Shelf Life: A Harrowsmith Cookbook Chronicle

Harrowsmith's dedicated Lost + Found Recipe Ranger, Madeleine Hague, has provided us with an insightful Harrowsmithcookbook tutorial. Follow the bouncing ball now....

By Madeleine Hague

Harrowsmith’s dedicated Lost + Found Recipe Ranger, Madeleine Hague, has provided us with an insightful Harrowsmithcookbook tutorial. Follow the bouncing ball now….

Harrowsmith Vol 2

Harrowsmith cookbook history can be confusing for the uninitiated–which cookbook is the Recipe Ranger referring to? For example: The long lost but now recovered Garden Salad Dressing recipe that Madeleine recently found for Michelle from Muskoka was from her vintage copy of Harrowsmith Cookbook, Volume 2 (Identifying marks: jar of preserves on cover).

Harrowsmith Vol 1

Harrowsmith Cookbook Volume 1 has a cover with a black background and turban squash.

Several years later, Firefly Books combined both volumes and titled it: The Complete Harrowsmith Cookbook. Don’t be tricked now as it also has the black/with turban squash cover and is about 600 pages long. It’s a BIG book for cooks with equally big biceps.

Madeleine says, “To add to the confusion, a few years after that publication, Firefly released Country Cooking – 2,151 Recipes from the Readers of Harrowsmith Magazine (Key characteristics: taupe cover with pots and pans). It has the exact same layout and recipes as the earlier “Complete” cookbook.

Harrowsmith Complete Cookbook

So depending on which book you have, recipes like the Garden Salad Dressing can be from the original Harrowsmith Vol. 2 cookbook (page 62) or in the big, three-volume cookbook, (either version, page 143).

Sounds like an Angela Lansbury episode in the making. Or, a cut-throat game of Clue. It was Recipe Ranger Madeleine Hague in the butler’s pantry with the Harrowsmith Cookbook, Volume 2!

Country Cooking

Wait, no, it’s Madeleine Hague in the wine cellar with the corkscrew and Country Cooking–2,151 Recipes from the Readers of Harrowsmith!

Thank you Madeleine for providing a concise cookbook history for our readers!

Madeleine Hague

Madeleine Hague has had a connection to Harrowsmith for over 25 years. A longtime urban dweller, she moved to the country in 2012. Between April and October, Madeleine and hubby Mike are kept busy with a wildflower garden, bees and tending their potatoes, garlic, lettuce, beets, kale, tomatoes, sunflowers, pumpkins, squash, peppers and beans. Madeleine has also been our Small Ponds people finder for the past 11 years and acts as a Recipe Ranger, helping readers find recipes from back issues. She lives in North Halton, Ontario.

Posted on Friday, May 11th, 2018

Filed under Food

Tagged: cookbook | Harrowsmith Cookbook | Recipe Ranger Madeleine Hague