Featured Freebie: A Historic Cookbook

In 1866, Malinda Russell published "A Domestic Cook Book: Containing a Careful Selection of Useful Receipts for the Kitchen," becoming the first African American cookbook author in the U.S. It contained more than 250 recipes, mostly desserts such as sweet potato baked pudding, ginger snaps and sweet tea cake.

Russell was born and raised in Tennessee as a free woman of color. At about the age of 19, she set out for Liberia in Africa. She was robbed on her journey and forced to stop in Lynchburg, Virginia. While there, Fanny Stewart, a colored cook, taught her to cook. Russell met and married Anderson Vaughan at some point. He passed away four years later. The widow, who had one child, returned to Tennessee and opened a boarding house. That lasted for three years. She operated a pastry shop for six years and saved her money. In 1864, a “guerrilla party” took her money and threatened her life. She relocated to Michigan to get out of harms way. She wrote and published her cookbook in hopes of making enough money to return home.

Food Temptress Cookbook Store pays homage to Russell. Keep her work in circulation by enjoying this free download (PDF) of this facsimile reprint.