Living with her grandparents as a child in the 1930s, Grace Firth learned to garden, preserve, and cook food the old-fashioned way. Back then, a home's stillroom chamber was used as a sort of kitchen prep where all manner of delicious foods and beverages were made using a variety of time-tested techniques to keep food from spoiling-all without using harmful chemicals or preservatives. In Stillroom Cookery, Firth passes along the wisdom of time-honored preserving practices, revealing practical, inventive, and proven methods for natural preservation, storage, and preparation of food.Each chapter focuses on fundamental stillroom skills and recipes, such as curing meats, dehydrating foods, drying, smoking, fermenting, pickling, canning, preserving sweets, baking bread, distilling vinegars, concocting savory sauces, and making cheese and other milk products. There is also a beverage chapter that covers brewing beer and making wine. Additionally, a chart in the appendix plots out a garden planting plan for a family of five. Firth writes in a simple and engaging style that comes from years of experience. She encourages the use of tested techniques on classic food staples as well as a flexible approach that is adaptable to changing dietary trends.Like a treasure chest full of priceless surprises, this classic cookbook is a must-have resource for the library or kitchen of anyone interested in living sustainably, eating well, and staying healthy. It presents a realistic, practical vision of living the good life. In the dedication to Stillroom Cookery Firth expresses her sentiment which animates the whole work: "that people will understand old ways as they reach for tomorrow."