Have you ever heard the name Clementine Paddleford ?
I’d never heard the name Clementine Paddleford (b.1897-d.1967) until I found it on a recipe tucked in an old cookbook.
Turns out she was an early food writer who was a pilot, flying all around the country in her Piper Cub plane, writing about the food discovered in different regions of America.
Paddleford’s own book How America Eats (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1960) can be purchased but the least expensive price is $50
So I ordered a used book Hometown Eats written about her and learned a lot.
Hometown Appetites is a biography By Authors Kelly Alexander and Cynthia Harris include 55 recipes
A Paddleford quote in Saveur article (written by author Alexander)
“We all have hometown appetites,” Paddleford once said. “Every other person is a bundle of longing for the simplicities of good taste once enjoyed on the farm or in the hometown they left behind.”
Here’s a screenshot of one of her cookbooks you can still get from Abe Books (this is not a link)
How cool is that!!
Seriously cool!
Thanks Sheree.
Glad you like it Darlene.
Her quotes about food, appetites and eating make me long for something delicious to eat.
The recipes are enticing.
I’d never heard of Clementine Paddleford, but now I’m really curious. Sounds like she was quite the woman!
A distinctive character for sure.
Amazing!
I agree Pam.
I’ve never heard of Clementine Paddleford either. I just browsed the internet and found one of her recipes for Hurry Up Marble Cake. Sounds delicious.
I need to bake that cake!
I’ve never heard of her. Very interesting woman, especially for the time she lived. Steak and kidney pie…no thank you!
I wonder who cut out that recipe and placed it in that old cookbook
I love learning about women like Clementine, previously unknown to me. Thank you for sharing her story.
She was a journalist for sure.
I love her name! She sounds like a person I’d like to meet.
The name caught my eye.
Now I know. Thanks Ruth. dc