Friday, July 23, 2010

So it's "Mad Men" weekend?


This is a photograph of my grandmother, Marion Brown, promoting her second book, with a little help from James Beard, in New York, around 1955. The book is"Pickles and Preserves" of old pickling recipes (greengage preserves? mushroom catsup?); it was reissued a few years ago and is still available. Her better known cookbook, "Marion Brown's Southern Cooking" was a mainstay of mid-century Southern kitchens and has stayed continously in print. My grandmother died in 1995 at the age of 92, after they took away her vodka and cigarettes.

The book is not for beginners, but anyone who knows the Ball "Blue Book" probably knows what to do.

H/T to one of the best food blogs, "Gherkins and Tomatoes"!
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3 comments:

  1. Fantastic picture, Marion! Really priceless. I love it. And thanks for the plug for Gherkins & Tomatoes, too!

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  2. I have your grandmother's cookbook. It sits in my bookcase right next to Joy of Cooking.
    'Nuf said.

    She was a lovely lady.
    Too bad they took away her booze and smokes.

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  3. Hey Rosie, my brother maintains there is considerable evidence that R. and Mama Hawthorne were kin - especially in the 1700's. Forewarned, forearmed.

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