author

Lydia Maria Gurney

A New England compiler of traditional recipes and household wisdom, remembered for preserving the everyday cooking of an earlier America. Her best-known book gathers old-fashioned dishes and practical homemaking advice with a warm, lived-in feel.

1 Audiobook

Things Mother Used to Make A Collection of Old Time Recipes, Some Nearly One Hundred Years Old and Never Published Before

Things Mother Used to Make A Collection of Old Time Recipes, Some Nearly One Hundred Years Old and Never Published Before

by Lydia Maria Gurney

About the author

Lydia Maria Gurney is known for Things Mother Used to Make, a collection of old-time recipes and household hints first published in the early 20th century. Public-domain library records and ebook editions identify her as the author of that book, and the introduction presents her as a New England woman who had tested many of the recipes in her own kitchen.

Very little detailed biographical information is easy to confirm from reliable public sources, which makes her book the clearest window into her life and work. The collection focuses on recipes passed down over many decades, along with practical domestic advice, suggesting a writer interested in preserving family traditions and everyday skills rather than literary fame.

Because so little else is firmly documented online, she is best approached through the voice of her book itself: practical, nostalgic, and rooted in home cooking. For listeners who enjoy culinary history, domestic memoir by implication, or a glimpse of older American kitchen life, her work has a quiet charm.