The Complete Harrowsmith Cookbook

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian studies at
Concordia University, and the author of Kurlek, Margaret Laurence: The
Long Journey Home, and As Though Life Mattered: Leo Kennedy’s Story.

This large and impressive compilation from the private recipe
collections of the editors, readers, contributors, and staff of
Harrowsmith magazine contains all three earlier Harrowsmith cookbooks in
one volume. The oversized format permits large, striking color
photographs, and the attractive layout includes black-and-white sketches
of some ingredients.

To call the contents comprehensive can only be an understatement. This
cookbook includes soups, salads, beans, fish and seafood, poultry and
game, meat, pasta, baking, preserves, deserts, holiday specials, and
suggested menus ranging from “Barbecue for Eight” to “Candlelight
Dinner for Two” and “Party Menu for Twenty.” As an example of
thoroughness, the soups and chowders section comprises 50 pages. The
“Puddings” section features a steamed carrot plum pudding recipe
from the Northwest Territories, with the familiar notation that coins
could be included for good luck. The lengthy index in triple columns
takes up 20 pages—small wonder in a book that offers 1800 recipes.
Tested and tasted by Harrowsmith staff, the recipes look both nutritious
and delicious. This could be the only cookbook in your kitchen.