AADL is proud to present Ann Arbor Cooks, a new online database of local historical cookbooks and heirloom recipes, created in partnership with the Washtenaw County Historical Society, the Culinary Historians of Ann Arbor and Ann Arbor Hadassah. The Washtenaw County Historical Society provided the core collection of cookbooks from their archives at the Museum on Main Street and will play a continuing role in enhancing the online collection with more items from their archives. Ann Arbor Cooks also presents a complete set of digital copies of Repast, a publication of the Culinary Historians of Ann Arbor. So dig in! You can search or browse the entire collection of recipies; read the cookbooks cover to cover; or send us recipes of your own.

Thank you so much for this wonderful database! My mom never baked when I was growing up ("women's lib" in the 70s, I guess! :)) and I eschewed baking for a long time. I discovered it recently and found out that I love it! I am hooked on these heirloom recipes and I can't wait to try them. I think that people tend to look down on cooking as "women's worth", and therefore devalue it; however, your database and the fabulous Brass sisters' cookbook honors cooking and honor recipes and consequently, honor women. Thank you.

Good for you for finding out about the joys of baking. I don't cook except to bake, and the Lord Have Mercy Sweet Potato Pie is fantastic! You will find out why the Brass Sisters, as they so eloquently put it, sacrificed their waistlines for the cookbook if you make that pie.

Josie

Ah, yes. Often the pendulum swings too far in one direction. In the 70s I think many women in the feminist movement felt that "women's work" was degrading and beneath them. Actually women's traditional work is very important - it just has not been given its due! How would we eat if someone didn't prepare the food?
Anyway - my Mom was a great cook - including baking. I learned to cook from her and I still love to cook and bake. They are wonderful skills and deserved to be valued. Anyone who can prepare a Thanksgiving dinner for a large group (or even a small one) and can get everything on the table hot and ready to eat at the same time is displaying great skills.
Happy Thanksgiving! - and enjoy those pies.