Today we’re happy to welcome San Francisco author Emma Bland Smith to discuss her latest picture book, The Fabulous Fannie Farmer: Kitchen Scientist and America’s Cook (Calkins Creek, 2024). Charmingly illustrated by Susan Reagan, this engaging, well researched account of Fannie’s professional life as an author, culinary expert and teacher officially hits shelves today and will inspire you to whip up one of Fannie’s recipes. 🙂

Even if you’re unfamiliar with the Fannie Farmer Cookbook (initially published as The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book in 1896), Fannie’s lasting contribution of standardized level measurements is likely part and parcel of your cooking and baking regime. Yes, we have Fannie to thank every time we level off a cup of flour or sugar with a butter knife before adding it to the mixing bowl.

Fannie’s precise, comprehensive recipe instructions included scientific explanations of the chemical processes that occurred in food during cooking, taking away the guesswork and ensuring consistent results.

So who was this woman who revolutionized home cooking, making it accessible to everyone? How did her can-do spirit enable her to pursue her passion for the culinary arts — even opening her own cooking school — after being sidelined from a college education due to polio-related partial paralysis?

And how many can say that their cookbook remains in print 100+ years after it was first published, having sold more than 7 million copies to date?

I know you’ll enjoy hearing lots more from Emma. We thank her for sharing her insights and so many wonderful photos!

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What made you want to write about Fannie Farmer? Had you long been familiar with her cookbook?

I owned several old Fannie Farmer cookbooks (the book has been revised many times and is still in print today), but had never thought much about the author. (After all, Betty Crocker is a marketing ploy, completely made up!) Then about five years ago, my daughter dressed up as Fannie for a fourth grade project on inventors (Fannie is often thought of as having invented standard measurements–teaspoons and cups). My interest was instantly piqued, and we went from there!

Did you like to cook as a child? If so, what stands out about that experience? 

Food and cooking were always a huge part of our family culture, and although there were no formal lessons, there was an understanding that this was something important. My parents had lived in France and brought home a happy, passionate appreciation for fine home cooking. My dad foraged edible mushrooms and my mom baked homemade bread every day.

When I went off to college, I began to cook on my own–it felt so adult! I remember ambitiously making trout for my roommates my senior year in college (Spoiler: It was undercooked. They didn’t like it.) Since then, I have always loved home cooking and everything associated with it–planning, shopping, chopping, the whole nine yards. Today, I especially love cooking with my kids and (hopefully) passing on that love of the craft.

Please tell us a little about your research for this book. What did you enjoy most? Were there any particular sources that provided interesting insights into Fannie’s personality and demeanor?

Fannie wrote a weekly cooking column for a magazine called Woman’s Home Companion. Generally Fannie was known for her scientific approach to cooking, but in these columns she allowed the more playful part of her personality to come through. She would explain how to make imaginative desserts and occasionally would even mention her childhood–which was gold to me, since otherwise there are very few records of her early life.

One technique she had fun with was making foods that resembled other things. In a Christmas column from 1910 she featured a festive wreath cake (making me think of today’s popular bûche de Noël) and chocolate domino cookies.

How did Fannie’s version of The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book revolutionize home cooking? What made it instantly popular?

Fannie’s recipes laid everything out in a straightforward manner and used standard measurements. Previously, cookbooks tended to employ more of a narrative format, and would use measurements such as “as many yolks of eggs as may be necessary,” “butter the size of an egg,” or (my favorite), “a suspicion of nutmeg.” These measurements are charming but not particularly helpful!

I think of Fannie as a feminist. The idea that cooking is a natural feminine skill–that if you aren’t born knowing how to cook, you are less of a woman–is nonsense. Fannie’s talents were the result of hard work, not intuition and guesswork–and she was passionate about passing on her knowledge.

The timing was also right. Women were leaving their home states and crossing the country, or immigrating from far away, without a mother figure to teach them to cook. Fannie’s book took on that role.

Do you regularly make recipes from the Fannie Farmer Cookbook? What are some of your favorite dishes?

Can I be totally honest? Reading the original 1898 cookbook makes you realize how much our tastes have changed in 130 years! The recipes are wonderfully written, but definitely seem old-fashioned today (a brief flip through turns up Mutton Cutlets à la Maintenon, Tongue in Aspic, Banana Salad, and Creamed Peas). I love reading the recipes but haven’t made many of them.

