Happy Birthday, Fannie Farmer!

On this day in 1857, a great Bostonian was born: Fannie Meritt Farmer would create what was probably the first widely used cookbook in the United States, the Boston Cooking-School Cookbook. Hers was the first book to explain the scientific properties behind food, cooking, and nutrition, all of which was accomplished, to Bostonist's great delight, in typical nineteenth century style: "The working man needs quantity as well as quality, that the stomach may have something to act upon. Corned beef, cabbage, brown-bread, and pastry, will not overtax his digestion." She also included in her popular cookbook lots of handy household tips, although many of them seem to involve products Bostonist has never heard of:

To keep a Sink Drain free from grease, pour down once a week at night one-half can Babbitt’s potash dissolved in one quart water.

Should Sink Drain chance to get choked, pour into sink one-fourth pound copperas dissolved in two quarts boiling water. If this is not efficacious, repeat before sending for a plumber.

So celebrate a groundbreaking Bostonian woman tonight by fixing yourself a nice home-cooked meal - you could even use one of her recipes, which are good and easy to follow (if a little out-of-step with modern tastes at times). Just don't buy the ingredients at Shaw's. We hate Shaw's.

In addition to her general cookbook, Farmer penned this special book for the sick. We think that's cool, and we think its cover is much more attractive than the one on her more famous work.