“Gracious Dining With America’s First - First Lady” Martha Washington personally specified each dish to be served in her household… and directed that it be prepared according to directions in this… her family cookbook. Even more amazing than the delicious recipes cooked up in the Martha Washington kitchen… you’ll really be astonished to learn who sat at the head of the table and who carved all the meat at the Washington dining table. Martha kept and used her personal one-of-a-kind family cookbook for over fifty years. In 1799, she presented the book to her granddaughter, Eleanor Parke Custis as a wedding gift when she married Lawrence Lewis. The cookbook was handed down from mother to daughter until 1892 when the Lewis family presented it to The Historical Society of Pennsylvania where it still resides today. In 1940, the Society gave special permission to historian Marie Kimball to study the manuscript and prepare a cookbook entitled, “The Martha Washington Cook Book.” Mrs. Kimball fully adapted Martha’s cookbook to practical, modern use. All the recipes were proportioned to our current practice of a formula for serving six people. Each recipe was tested. It is not only correct, but tastes great! The Martha Washington Cook Book by Marie Kimball was published in 1940. It has now, of course, long been out-of-print until this historic 2004 limited edition reprint.

Recipes that date back to Elizabethan times illustrate the heritage of American cooking