Agnes Ayre's Notebook

In the early twentieth century, Newfoundland trailblazer Agnes Marion Miller Ayre became an outspoken advocate for allowing women to vote. She was also an avid botanist and an accomplished artist who published a book, Wild Flowers of Newfoundland. One overlooked aspect of Ayres remarkable life was a recipe collection she wrote in a small notebook, starting in 1917. She did not bother with traditional recipes -- not a boiled dinner or pan-fried cod to be found -- but collected out-of-the-ordinary dishes for the time, along with ingenious ways of being frugal with leftovers. Intrigued by this historical document and curious about what exactly the lady of a middle-class household in World War I St. Johns would feed her family, Roger Pickavance and Agnes Marion Murphy (Ayres granddaughter) set about cooking all 140 recipes in the century-old notebook. Most worked well, some did not, and many would make a welcome addition to a modern cooks repertoire. Pickavance and Murphy have reworked some recipes, filling in the blanks, simplifying steps, and offering ingredient substitutions where required. The result is a glimpse into the personal life of Agnes Ayre -- and a cookbook full of delicious surprises.