New Hope Historical Society

A Quaker Lady's Cookbook
Recipes from the Parry Mansion
Edited by Susan Eaton

The recipes (or "receipts") contained in A Quaker Lady's Cookbook were taken from four handwritten books in the Parry Mansion archives. They were written by four, possibly five, Parry women, either Parrys by birth or as in the case of Mrs. Dr. George Parry, by marriage. The recipes span a period of over one hundred years, from 1787, when Jane Paxson married Benjamin Parry, until 1900, with the book of Elizabeth Parry Maule, Jane's great- granddaughter. The ladies included recipes of both friends and relatives, and names familiar in the area today appear here. Some recipes, evidently family favorites, appear in all the books. We have printed the books almost exactly as they were written, spelling peculiarities and form intact, though punctuation has been added. Also, "household hints" for soap, furniture polish, and the like, have been included; though they are obsolete, they provide an interesting insight into the life of the times. A Quaker Lady's Cookbook is a fascinating account of the cooking practices of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and reflects the dining habits of the family that occupied the Parry Mansion for almost two hundred years.

Cherry Bounce
Take 1/2 bushel black morella cherries, pour over them 1 gallon of water, let it stand 24 hours, then add 2 gallons good spirits and 24 lbs. of sugar.

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