Attention cooks! 

Recipes are a piece of history that are often passed down through a single family for generations. While this is a delicious way to connect to our pasts, it is not uncommon for newer cooks to be put off by some of the ingredients. For instance, adding a pound of lard to the batter might have made Great-Aunt Tilly’s cakes taste amazing, but is that healthy? Great-Great Grandma Rosie’s walnut cookies might be a holiday staple, but they also might be putting grandchildren with allergies at risk. 

Personal taste isn’t the only reason recipes change. Access to ingredients is a common reason cooks often have to use substitutions. If an immigrant family cannot find a staple from their home country, they will often have to adapt to whatever foodstuffs are at hand. Food shortages in general can force society at large to change their cooking. 

If you have ever wondered why a vintage recipe or cookbook calls for certain ingredients, try looking into the year it was published to see what was happening during that time period. For example, because of the lack of refrigeration and the lack of food in general, the gelatin packets sold by the Jello-O company served as an easy way to stretch out a meal during the Great Depression. Women’s magazines and cookbooks were flooded with recipes that taught how to prepare Jell-O salads and other concoctions.

Basically, you would fill a mold with the gelatin and then add in bits of other foods such as vegetables, or even meat in some cases. The gelatin acted as a preservative that would help the vegetables last longer than their original shelf lives. Thousands of Americans were doing this through the Great Depression, World War II, and even into the relatively calm years of the 1950s. Because it was so well-known and so familiar to society’s palette, Jell-O recipes continued to be prepared and altered by future generations for decades after. The heyday of Jell-O is just one example of how recipes can alter and develop thanks to larger global events. 

There are always new fad-diets and foodstuffs that come and go, so it’s a good thing to have a tried and true list of recipes you and your family can fall back on. Fortunately, our team at the NYPL have gathered together plenty of resources to help you plan any and all future feasts. 

Here we’ve gathered a list of cookbooks that feature vintage recipes updated for modern cooks and bakers. Enjoy!

Vintage and Classic Recipes

American Cake: From Colonial Gingerbread to Classic Layer, the Stories and Recipes Behind More than 125 of Our Best-loved Cakes from Past to Present by Anne Byrn

(print only)

Cakes in America aren't just about sugar, flour, and frosting. They have a deep, rich history that developed as our country grew. Cakes, more so than other desserts, are synonymous with celebration and coming together for happy times. They're an icon of American culture, reflecting heritage, region, season, occasion, and era. And they always have been, throughout history. 

Back in the Day Bakery, Made with Love: More than 100 Recipes and Make-it-yourself Projects to Create and Share by Cheryl Day & Griffith Day

(e-book available)

In this follow-up to their first book, the Days share ways to lovingly craft not only desserts, but also breakfast pastries, breads, pizza, and condiments. The book features more than 100 new recipes, including some of the bakery's most requested treats, such as star brownies and the cakette party cake, as well as savories like chive Parmigiano-Reggiano popovers and rosemary focaccia.

 

The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Dessert Cookbook: 100 Delicious Heritage Recipes from the Farm and Garden by Brent Ridge, Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Sandy Gluck

(e-book available)

Dr. Brent Ridge and The New York Times bestselling author Josh Kilmer-Purcell are not your average couple: the two Manhattanites left their big city lives behind, and found themselves living in bucolic Sharon Springs, New York, where they became 'accidental goat farmers.' But what began as a way to reconnect with their own style of modern country living soon exploded into a brand—Beekman 1802—named after their historic home. Brent and Josh are now world-renowned for producing everything from magnificent handcrafted goat's milk soaps to artisanal Blaak cheese, and now, with The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Dessert Cookbook, they're bringing their special vintage-modern touch to classic, remarkable recipes.
 

Betty Crocker Lost Recipes: Beloved Vintage Recipes for Today's Kitchen by Betty Crocker

(e-book available)

A collection of classic recipes updated for modern cooks features such dishes as hot crab dip, slow cooker sauerbraten beef, applesauce doughnuts, Irish soda bread, Waldorf salad, hot German potato salad, and baked corn pudding.

 

Grandbaby Cakes: Modern Recipes, Vintage Charm, Soulful Memories by Jocelyn Delk Adams

(research only)

Cakes make a charming gift, a great addition to a potluck, or a traditional way to mark a milestone. Known for putting fresh twists on old favorites, Adams shares her family's generations-old love of baking along with easygoing advice and heartwarming memories.

 

 

Irish Pantry: Traditional Breads, Preserves, and Goodies to Feed the Ones You Love by Noel McMeel

(e-book only)

Chef and restaurateur Noel McMeel has spent a lifetime first learning in the kitchen, then working there himself. His recipes are generations old: passed from his grandmother to his mother, and to Noel and the next generation. They celebrate a culture of thrift and good eating, the original "eating local" and "whole foods" movements. 

 

Puerto Rican Cuisine in America: Nuyorican and Bodega Recipes by Oswald Rivera; illustrations, Sudi McCollum (except where noted).

