Susan Evind of Santa Rosa inherited a slim cookbook from her grandmother that was compiled by an unknown homemaker, Sarah Williamson, and published in 1917 in San Francisco.
“A California Cook Book” includes recipes Williamson personally obtained from prominent citizens of the day, including botanist Luther Burbank (at left) and author/activist Jack London, financier Henry J. Crocker and the entrepreneurial Steinhart family.
This summer, Evind republished the cookbook as a culinary curiosity and a historical window into the customs and personalities of the time.
“Several recipes translate to today’s cooking,” Evind writes. “Most do not, due to sparse instructions.”
From London, the book includes a recipe for “Rice Properly Cooked.” From Burbank, there’s a recipe for “Perfect Turkey Dressing,” calling for a loaf of toasted bread, cooked turkey giblets, onions and celery, cayenne pepper, powdered sage, summer savory and sugar.
The reprinted cookbook includes short biographical sketches of some of the celebrity contributors, along with recipes that Evind’s grandmother jotted down in the blank pages of the original book.
“A California Cook Book” (Morris Press Cookbooks, 2009) costs $12.95 and is available at Sawyer’s News, 733 Fourth Street, Santa Rosa. For more information about Evind, go to mysfstories.com.
