Food Friday: Tomato and Caviar with a Side of Crab

It is Women's History Month and over at my other blog, Gena's Genealogy I am writing about resources each day in March to help with researching female ancestors. Today's post was about the book, The Business of Charity: The Woman's Exchange Movement, 1832-1900 by Kathleen Waters Sander. This book explores the Woman's Exchange movement which helped women become self-sufficient economically.

So I thought I would feature a cookbook from one of the Woman's Exchanges. Today's recipe comes from  The Portland Woman's Exchange Cook Book (Portland, Oregon 1913). The forward to this cookbook explains:

      The Portland Woman's Exchange, for whose benefit this book has been compiled, is not a money-       making institution. It is a philanthropy sustained by its subscribers. Its sole aim is to help women       to help themselves. Only 10 per cent commission is charged upon the goods sold, so the                       restaurant and tea-room become the main source of revenue for which to pay the running                   expenses of the business, for the list of subscribers is small."

It goes on to explain that sales from the cookbook will help to wipe out the deficit they face at the end of the year.

Today's recipes are from one of the pages of appetizers featured in the cookbook. I love the one titled simply Hors D'Oeuvre from Mrs. Alford.

In the case of this cookbook, it's audience was most likely women of a higher economical status who would provide ongoing donations  (or subscriptions) to the Woman's Exchange. While most if not all community cookbooks are fundraising tools, this one most likely had a very specific audience.