Mrs. Appleyard's Winter Kitchen

by Elizabeth K. Gay, Louise Andrews Kent, Elizabeth Kent Gay

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0879830948
• ISBN13: 9780879830946
• Release Date: January 1974
• Publisher: Keats Pub
• Length: 328 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Amusing Tales and 1950s Food

This book is a collection of stories and recipes for special meals during a winter season in Vermont. Mrs. Appleyard is a fictional character (bearing a great resemblance to Louise Kent), who lives in a fictional town named Appleyard Center (bearing a great resemblance to Maple Corner, a village of Calais, Vermont). The book runs from October to May, all the months in which snow can usually be found on the ground in Appleyard Center. The book is organized by month. Each chapter begins with a tale of Mrs. Appleyard's activities during that month, leading up to a major meal that she served for some special occasion during that month. Recipes then follow for each item on the menu of that meal. At the back of the book is an index of recipes and main ingredients. Maple Corner residents and visitors will easily recognize many of Appleyard Center's famous features. For example, Appleyard attends the Christmas candlelight service at the Old West Church, which has not changed at all since Kent first published this book in the 1920s. But other aspects of Vermont have changed-in her time, a typical lady of Appleyard Center would be "a Republican, an Episcopalian (occasionally a Unitarian), a Friend of the Symphony, a reader of the Atlantic Monthly, a member of the Horticultural Society, an admirer of Picasso, and a member of the English Speaking Union!" It would be hard, but perhaps not impossible, to find such a combination today here in Calais. The title "Winter Kitchen" led me to believe this would be a book of seasonal recipes, recipes that would make use of foods that are in season or need to be used up during the winter months in Vermont. In a sense, this is indeed a seasonal book, since each of the meals celebrates a festive winter occasion. However, many of the ingredients aren't exactly locally available in Vermont at this time of year. Appleyard must have had a good grocer, who could supply plenty of fresh greens, frozen vegetables, and even fresh seafood on occasion. In general, the recipes tend to be typical for 1950s American food-tasty in their own right but not always appealing for modern diners. Directions are clear (as well as amusing to read). One of Appleyard's most interesting observations about cooking is found near the end of the book, where she states "She hopes that no one who reads this book will think she wants people to spend all their time in the kitchen. She wants you to have, literally, a good time. That means that you will use time as you like instead of its using you. In cooking, as in life, time is the most important element."