Category: Uncategorized

This chapter is 19 pages long, and is stained several times with black ink from a fountain pen, as if to mark the particular recipe — for example the “Golden Gate Marmalade” on page 65.

The high quantity of fruit here must be noted. For example, the aforementioned marmalade calls for 12 oranges, three pints of cold water for each pound of fruit, and half a pound of sugar to each pound of cooked fruit. While people used home preserving and canning as a method to save money, this seems rather expensive, especially if you consider individuals living in the Pacific North West, where the climate does not allow for many locally-grown citrus fruits.

One recipe in this section is for “sun-kissed cherries.” The recipe actually calls for the heated cherries to lay out in the sun for 12 hours, which doesn’t seem like something that would be written in a contemporary cookbook today.

Although these recipes at first appear “hands-off” and simple, they all require close attention, timing, and multiple steps. The absence of step-by-step instructions means that the paragraph style of the page provides a more difficult estimate for the labour process.

The chapter ends with the line:

“Any combination of fruits may be used in same way.”

Essentially, the detail provided in the chapter could be considered redundant, but is useful for creative ideas.

Over the 19 pages of instructions on how to can fruit, Mrs Andrea acknowledges the importance of gathering fruits in accordance to the season. She recommends beginning the canning process as soon after picking as possible. Mrs Andrea’s tone is, as in the rest of the book, very conversational. She italicizes the important words, and takes the time to explain the pros and cons of various jars in relation to different fruits.

Inside this section of the book, there is a cut-out from a newspaper – the beginning of an article on domestic sciences, model kitchens and the “analytical age.” The paper inside the book has discoloured slightly where the cut-out has been folded for so long, showing the acidity of the newspaper paper.

The writer here, Mollie Glenn, was – according to a 1990 paper on BC Studies – the society and women’s pages editor for the Evening Sun, and demonstrated an ability to exercise a certain amount of social control. Writers in this position were generally looked down upon by others in the journalistic profession, but clearly provided relevant information to women like Mrs Andrea.

Most of the chapter is similar in style to the previous – the name of the fruit is typed in bold, and is followed by a paragraph or two of instructions, tips and ideas of what to look for in the process. Syrups for the canned fruits in the chapter are divided by Mrs Andrea as “thin, medium-thin, medium-thick and thick.” The method for these syrups are used for all recipes in the chapter.

Mrs Andrea never spears to use weights in her recipes for the fruit, but the liquids – both for syrups and for the sterilization – are always quantified.

After the short introduction, where Mrs Andrea discusses seasonality of different produce and the most effective ways of picking and storing the vegetables. There are photos of Mrs Andrea using canning equipment, in which she is dressed somewhat reminiscent of a nurse.

The 19 page list of vegetables covered in the book is organized alphabetically, and there are very specific instructions to each vegetable. Three types of corn are mentioned, and the difference between French artichokes and ‘regular’ artichokes are also highlighted.

A clear scientific knowledge is demonstrated here — knowledge obtained through the cookery school, in which Mrs Andrea explains that a preliminary cooking ruptures the starch-cells of the corn, making better-flavoured vegetables.

Some interesting inclusions:

Chayote: an edible plant belonging to the gourd family, along with melons, cucumbers and squash. Mrs Andrea describes the chayote as a “comparatively new vegetable,” which demonstrates the relative modernity of her publishing.

Dandelion, endive and kale: all considered today as “superfoods,” but here grouped under the same category as spinach. Kale is considered to be closer to the cabbage family, but in Mrs Andrea’s instructions, cabbage is to be canned in the same manner as Brussels sprouts. It is also native to the Mediterranean, and likely to be unavailable fresh for Mrs Andrea’s North American readers.

Salsify: (Oyster plant) a common wildflower, also native to the Mediterranean but has since been introduced to southern England, North America (where its flowering seasons are longer in southern states such as California) and southern Africa. Apparently quite in fashion during the Victorian era, salsify’s appeal had dwindled by the 20th century and today is mainly found in speciality stores.

There are also instructions for combining different vegetables – carrots and peas, corn and green peppers, corn and tomatoes, succotash (which is a salad made from corn and lima beans.) Within this section are photographs in black and white of cans and jars made from the recipes given – never underestimate the power of photos.

This chapter is short — less than a page — and essentially describes the science of adding time to sterilization depending on altitude, whether the location of the canning is a thousand feet above sea level, or at sea level. Andrea suggests that for every 500 feet altitude, 10 per cent of the time should be added. She references the fruit and vegetable-specific tables given later in the book.

The information given here is useful, not only for safety but for a historical perspective. Looking back at Mrs A. Louise Andrea’s education, a reader can see that she was schooled in math and science as well as food safety in her culinary institute, and she uses examples to illustrate her explanations, continuing the conversational tone.

This chapter involves five pages of text and two of photos, which are presented in a somewhat journalistic style with captions underneath.

Mrs Andrea suggests that, although expensive equipment is not necessary, she recommends using glass or enamel-ware over tin, as acidic foods — tomatoes, apples, citrus — should not come into contact with certain metals for fear of erosion. This shows some clear scientific knowledge for the period.

One piece of equipment that is emphasized greatly is the steam-pressure canner. According to Mrs Andrea, they are “great savers of time” — lessening the sterilization time and therefore allowing the user to prepare more food. According to the book, average prices for a family-sized outlet would be between $18-$26, in comparison to today’s Walmart price of $97.98.

Other equipment deemed necessary by Andrea include a funnel, thermometers, hydrometers (for determining the density of syrups,) rubber rings to retain sterilization and glass jars (with reminders to be careful the colours do not clash with the food inside.)

Here, the role and value of the “housewife” in early 20th Century America is made clear:

“It is not only a duty we housekeepers owe to our families, but a duty we owe to our country and to our patriotic men and our brave Allies, who are fighting for the sacred rights of free peoples.”

This is encouraging to those who perhaps felt useless that they were not being used as part of the labour force, as a nurse, in a factory or in mills. The First World War’s action was more concentrated, and thus more women could stay in the home, caring for their families and being the home provider.

The final line of this introductory chapter states:

Empty jars are Slackers

This is just one example of the tone served throughout the book — Mrs A. Louise Andrea was a lecturer on food and cookery at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, the New York International Exposition and was awarded a PPIE Diploma and Gold Medal in cookery.

This chapter states what is to come in the book, which appears to be intended to be first read cover-to-cover, then referred back to as needed — different from how one might “traditionally” consume a recipe book. It offers the broad steps that can be applied to her methods of food preparation, including the necessary equipment, time-saving tips and generalisations:

“Many housewives do up fruits in various ways, but seem afraid to try their hands at soup, meats, fish, and vegetables for fear of failure…”

Andrea’s tone is conversational, and like the rest of the book, she does not make use of the traditional list-format that recipe and reference books use. This chapter is one of the few that use pictures — readers can see a copy of her diploma and three photos in black-and-white of different steps of preserving.