Gramma Kilburn's Kitchen Review

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(More customer reviews)Jane Philbrick's memoir and cookbook, "Gramma Kilburn's Kitchen" recalls the seasonal rhythms of a Vermont farm in the first half of the 20th century. The Farm, as the family always called it, was purchased in 1848 and worked for almost a hundred years, until it was sold in 1946.
Philbrick opens with a brief history of the place and leads the reader on a child's eye tour, through the five barns, the springhouse, the chicken house, the corncrib and the forbidden territory of the ice house; greeting the animals, jumping in the hay, grinding corn for the poultry. The house too brings back memories of warmth and industry with its hand-hooked rugs, Turkey carpet and the big heart of the house - the kitchen.
Susie Kilburn not only cooked bountiful meals for family and hired help, she also put up her own vegetables and preserves, made real mince meat and served home-cured hams. Philbrick includes "receipts" for all of these delicacies as well as for pork headcheese and sweetbreads and beef tongue. Also included are receipts from other family members and friends - Aunt Ida's Carrot Marmalade, Irene's Doughnuts, Aunt Bertha's Salad Dressing.
Beginning with spring (maple sugaring and Easter), each section opens with the author's lively remembrances, complemented with farm-life history and the memories of other family members - Philbrick's siblings, mother and aunt. The author also fleshes out the season with excerpts from her grandmother's diaries. Susie kept a diary most of her life but these terse passages reveal no innermost secrets. Instead they paint an intriguing, detailed portrait of farm routines from age 11 to 66, from farmer's daughter to farmer's wife and grandmother.
"May 1 Wednesday, 1890 Ida put Ma's bedroom carpet back down. Rollo and Frank planted potatoes. Mr. Jones came here to borrow the buckboard to go to Fair Haven. Ida attended a meeting at the school house with Mrs. Jones. Eli Drake carried her home. Harry Northrup came here and staid all night."
"October 6 Monday, 1941 Gladys washed in the A.M. The men finished filling the silo. Norm worked on the new shed. Ed sent his insurance on the buildings. In the afternoon Gladys varnished the dining room table. Ida came in the afternoon and Carrie Dean called. In the evening Ed took me for a ride up by the lake."
Then come the recipes - lamb and asparagus and fish and stewed greens in spring; new potatoes and peas, jelly making and canning in summer; apples and pickles and squash in the fall; venison, stews, and baked beans in the winter. And no lack of desserts at any season. "Of course dessert was served at all meals - including breakfast at The Farm."
The dishes are just what you'd hope to find - hearty, rib-sticking country food. Gramma's Sunday Chicken is a fricassee with egg dumplings, there is a whole collection of doughnut recipes and a section devoted to puddings, including Indian, Rhubarb and Bread. "I thank my lucky stars that I was a child during the time that puddings were still a part of our diet. Now, I am talking about home cooked puddings. There may be a place in our society today for instant puddings but not in this cookbook."
Within each season are sections focused on special activities - summer harvest, turkey drives, the Rutland Fair, butchering - and ordinary activities like housekeeping, shopping and, of course, cooking. Holidays get special treatment, with mouth-watering menus and recipes for every dish from Roast Turkey Dressed with Oysters to Plum Pudding.
I should probably mention that the author is my mother-in-law. This is no indication of prejudice. Rather, it means I have had the pleasure of enjoying many of the dishes, from holiday favorites like Cranberry Chutney and Parker House Rolls to year-round fare like Roast Pork, Bread and Butter Pickles, Potatoes au Gratin and Oyster Stew. I can attest that Aunt Ida's Famous Ginger Cookies deserve their fame and Aunt Ida's Swedish Meatballs really are "the very best Swedish meatballs this side of Uppsala or Stockholm."
Full of memories, history and good food, Philbrick's book is a warm, fascinating and useful tribute to a bygone way of life.

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Gramma Kilburn's Kitchen is a unique look at farm life in Vermont, as seen through the soul of the farmhouse, the kitchen. Author Jane Philbrick has compiled an intriguing collection of anecdotes, diary entries, memoirs, and authentic recipes collected from one specific, but very typical Vermont farm, which remained in her family for almost a hundred years. Readers will not only get an affectionate portrait of Vermont farm life since mid-nineteeth century, they'll also be able to summon up the tastes and smells from real farm recipes and seasonal menus, and revisit a world that now exits only in memory, and in the hearts of all those who were loved ­ and fed - by Gramma Kilburn.

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