I like this book very much, but I want to say something to the author by email .

In the years that I've been collecting historic cookbooks and cookbooks adapting historic recipes, this is the best cookbook that I've ever run across. Historic cookbooks tends to fall into one of three categories: 1) Reprints of originals with no modern measuring equivalents or other information that enables a modern cook to reproduce the recipes. 2) Adaptations of historic recipes with modern ingredients and techniques but no indication of what the original recipe involved. 3) Dutch-oven cookbooks that may recreate some historic recipes, but again with little or no information about the original recipe. "Old Sturbridge Village Cookbook" is unusual in that it provides the text of 19th century cookbook author Lydia Child's original recipe, the modern adaptation, and the hearth-cooking technique. By comparing the old with the new, a cook should be able to use this cookbook to adapt recipes from other historic cookbooks that do not provide a modern version.

The editor has selected recipes that can be created with easily available ingredients--and has omitted recipes for things that few modern Americans would ever want to eat--such as a calf's head that is build with the windpipe hanging out of the pot to drain off cooking juices.

In addition to recipes for soups, main dishes, vegetables, breads and desserts, the cookbook provides information about early 19th century meals. One of the best features is a section on the various fire-building techniques that are necessary depending on the type of cooking--for instance, how to build a quick-cooking fire for frying versus a fire that will produce coals for slow-cooking techniques.

The recipes that I've tried so far turned out quite well. Raspberry Shrub, a refreshing beverage made with a sweetened rasperry vinegar, was a hit with our children. The Cider Cake, which I baked for my birthday, turned out more bread-like than cake-like, but was a hit with the party guests nonetheless. I'm definitely looking forward to experimenting with this cookbook.

How do you combine traveling and cooking if both are your hobbies? Very simple - after you've savored the local cuisine of the place you have visited in restaurants, you take home a cookbook to try and prepare some of those dishes at home.

I bought the "Old-Time New England Cookbook" during my first visit to the region, and it fast became a staple in my cooking, whether for friends and parties or just for myself. This book, an unabridged republication of 1958's "Rain, Hail, and Baked Beans" (Ives Washburn, Inc., New York), is a wonderful introduction to traditional New England cooking, from classics such as clam and other chowders, lobster and Concord grapes, to bear marinade (a mixture of cider, orange juice and spices) and Governor Bradford's plum pudding. Arranged not by dishes but by seasons, the book introduces the reader, in addition to the flavors of the local cuisine, to those of the region's particular atmosphere and, through numerous little anecdotes, describes the origin and the popularity of individual dishes, and traces their development to the products available at any given time of the year. A particular treat are the recipes from New England inns reproduced at the end of the book - I have found the Bangor House Fish Chowder to be a particular crowd pleaser, but every dish I have tried so far went over very well with my guests. All recipes are well-described and easy to follow, and none contains ingredients that are hard or impossible to come by. If you're looking for a well-done and yet very affordable introduction to New England cooking, written with obvious love for the region's people, nature and seasons as well as for its cuisine, you should definitely give this book a try.

This wonderfully, illustrated, 32 page children's book condenses an incredible amount of information into five to six sentence paragraphs on each page for quick reading. I was impressed with the use of accurate vocabulary for the tasks and tools of the times which is approximately between the years 1780 - 1865, before industrialization really took hold in our America. Various trades and typical household tasks are explained and told in story fashion in each paragraph. A quick read, but can be used in school lessons if one chooses to expand a little. Excellent for children learning about early American history, and an excellent comparison with European lifestyles of the same time in history. The illustrations are also great story starters with many interesting details that enhance the information, as well as whimsical touches such as a cat perched on a roof or chasing a mouse, a duck in a puddle, or a dog snuggled next to the woodstove. This is a book we will read many times over.

Possibly a greater work of art than Uncle Tom's Cabin, Oldtown Folks gives a penetrating and panornamic view of life in a New England village in the years following the Revolutionary War, and before the coming of the railroad and the steam engine. This book is beautiful, filled with rich insights about people and very humorous. In gives a vivid portrait of the social life and thinking of the people in the era. Stowe wrote the book in an effort to preserve for future generations the life, which she had known growing up as a child and which she saw passing away under the force of industrialization. She succeeded marvelously. This work along with perhaps five or six other novels by Stowe are a neglected national treasure. America would not be the society it is today, if Harriet Beecher Stowe were widely read and discussed. The society which did so at the time this work was written was capable of electing Abraham Lincoln to be President. One can only hope that such a day might come again.

If you are interested in reading many successful authors' thoughts on the power of story and reading, this book is a must. The essays in this collection are inspiring, diverse, and unified in their passion for writing and storytelling. I found myself returning to passages over and over, savoring the passions for children's literature that are similar to my own. A stellar collection of authors are presented including Susan Cooper, Madeleine L'Engle, Maurice Sendak and many more that appear on most required reading lists. (They are listed entirely in the professional reviews above.) This is a great book for librarians, teachers, students, and anyone who loves one or all of the many authors represented.

This wonderfully written book uses diaries, letters, and a wealth of material culture evidence to portray everyday life in nineteenth-century New England. Nylander manages to bring the past alive for both the lay reader and the material culture student. A must for scholars of New England's past.

Unique cookbook makes me want to visit the town of Hingham and meet these great cooks. All home tested recipes, beautifully bound, nicely illustrated with charming drawings. I loved receiving the book as a gift.

When exploring a new area or even our hometown, this book helps me find the site and activity I'm looking for. Whether we want a baseball field to toss a few pitches around, a playground to swing and play at or a new spot to hike or fish we easily find it by county, town or site name. What a great guide to the outdoor community!

I can't say enough good things about this book. Of course the aerial photography is breathtaking with perspectives familiar only to pilots, pigeons and, sea gulls. We have given this book to a number of friends and family who have moved from the Boston area as way to warmly remember their days here.