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.
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.
2. Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia sells signed copies. If you want me to personalize an inscription for you, let them know. They'll contact me to come in and personalize the book(s) for you. They can then either ship it to you or let you know when it is ready for in-person pickup. Order online at www.avidbookshop.com. Or you can give them a call at 706-352-2060.
3. UGA Press. Click here.
4. Barnes & Noble. Click here.
5. 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.
For updates and news, please "like" my Facebook page:
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)
How to Get a Copy:
1. Your local book store.
If your nearest book shop doesn't have Georgia’s Historical Recipes, they can order it for you.
2. Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia sells signed copies. If you want me to personalize an inscription for you, let them know. They'll contact me to come in and personalize the book(s) for you. They can then either ship it to you or let you know when it is ready for in-person pickup. Order online at www.avidbookshop.com. Or you can give them a call at 706-352-2060.
3. UGA Press. Click here.
4. Barnes & Noble. Click here.
5. 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.
For updates and news, please "like" my Facebook page:
House-Keeping in the Sunny South. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2025. (9-780-8203-7406-2)
How to Get a Copy:
1. Your local book store.
If your nearest book shop doesn't have House-Keeping in the Sunny South, they can order it for you.
2. Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia sells signed copies. If you want me to personalize an inscription for you, let them know. They'll contact me to come in and personalize the book(s) for you. They can then either ship it to you or let you know when it is ready for in-person pickup. Order online at www.avidbookshop.com. Or you can give them a call at 706-352-2060.
3. UGA Press. Click here.
4. Barnes & Noble. Click here.
5. 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.
For updates and news, please "like" my Facebook page:
Valerie J. Frey is a writer and archivist. Her projects focus on personal writing, storytelling, genealogy, local history, material culture, folklife, and home life both modern and historic.
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 near home, 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 tiime.
(Top author photo by Amberlee Fletcher of Lilac Lens Photography, Nashville)
The Living Shoreline: How a Small, Squishy Animal is a Coastal Hero. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2022. (ISBN: 9-780-8203-6244-1)
How to Get a Copy:
1. Your local book store.
If your nearest book shop doesn't have The Living Shoreline, they can order it for you.
2. Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia sells signed copies. If you want me to personalize an inscription for you, let them know. They'll contact me to come in and personalize the book(s) for you. They can then either ship it to you or let you know when it is ready for in-person pickup. Order online at www.avidbookshop.com. Or you can give them a call at 706-352-2060.
3. UGA Press. Click here.
4. Barnes & Noble. Click here.
5. 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.
For updates and news, please "like" my Facebook page:
Preserving Family Recipes
Listen to a live radio interview recorded November 26, 2024 for WNYC’s program “All of It” with Alison Stewart. http://www.wnyc.org/story/preserving-your-favorite-family-recipes/
Preserving Family Recipes
29 April 2025, 7pm EST. Virtual program for Belmont Public Library in Massachusetts. Contact me for the meeting link.
Georgia’s Historical Recipes
6 June 2025, 2pm EST. In-person program for Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI UGA) in Athens, Georgia. Contact OLLI for registration. https://olli.uga.edu
Favorite Food Blog and Resource Links -- Historic and Regional
Bites of Food History,
Susan McLellan Plaisted
Cooking in the Archives,
Alyssa Connell & Marissa Nicosia
Food History Jottings, Ivan Day
Syrup and Biscuits,
Jackie Garvin
Favorite History Blog and Resource Links
Photo Detective,
Maureen A. Taylor
William Zinsser
(memoir expert)
Favorite Food Blog Links -- General
A Little Yumminess,
Simran Singh & Stacie Dong
One Hundred Days of Real Food,
Lisa Leake
The Pioneer Woman,
Ree Drummond
The Year in Food,
Kimberley Hasselbrink
Favorite Creativity Blog Links:
The Artful Parent,
Jean Van't Hul
Beauty Everyday,
Rinne Allen, Kristen Bach, & Rebecca Wood
Comparing recipes is a great way to learn more about the background history of a family favorite, glean hints about how to clarify a recipe, or figure out how to tweak a recipe to get it "just right." Unfortunately, the older a recipe is, the harder it can be to find comparison recipes or additional information. The Bibliography and Suggested Reading sections of Preserving Family Recipes can aid you with learning about print and online sources.
