Doris S. Kirschner Cookbook Collection

The Doris S. Kirschner Cookbook Collection offers a unique glimpse into the evolution of cooking in America over the past half century and more. Here are books reflecting food history, social history, and the march of technology. For example, a turn-of-the-century book warns people to throw out food that has been frozen, while books from the 1950s give directions for home freezing of foods for preservation, and books from the 1970s describe easy cookery with frozen convenience foods.

The 1300+ books that make up the collection were donatedby Doris Kirschner to the Food Science and Nutrition Department of the College of Human Ecology (now the College of Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resource Sciences -- CFANS) in 1985 and moved to the Food Science and Nutrition Building at the University of Minnesota, St. Paul in 1995. During this period, Ann L. Burkhardt, former food editor of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, served as curator of the collection. In 2004, the books were given a home within the reference collection at Magrath Library.

Included in the collection are 57 Better Homes and Gardens cookbooks, 37 Betty Crocker books, and volumes by other culinary authors such as Julia Child, James Beard, and Craig Claiborne. Doris asked that additional books be purchased each year, and she provided a generous gift for that purpose.

A sampling of items found in the collection:

A Blessing of Bread: The Many Rich Traditions of Jewish Bread Baking Around the World
by Maggie Glezer
NY: Artisan 2004

Recipes:
-Babka
-Greek walnut and currant rolls
-Crusty semolina bread

Smörgåsbord and Scandinavian Cookery
by Florence Brobeck and Monica Kjellberg
NY: Grosset and Dunlap 1948

Recipes:
-Boiled Lutfisk
-Stror Kringle
-Nesselrode Pudding

Boston Cooking-School Cookbook
By Fannie Merritt Farmer
Boston: Little, Brown, and Co. 1913

Recipes:
-Rice Waffled
-Gnocchi a la Romana
-Moonshine Cake