A Cook's Tour of the Eastern Shore

Maryland's famed tidewater region is a wellspring of gourmet delights. Since the first edition was published back in 1948, A Cook's Tour of the Eastern Shore, compiled by the Junior Auxiliary of Easton's Memorial Hospital, has earned a reputation as the cookbook of epicurean fare so characteristic of this area. An "old standby" that puts "an end to kitchen ennui," proclaims Anne Stinson in the Star-Democrat, Easton, A Cook's Tour will leave the reader "faint with hunger." There are pages and pages with variations on the seafood theme: fish, crabs, clams and oysters.

"The mysteries of cleaning and cooking terrapin are revealed...through no-nonsense directions that take the ill-tempered creature from the guillotine to the sherry cruet.

"No reader could miss the southern influence in the bread chapter with its recipes for streamed pone and hush puppies. There's even a recipe for Maryland beaten biscuits....

"The vegetable section has such delectable concoctions it should be banned to dieters.

"The book lavishes brown sugar and cream in ecstasy of caramel candies, cakes and icings. It whips egg white or cream to a frothy cloud of dessert custards and soufflés.

"The recipes are...straightforward and uncomplicated."