Thomas Jefferson ["Maccaroni" machine with instructions for making pasta] Holograph drawing and text, 1787

Guided Primary Source Analysis: Jefferson’s Pasta Machine

Curator description: Thomas Jefferson noted these plans for a macaroni or pasta machine while touring northern Italy in 1787. When Jefferson prepared these plans, macaroni was a highly fashionable food in Paris, where he was stationed as minister to France. He later commissioned his secretary William Short to purchase a macaroni machine in Italy, but…

Katharine Burrill, Annie M Booth. "The Amateur Cook." c 1906.

Today in History: Fannie Farmer & Cooking

Today in History–March 23–the Library of Congress features cookbook author Fannie Farmer, born on this day in 1857. In 1896 she published the Boston Cooking School Cookbook (known today as the Fannie Farmer Cookbook), which was the first to feature standardized measurements. Learn more about Farmer and American cooking by visiting the Today in History section, then click the links below to access a cornucopia…