Welcome to the start of our cyber week sale. From today until Cyber Monday we are giving 20% off all Quite Literally books. This is out biggest sale of the year and a wonderful chance to get pre-wrapped gifts for friends and family.
It has been an incredible week over here. So many of you have joined us after our big collaboration with The Strand.
If you’re new here we wanted to share our bookish manifesto from our founders (lifelong best friends who love and cherish books). You can read it here.
We stumbled on the below quote in a 19th century cookbook, one of the forgotten books by women, that we have put back in print:
“Uninteresting people doubtless have their uses in the great economy of nature, but their place of service is not at the dinner-table.”
It’s from A Little Dinner by by Christine Terhune Herrick.
The Little Dinner cookbook is a QLB fan-favorite. We’re constantly told that people love gifting them as hostess presents when they get invited over for dinner, in lieu of giving flowers or wine. The book is funny, useful and also looks gorgeous on the shelf. Reading the recipes is deceptively simple and deeply satisfying. There are no lengthy step-by-steps and no complex measurements.
Back in the 19th century, fourteen courses were considered the standard for a “proper” dinner party. Christine, the Martha Stewart of the 1800s, raised more than a few eyebrows by introducing the “little dinner”, with guestbook guides, course lists, and no-nonsense recipes to throw the best dinner parties in a pinch.
Grab a copy today for your next gathering!
Let us help you make your Thanksgiving much more interesting with some of Christine’s simple recipes.
Here are four that you might want to try out for the holiday:
PARISIAN POTATOES
Peel large, firm potatoes and with a Parisian potato-cutter cut from them small round balls. Lay these in salt and cold water for an hour, drain and dry them, and fry them in deep fat as you would croquettes. Or they may be boiled ten minutes, taken out, and sautéed in a pan with a little butter until of a golden brown, sprinkled with parsley, and served.
EGG-PLANT AU GRATIN
Cut an egg-plant in two lengthwise. Scoop out the inside and chop it fine, mixing with it an equal bulk of fine bread-crumbs. Season this with salt and pepper and moisten well with gravy or butter.
Pack the force-meat thus made into the hollowed-out rind, and set the halves, skin downward, in a baking-dish. Bake half an hour in a moderate oven, basting several times with the drippings.
POTATOES À LA DUCHESSE
Boil and mash white potatoes. Beat up an egg with them, then add to them milk and butter until they are as soft as they can be handled. Season to taste with salt and white pepper.
Spread on a board in a sheet about an inch and a half square, and with a round or square cutter cut them into neat shapes. Lay these in a dripping-pan or on a tin, sprinkle grated cheese lightly over them, and brown them quickly in the oven.
FRIED CHICKEN WITH CREAM SAUCE
Cut a tender young chicken into neat joints, dust each piece with pepper and salt, and dip it first in beaten egg and then in cracker-crumbs. Cut into thin slices a quarter of a pound of corned pork, fry it until it begins to crisp, take it from the pan, and in the fat that is left fry the chicken.
When this is done, take it out and keep it hot while you add to the fat in the pan a cupful of milk thickened with a tablespoonful of flour. Season this with salt and white pepper and add a large spoonful of minced parsley. Boil up once, pour over the chicken, garnish the dish with parsley, and serve.