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Pottie Py

Jean Brown’s Paistry Book, 1724

Colonial housewives used recipes handed down from mother to daughter by word of mouth. Women who could read and write might copy down their family recipes in manuscript cookbooks like this one.

Original Cookbook Cover

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6/29/2013 8:48:58 PM
pottle py
I think it must refer to sweet potatoes. I"ve had yams and apples cooked together as a side dish.

11/18/2011 11:12:12 AM
long and short s
I am a colonial devotee. I know that there is a difference between a long S and short S when they wrote. There were many rules on to use the two. Usually left to the educated classes. I doubt if this author was in that class ranking. That leads us to the question of the recipe at hand. I'm not sure about the potatoes and apples together. The texture might be odd. So I guess we should try it one day.

2/2/2011 11:59:51 AM
I wonder if this is authentic
I am wondering if this book is even authentic for the period it purports. I have a BA in History and I have done some research as a Genealogist. As you can imagine, I have viewed many original records from the 1700's; some personal letters, and civil records. During this time period it was common for the letter "S" to be written as an 'F'. This recipe, supposedly written in a persons original hand, has the letter 's' through out the recipe in its proper place. Strange