A Book of Fruits and Flowers

Anonymous

Preserve oranges in syrup, lay sweet bags among your linen, dress a roast shoulder of mutton with lemons, then turn the page and treat a fever from the same shelf. Printed in 1653, this little stillroom manual never separates dinner from medicine: every fruit and flower is both meat and remedy. Inside are receipts for pastes and conserves, waters for the skin, a 'very good medicine for the stone', and the quiet confidence of a household that made everything itself. A tiny, charming window into the kitchen as apothecary. Keep it beside the fruit bowl and cook like it's still true.