Marcia was trying to help her mama. So maybe balancing on top of a
tower of chairs to dip candles wasn't such a good idea. And perhaps her
biscuits worked better as doorstops than dessert. Still, does her mama
really need to hire a mother's helper?
Then Fannie Farmer steps into their kitchen, and all of a sudden the
biscuits are dainty and the griddle cakes aren't quite so...al dente. As
Fannie teaches Marcia all about cooking, from how to flip a griddle cake
at precisely the right moment to how to determine the freshness of eggs,
Marcia makes a wonderful new friend.
Here's the story "from soup to nuts" -- delightfully embellished by
Deborah Hopkinson -- of how Fannie Farmer invented the modern recipe and
created one of the first and best-loved American cookbooks. Nancy
Carpenter seamlessly incorporates vintage engravings into her pen, ink,
and watercolor illustrations, deliciously evoking the feeling of a time
gone by.