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January 21, 1939

Mr. Kenneth L. Roberts Kennebunkport, Maine Dear Mr. Roberts;Here is the cookery 11st. I am afra1d it will be as d1sappo1nt1ng to you as it is to me. I have been surprised· as well as disappointed to find how relatively little Maine authors (in so far as I have been able to refer to them) have to say about Maine cookery. Really, you are the only author, so far as I know, who has done justice to the Noble Art as practiced in this state. People in Maine books are more or less interested in eating but the authors don't go into the subject of cookery as they should. Perhaps if I had time to do Holman Day's novels l might find some t1db1ts, but the ones l glanced through had little to offer so I read only the three collections of verse. Arthur Staples has often burst forth into a eulogy of Maine cookery, or some phase of it, but as comparatively few of the Just Talks hnve been collected into books I h!iven't located many of his food essays. I didn't have much luck in locating old cook-books-local compilations of favor1 te recipes. Perhsps they would no.t interest ··you but I think I shall continue to search for them because I think a list of them might be amusing to have. I ran through our file of old Ma.1ne Farmer's Almanacs since l vaguely recalled they had rec1pes, but most 6f the "recipes" to be med1cal concoctions. I found a recipe for green tomato pie, which I am sending to you. Although Whitings Changing New England is sectional rather than state what he says about food is too applicable to Maine to be overlooked, although of course he is not a Maine author. The same applies to Della Lutes mouth-watering masterpiece, The Country Kitche·1. I am sure that all of her delicious food (with the exception of stewed oysters) had its or1g1ns in Maine. So many of the Michigan pioneers moved west w1th the lumber jacks and so had roots in Maine. I shall continue to watch for descr1ptions of Maine cookery. I am sorry to send so poor a list. Very truly yours {signed)

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