Preserving Family Recipes: How to Save and Celebrate Your Food Traditions. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2015. (ISBN: 978-0-8203-3063-1)
To view the book trailer, click HERE.
For updates and news, please "like" my author Facebook page: Valerie J. Frey
Click HERE for a quick description of the book.
How to Get a Copy:
1. Your local book store.
If your nearest book shop doesn't have Preserving Family Recipes, they can order it for you. The nearest independent bookstore to you can be found by clicking HERE.
2. UGA Press. Click here.
3. Barnes & Noble. Click here.
4. Amazon. Click here.
Signed and Inscribed Books:
I am happy to sign/inscribe books for your collection or for you to give as a gift. See the note above about ordering signed copies from Avid Bookshop. To meet me, see the list of upcoming book events in the News section of this website or you can contact me to find out when I might be in your area. I'm sorry, but I cannot mail books to you. Contact me, however, if you would like a signed bookplate you can add yourself.
Bulk/Wholesale Orders:
To carry this book in your gift shop or order large quantities, please see UGA Press information HERE. Contact information for their Marketing and Sales Department can be found HERE.
Georgia’s Historical Recipes: Seeking Our State’s Oldest Written Foodways and the Stories Behind Them. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2025. (ISBN: 9-780-8203-6796-5)
For updates and news, please "like" my author Facebook page: Valerie J. Frey
Click HERE for a description of the book.
How to Get a Copy:
1. Your local book store.
If your nearest book shop doesn't have a copy, they may be able order it for you. The nearest independent bookstore to you can be found by clicking HERE.
2. UGA Press. Click here.
3. Barnes & Noble. Click here.
4. Amazon. Click here.
Signed and Inscribed Books:
I am happy to sign/inscribe books for your collection or for you to give as a gift. See the note above about ordering signed copies from Avid Bookshop. To meet me, see the list of upcoming book events in the News section of this website or you can contact me to find out when I might be in your area. I'm sorry, but I cannot mail books to you. Contact me, however, if you would like a signed bookplate you can add yourself.
Bulk/Wholesale Orders:
To carry this book in your gift shop or order large quantities, please see UGA Press information HERE. Contact information for their Marketing and Sales Department can be found HERE.
House-Keeping in the Sunny South. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2025. (9-780-8203-7406-2)
For updates and news, please "like" my author Facebook page: Valerie J. Frey
Click HERE for a description of the book.
How to Get a Copy:
1. Your local book store.
If your nearest book shop doesn't have a copy, they can order it for you. The nearest independent bookstore to you can be found by clicking HERE.
2. UGA Press. Click here.
3. Barnes & Noble. Click here.
4. Amazon. Click here.
Signed and Inscribed Books:
I am happy to sign/inscribe books for your collection or for you to give as a gift. See the note above about ordering signed copies from Avid Bookshop. To meet me, see the list of upcoming book events in the News section of this website or you can contact me to find out when I might be in your area. I'm sorry, but I cannot mail books to you. Contact me, however, if you would like a signed bookplate you can add yourself.
Bulk/Wholesale Orders:
To carry this book in your gift shop or order large quantities, please see UGA Press information HERE. Contact information for their Marketing and Sales Department can be found HERE.
The Living Shoreline: How a Small, Squishy Animal is a Coastal Hero. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2022. (ISBN: 9-780-8203-6244-1)
For updates and news, please "like" my author Facebook page: Valerie J. Frey
Click HERE for a description of the book.
How to Get a Copy:
1. Your local book store.
If your nearest book shop doesn't have a copy, they can order it for you. The nearest independent bookstore to you can be found by clicking HERE.
2. UGA Press. Click here.
3. Barnes & Noble. Click here.
4. Amazon. Click here.
Signed and Inscribed Books:
I am happy to sign/inscribe books for your collection or for you to give as a gift. See the note above about ordering signed copies from Avid Bookshop. To meet me, see the list of upcoming book events in the News section of this website or you can contact me to find out when I might be in your area. I'm sorry, but I cannot mail books to you. Contact me, however, if you would like a signed bookplate you can add yourself.
Bulk/Wholesale Orders:
To carry this book in your gift shop or order large quantities, please see UGA Press information HERE. Contact information for their Marketing and Sales Department can be found HERE.