(e-book available)

Puerto Rican cuisine holds a unique place in the culinary world with its blend of Spanish, African, and Native Caribbean influences. In Puerto Rican Cuisine in America, Oswald Rivera shares over 250 family-favorite recipes that explore this one-of-a-kind style of Caribbean cooking. There is everything from hearty soup like Sancocho to savory delicacies such as Cabro Borracho (druken goat) and Camarones Guisados (stewed shrimp) to rich desserts like Flan de Calabaza (pumpkin flan). Plus, with a suggested wine pairing for every dish and 90 delicious drink recipes, readers can enjoy the perfect Puerto Rican meal.

 

Retro Recipes from the '50s and '60s: 103 Vintage Appetizers, Dinners, and Drinks Everyone Will Love by Addie Gundry

(print only)

Remember Beef Wellington, and Grasshopper pie? Post-war rationing, Julia Child, and fondue parties? Gundry allows you to indulge your nostalgia, while she updates many of the recipes for todays sensibilities. Whether you've just seen them on TV shows, or remember them from your own childhood, here's your chance to reminisce with recipes from the 1950s and 60s.

 

Something Old, Something New: Classic Recipes Revised by Tamar Adler

(e-book available)

 In her new cookbook, Something Old, Something New, Adler continues her preservative quest by rekindling classic recipes. There were times past when cooking was careful, important, economical, inspired. Other than occasional kitschy throwbacks, however, like Deviled Eggs or Oysters Rockefeller, many dishes that first excited our palates have disappeared. Beneath their fussy garnishes, gratuitous sauces, and outmoded techniques, Adler unearthed great recipes worth reviving. In Something Old, Something New she presents over 100 she loves best.

 

The Vintage Baker: 60 Recipes from Butterscotch Curls to Sour Cream Jumbles by Jessie Sheehan

(e-book available)

Blue-ribbon recipes inspired by baking pamphlets from the 1920s to the 1960s are rendered with irresistible charm for modern tastes in this sweet package. Here are more than 50 cookies, pies, cakes, bars, and more, plus informative headnotes detailing the origins of each recipe and how they were tweaked into deliciousness. For home bakers, collectors of vintage cookbooks or kitchenware—really, anyone who loves beautiful, quirky gifts—this is a gem.

 

Vintage Cakes: Timeless Recipes for Cupcakes, Flips, Rolls, Layer, Angel, Bundt, Chiffon, and Icebox Cakes for Today's Sweet Tooth by Julie Richardson

(e-book available)

Make every occasion—the annual bake sale, a birthday party, or even a simple Sunday supper—a celebration with this charming collection of more than 50 remastered classics. Each recipe in Vintage Cakes is a confectionary stroll down memory lane. After sifting through her treasure trove of cookbooks and recipe cards, master baker and author Julie Richardson selected the most inventive, surprising, and just plain delicious cakes she could find. The result is a delightful and delectable time capsule of American baking, with recipes spanning a century.

 

The Vintage Church Cookbook: Retro Recipes for Family and Flock by Parrish Ritchie

(e-book only)

Rediscover retro cooking classics with 100 divine recipes The best recipes are meant to be shared, and in The Vintage Church Cookbook, blogger Parrish Ritchie brings together community cookbook standards that have been passed down for generations.

 

 

Yankee Magazine's Lost and Vintage Recipes edited by Amy Traverso

(print only)

New Englanders know their heirlooms―clocks, quilts, vegetables, and more. Now Yankee Magazine rediscovers and updates their most delectable classic recipes, like Chicken and Dumplings, Roquefort Biscuits, Red Flannel Hash, Corn Pudding, and Snow Cake, for today's home cooks who appreciate a great heirloom when they see one. 

 

Drinks

Apothecary Cocktails: Restorative Drinks from Yesterday and Today by Warren Bobrow

(e-book available)

At the turn of the century, pharmacies in Europe and America prepared homemade tinctures, bitters, and herbal remedies mixed with alcohol for curative benefit for everything from poor digestion to the common cold. Today, trendy urban bars such as Apothke in New York, Apo Bar & Lounge in Philadelphia, and 1022 South in Tacoma, as well as "vintage" and "homegrown" cocktail aficionados, find inspiration in apothecary cocktails of old. Now you can too! Apothecary Cocktails features 75 traditional and newly created recipes for medicinally-themed cocktails.

 

The Soda Fountain: Floats, Sundaes, Egg Creams & More—Stories and Flavors of an American Original by Gia Giasullo and Peter Freeman

(e-book available)

A collection of 70 recipes celebrating the history and stories of the classic American soda fountain from one of the most-celebrated revival soda fountains in the country, Brooklyn Farmacy. Today's soda fountain revival—not only in Brooklyn but in cities like Philadelphia and San Francisco--is remaking this quaint institution into a stylish and compelling food trend by recreating bygone treats like sodas, egg creams, and floats with local, seasonal, and artisanal ingredients. 

Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails: From the Alamagoozlum to the Zombie and Beyond: 100 Rediscovered Recipes and the Stories Behind Them by Ted Haigh, a.k.a. Dr. Cocktail

(ebook only)

Vintage spirits and forgotten cocktails enthusiastically invokes the exotic tastes and styles of bygone eras. It is an homage to the grand beverages and great bartenders of the past, honoring and remembering them with persuasive sips of the lost cocktails they created!

 

Food History

Butter  A Rich History by  Elaine Khosrova

(e-book available)

The delicious kitchen staple we so often take for granted is not merely a stick tucked into our refrigerator door. It's a culinary catalyst, an agent of change, a gastronomic rock star. From its accidental invention in a long-ago herder's pouch to its ubiquitous presence in the world's most fabulous cuisines, butter is boss. Now, it finally gets its due.

 

 

 

Hello, Jell-o!: 50+ Inventive Recipes for Gelatin Treats and Jiggly Sweets by Victoria Belanger with Raquel D'Apice

(e-book available)

In Hello, Jell-O!, Belanger invites home cooks to turn Jell-O into impressive--yet economical--desserts that are conversation starters at dinners and potlucks. Featuring modern flavors such as champagne and strawberries, key lime pie, and chai tea panna cotta, Hello, Jell-O! presents gelatin-mold desserts that are more sophisticated and fun than ever before.

 

American Cuisine: And How It Got This Way by Paul Freedman

(e-book available)

With an ambitious sweep over two hundred years, Paul Freedman's lavishly illustrated history shows that there actually is an American cuisine. For centuries, skeptical foreigners-and even millions of Americans-have believed there was no such thing as American cuisine. In recent decades, hamburgers, hot dogs, and pizza have been thought to define the nation's palate. Not so, says food historian Paul Freedman, who demonstrates that there is an exuberant and diverse, if not always coherent, American cuisine that reflects the history of the nation itself.

Medieval 

A Feast of Ice and Fire: The Official Companion Cookbook by Chelsea Monroe-Cassel and Sariann Lehrer

(e-book available)

Ever wonder what it’s like to attend a feast at Winterfell? Wish you could split a lemon cake with Sansa Stark, scarf down a pork pie with the Night’s Watch, or indulge in honeyfingers with Daenerys Targaryen? George R. R. Martin’s bestselling saga A Song of Ice and Fire and the runaway hit HBO series Game of Thrones are renowned for bringing Westeros’s sights and sounds to vivid life. But one important ingredient has always been missing: the mouthwatering dishes that form the backdrop of this extraordinary world. Now, fresh out of the series that redefined fantasy, comes the cookbook that may just redefine dinner . . . and lunch, and breakfast.

A Thyme and Place: Medieval Feasts and Recipes for the Modern Table by Tricia Cohen and Lisa Graves ; illustrated by Lisa Graves

(e-book available)

Fancy a leap back in time to the kitchens in the Middle Ages, where cauldrons bubbled over hearths, whole oxen were roasted over spits, and common cooking ingredients included verjuice, barley, peafowl, frumenty, and elder flowers? You, too, can learn the art of gode cookery--or, at least, come close to it. With gorgeous and whimsical hand-drawn illustrations from beginning to end, A Thyme and Place is both a cookbook and a history for foodies and history buffs alike, at the renaissance fair and beyond. Cohen and Graves revive old original medieval recipes and reimagine and modify them to suit modern palates and tastes. 

Party Planning

Vintage Parties: A Guide to Throwing Themed Events--From Gatsby Galas to Mad Men Martinis and Much More by Linda Hansson, Louise Lemming, Emma Sundh

(e-book available)

Invite your nearest and dearest for a celebration—vintage style! Vintage bloggers Linda Hansson, Louise Lemming, and Emma Sundh reveal their secrets for throwing the best parties, festivities, and fetes with a nostalgic twist. With this beautiful reference for hosting themed get-togethers, you'll create the right old-time atmostphere, play classic games, serve treats and cuisine with yesterday's pomp and flair, and best of all—you'll look the part! 

More Resources:

• Finding Old Recipes with NYPL's Online Resources

• Whats on the Menu?

  • Help The New York Public Library improve a unique collection! We’re transcribing our historical restaurant menus, dish by dish, so that they can be searched by what people were eating back in the day. It’s a big job so we need your help!

• "Visit" Your Favorite NYC Eateries Via E-Cookbooks

• Cookbooks and Recipes | Libros de Cocina y Recetas

• Famous Recipes for Jewish Housewives: Advertising Booklets in the Jewish Division
   

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Summaries provided via NYPL’s catalog, which draws from multiple sources. Click through to each book’s title for more.

Staff picks are chosen by NYPL staff members and are not intended to be comprehensive lists. We'd love to hear your ideas too, so leave a comment and tell us what you’d recommend. And check out our Staff Picks browse tool for more recommendations!