Beyond the Cover with Bonnie Slotnick: The Country Kitchen by Della T. Lutes

Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks—the tiny East Village bookstore is brimming with old cookbooks, vintage knick-knacks, and other cooking ephemera—is like twenty grandmothers’ homes in one. Since half the fun is listening to Bonnie walk you through each book, we’ll be bringing one vintage book and her story about it to you.

First up is The Country Kitchen by Della T. Lutes, originally published in 1936. Why Bonnie thinks this oldie is still a goodie:

“I talk about this book so much, if you Google the title and author, my name eventually comes up. The original 1930s edition has a red and white gingham cover with the title on a pale-green label: I fell in love with the way it looks before I even opened it. Sometimes you really can judge a book by its cover! It’s a fact-based novel (or fictionalized memoir) about a little girl’s life on a Michigan farm in the late nineteenth century, with recipes woven into the beautiful prose. The chapters go month-by-month through the year, which I love. For me, this is the quintessential food book.“

Embedded in the narrative you’ll find recipes—here’s the start of a rhubarb pie recipe.

What cookbooks did you grow up with? Tell us in the comments!