Georgia’s Historical Recipes (GHR) lists the earliest cookbooks related to the state. Click on the links below to view them or purchase reprint copies. If a title is missing from the list below (chronological by GHR section) that means that it is currently not available outside a seller of rare books or a special collections library. The WorldCat website can help you find a cookbook in a library or archives.
Please check back periodically as some titles will soon be republished.
1859 — The Southern Gardener and Receipt Book
Mary Edgeworth
(Cartersville, Fort Valley).
1866 —Verstille’s Southern Cookery
Ellen Jane Verstille
(Columbus, Savannah).
This link doesn’t always work smoothly. You can search for this title with Andrews McMeel Publishing.
1867 — Mrs. Hill’s New Cook Book
Annabella Hill
(Madison, Monticello, LaGrange, Atlanta).
1877 — Hotel Keepers, Head Waiters, and Housekeepers’ Guide (1848)
Tunis Campbell of New Jersey
(Georgia coast, Milledgeville).
1880 — Choice Recipes of Georgia Housekeepers
Second Presbyterian Church, Augusta.
If the link loads too slowly, this title can be found on Amazon.
1883 — The Dixie Cook Book
Estelle Wilcox of Ohio.
1885 — House-Keeping in the Sunny South
Ella Ruth Tennent
(Marietta).
1887 — Cooking for Profit (1893)
Jessup Whitehead of England and Kansas. Use the author link on the Internet Archive page to find additional titles.
1892 — Hints from Southern Epicures
Independent Presbyterian Church, Savannah.
1894 —Annie Dennis’ Cook Book
Annie Dennis
(Talbotton, Atlanta, Macon).
If the link loads too slowly, this title can be found on Amazon.
1895 — The Atlanta Exposition Souvenir Cook Book
Ida Bailey
(Washington, D. C.)
This title will soon be available. Please check back for updates.
1895 — The Atlanta Exposition Cookbook
(First published as Tested Recipe Cook Book)
Mrs. Henry Lumpkin Wilson
(Atlanta)
1912 — Favorite Southern Recipes
Southern Ruralist, Atlanta.
1927 —Southern Cooking
Henrietta Dull
(Dublin, Flowery Branch, Atlanta).
What if an important old recipe doesn’t work well in your modern kitchen? Or perhaps you’d like to dig into the background of a favorite old recipe, putting it in historical context. The bibliography sections of Preserving Family Recipes and Georgia’s Historical Recipes can help you learn about useful print and online sources for such work.
Still need help? Or too busy to do the research?
If you would like to hire me to perform research services, please contact me for pricing and details via email at valeriejfrey at gmail dot com.
News:
Preserving Family Recipes
Listen to a live radio interview recorded November 26, 2024 for WNYC’s program “All of It” with Alison Stewart. www.wnyc.org/story/preserving-your-favorite-family-recipes/
Since the release of Georgia’s Historical Recipes, I’ve enjoyed doing programs in Athens, Atlanta, Carrollton, Cartersville, Columbus, Darien, Decatur, Griffin, Hamilton, Hapeville, LaGrange, Lawrenceville, Marietta, Monroe, Morrow, Savannah, Valdosta, and Watkinsville. Please contact me about visiting or returning to your area.
Upcoming Events:
(All programs are in person rather than virtual/online unless otherwise noted.)
“Let’s Eat! Tracing and Preserving Family Food History”
7 November 2026
Online program
Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison
https://historicalmuseum.wisconsinhistory.org
Georgia’s Historical Recipes — ATLANTA
13 February 2027
Atlanta NSDAR — Private group.
For more information about book programs, please contact me at valeriejfrey at gmail dot com. A description of possible programs can be found on this website under the “Program Descriptions” tab.
