The Mom Weekly Volume 74: January 7, 2025
You can read this, or any other previous Mom Weeklies, by going to the home page here.
The Household Book
I have long wanted to make a recipe book or other collection of “things” for kids to have, or maybe even along with my sisters & sister-in-law. I know there are companies that will produce those types of family cookbooks, but our recipes and tastes are often changing, and I didn’t want something that was unable to be adapted over time. I also wanted to add more than just recipes. The ideas would percolate and I couldn’t seem to get a “handle” on it.
What changed that? I attended the JASNA AGM (Jane Austen Society of North America — Annual General Meeting) in October 2021 (this meeting), and one of the sessions I attended helped coalesce my ideas into: The Household Book.
Julienne Gehrer, a food historian and writer, had a session called “The Culinary Arts at Chawton Cottage.” I volunteered to be an usher because I knew I would want to attend the talk—Jane Austen & food? Sign me up. What I didn’t realize was the session topic was actually Gehrer explaining and showing examples of Martha Lloyd’s Household Book, which would have been used in the Austen household at Chawton Cottage.
Martha Lloyd was a close friend of the Austen family, and when the three Austen women—sisters Jane and Cassandra Austen and their mother—made a home at Chawton Cottage at the invitation of their brother Edward, she joined as well.
Edward had inherited the Chawton House estate, and Chawton Cottage is a house on the property. It’s called a “cottage,” but I wouldn’t call it a cottage. When I visited with Giuliana in 2019, we found it a decent-sized house, with lovely gardens all around.
A household book, in the early 19th century, was an “essential tool for managing her home,” according to Gehrer. “Whether she lived on a large estate or dwelled in a modest cottage, her handwritten collection of culinary recipes, household preparations, and medical cures created a ready resource for daily living.”
Martha Lloyd’s Household Book is an actual book—handwritten, well-worn and used, that was acquired by Chawton Cottage in the 1950s, and remains there today on display. In 2021, the Bodlein Library at Oxford published Julienne Gehrer’s Martha Lloyd’s Household Book: The Original Manuscript from Jane Austen’s Kitchen. The book contains several explanatory chapters about the connections between the Lloyd & Austen families, history about household books, and more. The latter two-thirds of the book is a facsimile of Martha’s Household Book, with an annotated transcription by Gehrer. Of course I purchased it for my Jane Austen bookshelf.
As Gehrer gave her talk and showed examples of the household book, my mind started working. Could I make a household book? Women in the 18th and 19th centuries would handwrite their household books, and I imagine they would update and add to it often. I have the advantage of computer editing and on-demand publishing to create. And my lightbulb moment: I could make it an annual household book, and update it each year.
That would help me complete at least a basic household book, and then be able to update and add to it through the years. I also think it can serve as a history of different years of our family—I wish I had done these in prior years, because then I would know the kinds of meals I was making typically when the kids were very little. But to paraphrase the Chinese adage, “The best time to create a household book is 20 years ago. The second best time? Today.” So that is my plan.
You kids may remember that I did produce a physical book at Christmastime 2021, titled “The 2022 Household Book.” The production value kind of screamed “graphic design is my passion” — which means it wasn’t very nicely designed. (I remember your comments, never you fear, haha). I intended to update the physical book each year, and I still have not done so.
However, I kept the text in a document (still titled, “Household Book 2023 Text”, haha.) Whenever I have a new recipe or resource to add, I add it to the document. Since then, I have produced numerous books for actual publication, and so over time my graphic design skills have improved. So I know I could produce a 2025 one (thought at this point it’s rather late).
For now, I’ve been adding or editing recipes and resources. And whenever one of you kids wants to have the recipe for, say, Trinity Bars, or Shepherd’s Pie, I can just cut/paste it into a text or an email.
But now, I’m going to put them into a section here on The Mom Weekly called “The Household Book.” (It’s a tab on the menu of the home page). There are a few recipes added to it, and sections will be added. Eventually it will be a searchable section where you can find recipes and other information.
What do you think about the Household Book? Are you glad we have one?
Remember how much I love you,
Mom
Interesting/Notable:
My Mom Was Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Then She Got Better.
This is an absolutely riveting read. A medical mystery with a happy ending. Also good to know to because it sounds more common than it seems.
An Action Item: Consider Meal Prepping
This article is surprisingly helpful in understanding meal prepping and really making it work. This can also be said for planning one’s week by looking through what you have going on, and making sure that you are slotting in enough time for work, relaxation, meal prep, etc. Once The Household Book is more fully populated, you could use it as a resource for meal prepping.