That said, her baked goods section feels very classic yet undated. I frequently make her popovers, ginger snaps, and pound cake. (The popover recipe is in my book, with a few adaptations!)

Aside from her all-important instructions about precise measurements, please share a couple of Fannie’s other ‘kitchen science’ tips you find especially useful when cooking or baking. 

Fannie came of age as a cook during an era when science was beginning to show up in the homemaking world. Ovens had temperature gauges–hallelujah! (Can you imagine baking in a wood stove with no temperature gauge? It gives you a whole new respect for cooks of yore!) She embraced this modern new attitude–she was anything but stuck in the past–and many of her cooking tips reflect that precision. By reading her cookbook, you might learn that the acid in tomatoes tenderizes the meat and that adding sugar to yeast helps the yeast activate. I definitely use these techniques in my cooking today!

How did you react when you first saw Susan Reagan’s illustrations? What’s your favorite spread and why?

I was immediately charmed beyond belief! Susan put so much research and work into these illustrations. The period details are just enchanting. I can lose myself in a spread, examining the cooking utensils, clothing, and household items. One of my favorite spreads shows women throughout the decades working on the same apple pie recipe.

If Fannie was still with us, what do you think she’d make of today’s celebrity chefs? Can you picture her having a TV cooking show like Julia Child or Martha Stewart?

You know, I can! Fannie was a terrific instructor; her students loved her. I can see her as a Julia Child-style TV show host, with loads of humor and humility and a twinkle in her eye.

I love the impressive back matter you included in this perfect STEAM picture book. Any fun suggestions for classroom application?

Hmm, great question! It would be fun for students to try writing their own recipes, then have other students test them out. Writing a recipe in a way that is easy to follow, instructive but not patronizing, is a real skill. I think you could learn a lot about revision and editing that way!

What do you most want kids to take away from this book?

Of course I want kids to get excited about cooking, but really, the most important takeaway has got to be that we can learn to do almost anything through interest, hard work, and practice. Cooking, gardening, drawing, music, sports–for the most part these are learned skills; you can do them if you want! (Not taxes, though, I choose to believe. That one is genetic. I let my husband do them.)

Anything else you’d like us to know about The Fabulous Fannie Farmer?

Fannie had polio in her teens and was bed-bound for years. The illness dashed her dreams of graduating from high school and going to college. The fact that she achieved so much despite that rough start is amazing!

Also, I love this quote she gave to a magazine reporter, referring to the sorts of meals she cooks herself at home, after a day of preparing elaborate dishes all day for work: “I would prefer a plain, well-cooked steak to all the fancy dishes ever dreamed.”

What are you working on next?

First up, a book about the children who grew up on Alcatraz, for Capstone. After that, another picture book about a cook, for Calkins Creek, the same publisher as Fannie Farmer. I can’t say too much about it, but I learned about her while researching Fannie. I can’t wait to tell more!

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THE FABULOUS Fannie Farmer: Kitchen Scientist and America’s Cook
written by Emma Bland Smith
illustrated by Susan Reagan
published by Calkins Creek (January 30, 2024)
Picture Book Biography for ages 7-10, 40 pp.
*Includes 2 recipes, extensive Author Notes, Resources for Kids Who Like to Cook, Timeline, and Bibliography
**A Junior Library Guild Selection**

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📗 BOOK GIVEAWAY! 📕

The publisher has generously offered a copy of the book for one lucky Alphabet Soup reader. For a chance to win, simply leave a comment at this post no later than midnight (EST) Wednesday, February 14, 2024. You may also enter by sending an email with “FANNIE” in the subject line to: readermail (at) jamakimrattigan (dot) com. Giveaway open to U.S. residents only, please. Good Luck!

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🎈 🎂 🍪 CELEBRATE! 👏 🎉 🐻

🍰 Happy Book Birthday, Emma & Susan!! ♥️

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*Interior spreads posted by permission, text copyright © 2024 Emma Bland Smith, illustrations © 2024 Susan Reagan, published by Calkins Creek/Astra BFYR. All rights reserved.

**Copyright © 2024 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.