Thank you for your interest in my work. I developed programs based on my books to interest history buffs even if they don’t cook—and to interest home cooks even if they don’t think they like history. Although geared towards adults, my presentations are suitable for all ages and use image-rich PowerPoints to explore the connections between food, history, and culture in an entertaining way. Each presentation usually lasts 45 to 60 minutes, and I welcome audience discussion afterwards. Adding a workshop or cooking component is also a possibility, depending on your venue. There are three programs to choose from:
A. Georgia’s Historical Recipes — Many cookbooks and recipes still exist from Georgia’s early years, sitting quietly in archives waiting to be rediscovered. They not only preserve know-how for delicious foods that are new again to current generations, but they also hold many clues about what home life was like in the past for southerners of all levels of society. In this presentation, archivist and writer Valerie J. Frey, author of Georgia’s Historical Recipes, will lead an exploration of recipes from 1733 through 1945. Come learn about yesteryear’s cooks and “taste” the history of Georgia, the South, and the nation through historic foodways. For Georgia audiences, there will be a survey of cookbooks and dishes from your area.
B. Preserving Family Recipes — From Uncle’s barbecue sauce to Grandma’s cobbler, family recipes fill us with nostalgia and draw us closer to family—if they have been saved and if they actually work right, that is. So, what can you do if a beloved recipe is sketchy, outdated, impossible to read, or (far worse) never got written down? How can you make sure old recipes as well as heirloom photos and kitchen artifacts last for future generations? And did you ever stop to look at your recipes with a historian's eye, exploring what that family recipe may say if you read between the lines? Valerie J. Frey, archivist and author of Preserving Family Recipes, will lead an exploration of various aspects of your family’s heirloom recipes.
C. How to Read a Cookbook…Like a Historian — When we pick up an old cookbook, what are the clues we can find about kitchens of the past and the lives of the people who cooked in them? Who were our nation’s early cookbook authors and what can their works teach us about history? Archivist and writer Valerie J. Frey, author of several books with the University of Georgia Press about historical foodways, will lead an exploration of American recipes and cookbooks of the past. [This program is designed for audiences outside Georgia.]
Contact Me: I can be reached via email — valeriejfrey at gmail dot com. I can also be reached through the University of Georgia Press by clicking HERE.
Book Sales: With enough advance notice, I can usually bring books to sell at an in-person event. To discuss larger scale book sales with UGA Press, contact information for their Marketing and Sales Department can be found HERE. Or some local independent book shops will come out to events to sell books. Click HERE to find a seller near you.
Please contact me about interviews, book talks, and cooking presentations. I can be reached via email — valeriejfrey at gmail dot com. I can also be reached through the University of Georgia Press by clicking HERE.
Valerie J. Frey is a writer and archivist. Her projects focus on personal writing, storytelling, genealogy, local history, folklife, and the everyday home life of our ancestors.
Sapelo Island, Georgia was Valerie's first home and Cleveland County, Arkansas is her ancestral homeland, so both these places remain important sources of inspiration, but she considers Athens, Georgia her hometown. She spent many fine childhood hours there building tree forts in the woods, seeking out wild plums, and rooting through the town library.
Later, Valerie earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in Art Education from the University of Georgia. Her master’s thesis, Folk Art in North Georgia: A Model Curriculum, wove together art, local history, and personal narratives. Her thesis experiences and a love for her grandparents' stories lured her into pursuing a master’s degree in Information Science from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville where she concentrated on historical research and archives. Her second thesis is entitled Personal Information Systems: Journals and Diaries as Process and Product.
After graduate school, she served as a Junior Fellow in the Manuscripts Division of the Library of Congress and then became Manuscripts Archivist at the Georgia Historical Society in Savannah and Archivist of the Savannah Jewish Archives. During that time, she co-authored two books focusing on historic photographs and oral histories: Images of America: The Jewish Community of Savannah (Charleston: Arcadia Press, 2002) and Voices of Savannah (Savannah: Savannah Jewish Archives, 2004).
In 2003, Valerie became Education Coordinator of the Georgia Archives where she spent her time developing public service programs as well as creating resources for educators and their students. She won a grant from the Georgia Humanities Council to create Down Home Days, an annual event to help kids develop a love of history.
In 2007, marrying an Air Force officer took Valerie away from the South and she became a full-time writer as well as a consultant, contract archivist, temporary Northern Californian, and mother to one easygoing and charming boy. Now that she has returned to her hometown to live, she writes and conducts research full time.
(Top author photo by Amberlee Fletcher of Lilac Lens Photography, Nashville)
