An Ideal Kitchen is a work by Maria Parloa. In which she provides her theory on planning on how to build the ideal kitchen before the construction process.

How few people who build houses give proper attention to the plan and construction of the kitchen! Pains may be taken to have the exterior of the building attractive, the halls broad, the parlors spacious and finely finished, the dining-room bright and inviting, the chambers airy and sunny, but the plan of the kitchen generally receives much less thought than its importance deserves. The aim of this book is to show how a model kitchen may be arranged; and although few people may adopt the recommendations as a whole, it is hoped that every reader may find some suggestions of value, to be followed whether the house be already built or yet to be erected. (Maria Parloa, An Ideal Kitchen: Miss Parloa's Kitchen Companion)

Whether your collection features a hefty helping of grandmas worn, but cherished cookbooks from years past, or a few recipe-rich treasures of your own, this fact and photo-filled guide will feed any cookbook fascination. This reference, written by the owners of OldCookbooks.com serves up 1,500 American cookbooks and recipe booklets from the 20th century, complete with interesting details and historical notes about each, plus estimated values.

Today's domestic-advice writers--women such as Martha Stewart, Cheryl Mendelson, and B. Smith--are part of a long tradition, notes Sarah Leavitt. Their success rests on a legacy of literature that has focused on the home as an expression of ideals. Here, Leavitt crafts a fascinating genealogy of domestic advice, based on her readings of hundreds of manuals spanning 150 years of history. Over the years, domestic advisors have educated women about everything from modernism and morality to sanitation and design. Their writings helped create the idealized vision of home held by so many Americans, Leavitt says. Investigating cultural themes in domestic advice written since the mid-nineteenth century, she demonstrates that these works, which found meaning in kitchen counters, parlor rugs, and bric-a-brac, have held the interest of readers despite vast changes in women's roles and opportunities. Domestic-advice manuals have always been the stuff of fantasy, argues Leavitt, demonstrating cultural ideals rather than cultural realities. But these rich sources reveal how women understood the connection between their homes and the larger world. At its most fundamental level, the true domestic fantasy was that women held the power to reform their society through first reforming their homes.