Blog de Puree

I inherited my Nana’s The New American Cook Book (circa 1941). The hard cover and spine had ripped off with age and use. I wanted to preserve it because of its obvious sentimental value, but it’s also a damn handy cookbook. (If I want a good basic recipe, such as a fruit compote, this book has it — including some interesting recipes for possum and squirrel pot pie. Hey, you never know!) Plus, it offers these nuggets of home economic wisdom.

“The clever homemaker knows that her meals do more for her family than satisfy hunger and please tastes. She has full understanding that the bodies of all members of her family are composed of many chemicals, combined together in such a manner as to form skin, blood, muscles, bones, hair, and all of the other components of the human frame.”

Anyhow . . .

Knowing that bookmaking is a hot new hobby, I figured this would be an easy project. Armed with this Online Book Repair Tutorial, I went in search (and search and search) of project materials.

First I went to Joann’s Fabrics, but they only had s-crap-booking kits. Another shopper suggested an actual scrapbooking store down the way. Onward I went.

Unfortunately, they had ONLY scrabooking supplies. They suggested a paper store, All About Paper, right up the road. Onward I went.

It was a Paper Source wannnabe (a Boston-area paper mecca), but they DID have bookbinding supplies! I found everything I needed. Unfortunately, their variety of bookcloth colors was pretty weak — and nothing neutral.

Since I’d come this far, I wasn’t leaving without making this project happen. So I decided to go for the sassy red bookcloth for the spine, because heck, it’s a sassy cookbook.

So, despite not being particularly crafty, (I’m the messiest gluer on the planet) I now have a rebound volume that will withstand the ages. It ain’t pretty, but it’s preserved!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Almost good as new and it sure beats the rubberband that had been holding it all together.