With an introduction from Elizabeth Gilbert, Margaret's great-granddaughter, this unearthed treasure is both a beautifully-written, useful cookbook and an insight into a lifestyle previously forgotten

Ideal for those who like their recipes to come with a back story ... The book is tremendously funny, and her cooking was way ahead of her time. There are some retro favourites, but most of the recipes have a modern feel, and her bracing common-sense approach to cheaper cuts and leftovers is right on the button Sally Hughes, BBC Good Food Magazine Hilarious and has sections with blissful titles such as Weekend Guests without a Weakened Hostess English Home ***** Margaret Yardley Potter wrote At Home on the Range almost a generation before Julia Child. She was, explains Gilbert, way ahead of her time, being intrigued by the history of food, an early advocate of farmers' markets and a woman who persuaded an Italian shop keeper in Philadelphia in 1918 to teach her how to make pizza The Lady

Elizabeth Gilbert is the author of three books of non-fiction, the multi-million-copy-selling Eat, Pray, Love (now a major motion picture) and its bestselling follow-up, Committed, as well as The Last American Man (nominated for the National Book Award and a New York Times Notable Book). She has also written a short story collection, Pilgrims (a finalist for the Pen/Hemmingway Award), and a novel, Stern Men. She was a writer-at-large for American GQ where she has received two National Magazine Award nominations for feature writing. In 2008, Time magazine named Elizabeth as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Elizabeth Gilbert lives in New Jersey. Margaret Yardley Potter's book is culled from a lifetime of cooking and entertaining in her home, from the 1920s and through the Second World War. It was first published in 1947. In addition to being a cooking columnist for the Wilmington Star, she also painted, sold dresses, assisted in the birth of four grandchildren and took up swing piano.