Still need help? Or too busy to do the research?
If you would like to hire me to perform reference services for you, please contact me for pricing and details at valeriejfrey at gmail dot com. Few archives and even fewer libraries have extensive older cookbook collections, but I can efficiently put my personal library and research skills to work for you.
Below is a list of favorite titles I often turn to for help with historic recipes. My personal collection also includes over 200 cookbooklets and cooking pamphlets from the first half of the 20th century as well as many of the secondary sources on food history listed in the Bibliography of Preserving Family Recipes.
1600s-1700s -- Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery (transcribed by food historian Karen Hess).
1700s -- Donovan/Hatrak/Mills/Schull, The Thirteen Colonies Cookbook (compilation).
1700s-1800s -- The Williamsburg Art of Cookery (compilation).
1700s-1800s -- Karen Hess, The Carolina Rice Kitchen (compilation).
1727 -- Eliza Smith, The Compleat Housewife (London).
1747 -- Hannah Glasse, The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy (London).
1796 -- Amelia Simmons, American Cookery (Connecticut).
1800s -- Atlanta Historical Society, Tullie's Receipts (compilation from the South).
1824 -- Mary Randolph, The Virginia Housewife.
1829 -- Lydia Maria Child, The American Frugal Housewife (Massachusetts).
1830s -- Nelly Custis Lewis's Housekeeping Book (Virginia/Louisiana).
1839 -- Lettice Bryan, The Kentucky Housewife.
1845 -- Eliza Acton, Modern Cookery for Private Families (London).
1846 -- Catharine Beecher, Miss Beecher's Domestic Receipt Book (New York).
1847 -- Sarah Rutledge, The Carolina Housewife (Charleston).
1857 -- Eliza Leslie, Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book (Philadelphia).
1860-1890 -- Zimmer, The Robert E. Lee Family Cooking and Housekeeping Book (Virginia).
1861 -- Isabella Beeton, Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management (London).
1860s -- Spaulding & Spaulding, Civil War Recipes: Receipts from the Pages of Godey's Lady's Book (Philadelphia).
1867 -- Annabella Hill, Mrs. Hill's New Cook Book (Georgia).
1879 -- Marion Cabell Tyree, Housekeeping in Old Virginia.
1881 -- Abby Fisher, What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking (Alabama/African-American).
1883 -- Estelle Woods Wilcox, The Dixie Cook-Book (many of the recipes are from Ohio).
1894 -- Ziemann, The White House Cook Book (Washington DC).
1895 -- Mrs. Henry Lumpkin Wilson, The Atlanta Exposition Cookbook.
1896 -- Fannie Farmer, The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book.
1901 -- Lizzy Kander, The Settlement Cookbook (Wisconsin, Jewish/Bavarian).
1908 -- Lily Haxworth Wallace, Rumford Complete Cook Book (Rhode Island).
1912 -- Walter M. Lowney Co., Lowney's Cook Book (Boston).
1921 -- Alice Bradley, The Candy Cook Book (Boston).
1923 -- W. O. Rigby, Rigby's Reliable Candy Teacher (Kansas).
1925 -- Leyel/Hartley/Norman, The Gentle Art of Cookery (London).
1928 -- Mrs. S. R. Dull, Southern Cooking (Georgia).
1930 -- General Foods/Calumet, The Master Baker's Manual (Chicago).
1938 -- Ruth Berolzheimer, The American Woman's Cook Book (New York).
1947 -- Migliario/Titus/Allard/Nunemaker, The Household Searchlight Recipe Book (Kansas).
1949 -- Virginia McDonald, How I Cook It (Missouri).
1950 -- General Mills, Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book (Minnesota).
1950 -- Junior League of Charleston, Charleston Receipts.
1959 -- Nell B. Nichols, Farm Journal's Country Cookbook (Pennsylvania).
Please contact me about interviews, book talks, and cooking presentations. I can be reached at valeriejfrey at gmail or through the University of Georgia Press.
