Old Cook Book
A cook book dated eighteen eighty three
That my old mother handed down to me,
Full of old recipes...I wonder where
They ever gathered up such bills of fare,
Soups...jellies...pies of every hue and shade
Cross-barred and 'kivered, every kind was made.
A Christmas cake from Queen Victoria's day
Buttermilk scones...seed cake with caraway
Plum duff and gingerbread...brown buttered toast,
A Yorkshire pudding cooked above the roast,
Braised duck...fillets of sole and caviere
Washed down by some old vintage rich and rare.
Spiced apples...raisin loaf and hot cross buns
Old fashioned cookies...pans of Sally luns
Sweet ginger pears...and herring cured in brine
Brown Betty pudding...cabbage shredded fine,
Roast suckling pig with dressing bulging out,
A little sprig of parsley in its snout.
I wonder how they ever lived to write
The bills of fare that greet my eyes tonight.
- Edna Jaques
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