
hands. But what loyal member of old Paxton
would not make sacrifices for her church ! Here
we have published for the first time many long-
coveted culinary secrets, not alone of these fami-
lies of gifted cooks, but of all the good cooks and
housewives in our Woman's Aid.
And we promise these rules are reliable. We
are not as the old family servant who, asked by
a friend of her mistress to give her recipe for a
lemon ice cream, added to it "one large table-
spoonful of salt put in when half frozen." When
upbraided by her mortified mistress for treach-
ery, she said, "La, Honey, it wa'ant neighborly
not to guv it, but I wa'ant gwine to have that no-
count cook of hers, messin' up my best ice cream,
an' bragging' ^Dis am Dinah Jones' rule.' "
Every recipe in this book is a long tested one,
and as economical as it is practical. We send
them forth hoping they will help to make cooks
and housewives in a day when, no longer, every
girl child learns to "keep house" almost from her
mother's knee.
But the best of cooks must occasionally con-
sider the rest of her household ways. Not all of
us are as gifted as the lordly woman who de-
clared, "I never have any trouble keeping house.
With system everything runs itself." Most of us
7
know what it is to have "everything" run amuck.
For these times when our "best laid plans gang
agley'' we have added a section for family emer-
gencies.
Page 1
Presented as published in 1913. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
nians who worshipped here, often at the risk of life. Brave, God-fearing men they were, who found time amidst their grievous work of breaking virgin forest and protecting their homes from the lurking savage, to build a church in the wilderness; and loving, capable, home-making women, not too worn with their brewing, butchering, cooking, spinning and scrubbing to rear their children in the Christian faith according to the stern tenets of John Calvin.
Lest we forget those by-gone men and women whose faith and works have made us what we are, we speed this little book on its way, that our children and our children's children may take pride in old Paxton, and find in its history inspiration to cling to the old beliefs for which our fathers died — harder yet, lived, through long years of stress.
Besides our reverence for the church of our fathers we have a heritage of mothers who were famous cooks. In considering the form of this memorial came the thought, "Let us link with the historic lore of old Paxton Church the rules and recipes that have made an invitation to our church picnics and receptions coveted by the countryside.
We do not claim that there is any crying need for a new recipe book : we do claim that a book which has collected the noted recipes of the Rutherfords and Elders, famed through many generations for delicious cooking, it will be a rare privilege to own. They are born cooks, these women of Paxton; and the born cook is
as loath to pass on her recipes as is the doting father to give up an only daughter to her lover. Not that this born cook of ours, like the colored mammies, fears to be "overlooked" if she explains how her delicacies are prepared ; she only dreads the fate of her pet dishes in less skillful hands. But what loyal member of old Paxton would not make sacrifices for her church ! Here we have published for the first time many longcoveted culinary secrets, not alone of these families of gifted cooks, but of all the good cooks and housewives in our Woman's Aid.
And we promise these rules are reliable. We are not as the old family servant who, asked by a friend of her mistress to give her recipe for a lemon ice cream, added to it "one large tablespoonful of salt put in when half frozen." When upbraided by her mortified mistress for treachery, she said, "La, Honey, it wa'ant neighborly not to guv it, but I wa'ant gwine to have that nocount cook of hers, messin' up my best ice cream, an' bragging 'Dis am Dinah Jones' rule.'"
Every recipe in this book is a long tested one, and as economical as it is practical. We send them forth hoping they will help to make cooks and housewives in a day when, no longer, every girl child learns to "keep house" almost from her mother's knee.
But the best of cooks must occasionally consider the rest of her household ways. Not all of us are as gifted as the lordly woman who declared, "I never have any trouble keeping house. With system everything runs itself." Most of us
know what it is to have "everything" run amuck. For these times when our "best laid plans gang agley'' we have added a section for family emergencies.