Marian’s Cookbook, From the Kitchen at Hornsby House in Yorktown, is an extraordinary collection of southern cooking from generations of Hornsby/Bowditch clans, written in the 1980s by Marian Hornsby Bowditch, the matriarch of Hornsby House and mother of the Innkeepers.
Pat Conroy, New York Times bestselling author of The Water is Wide and The Prince of Tides, applauds From the Kitchen in The Pat Conroy Cookbook, chapter 2: The Pleasures of Reading cookbooks No One Has Ever Heard Of, page 27:
“Marian Hornsby Bowditch, the unforgettable mother of the unforgettable John Bowditch, a classmate of mine at The Citadel, wrote one of the most remarkable cookbooks I have in my possession. The entire book is written in Mrs. Bowditch’s own handwriting. The recipes are free ranging, eclectic, and brilliant.
She wrote the book and dedicated it to her “four traveling gourmet sons who have called me from all parts of the country for recipes.” It is a book of consummate genius. Every recipe seems complete and perfect unto itself – you cannot think of a single ingredient to add or subtract. The recipes were years in the composing, and I have no doubt that Mrs. Bowditch is one of the finest chefs in this country. Her cookbook, From the Kitchen at Hornsby House in Yorktown, Virginia, is as much a treasure in its own way as Charleston Receipts or the early James Beard. As willful and opinionated as Escoffier himself, Mrs. Bowditch dispenses advice and precise instructions. Does she have tips? This larger-than-life woman brims over with personality, and conversation is an art form with her. Mrs. Bowditch tells her reader:
1. Put an oyster shell in the teakettle to prevent it becoming encrusted with lime. (How in God’s name did she come up with this?)
2. Store mushrooms and string beans in a brown paper bag in the refrigerator, not in plastic.”
Many of the recipes our guests enjoy at breakfast at the Hornsby House Inn are straight from this entertaining and time-honored cookbook!
To order a cookbook call 757-369-0200 or purchase in-house.
