Fannie Farmer's Book of Good Dinners.

After much meditation and experience, I have divined that it takes as much sense and refinement and talent to cook dinner, wash and wipe a dish, make a bed and dust a room, as goes to the writing of a novel, or shining in high society. - Rose Terry Cooke

A long browse in a secondhand shop in the nearby town of Martigny (in not-so-flatland), I happened upon a little gem of a book that will inspire me to create "Good Dinners" for Roy to come home to after a long day at work. The edition that I bought was published in 1972 but the first edition was published in 1905 making it over 100 years old - before food was packed with preservatives, highly processed and packaged in more plastic than the world can handle.

The book is set out in multiple course menus, most with rather strange, old fashioned recipes that I wouldn't eat but hey, there's nothing wrong with a bit of adaptation right? It's what every housewife learns to do best! At the top of each menu there is a quote to inspire a housewife to whip up a storm and to feel good about what she does.

No man can be wise on an empty stomach - George Eliot

Okay so Boiled calves tongues don't sound very appetizing now, but I'm sure it went down a treat back in the early 1900's when the men came home from work all tired, dirty and hungry.

I have a feeling that a few of these menus will be tested out at our next "Housewife conference".