Salt the asparagus, lose the moles

A book of household advice from a Greater Poland manor - edited and introduction by Dorota Mycielska, illustrations by Helena Stiasny. This stylishly illustrated combination of a cookbook and a guide from 150 years ago will answer the questions of anyone who works in the kitchen and manages the home, while also offering a glimpse into the colorful everyday life of an old landed manor.

It is rare for a manuscript such as this to have survived to our times: a collection of home recipes and advice begun in the mid-19th century by Józefa Morawska z Łempickich at the manor in Jurków near Leszno. Subsequent women in her family recorded recipes for sweets, pickles, soups, and baked goods in the Jurków notebook, as well as reliable home methods for cleaning porcelain, exterminating pests, and raising geese.

The book is preceded by an extensive introduction by Dorota Mycielska, a descendant of Józefa Morawska - a story about the Morawski family and the realities of life in Greater Poland under Prussian rule in the second half of the 19th century.