"Receipt" is the old American word for recipe — and these are worth handing down. Open the recipe box →
Heirloom American cookingThe Food Receipt
Heirloom American cooking

The recipes worth handing down, written for today's kitchen.

The Food Receipt shares classic American home cooking and baking — buttermilk biscuits, Sunday pot roast, double-crust apple pie — with clear modern measurements, plus help reading the old family recipe cards tucked in your kitchen drawer.

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30+old-time terms explained
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Mother's Biscuits
  • 2 teacups flour
  • butter the size of an egg
  • 1 gill buttermilk, scant
  • soda, a saltspoon
  • quick oven — till brown

An example of how older family recipes were often written. Our translator turns terms like these into modern measurements.

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Heirloom favorites

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Tall & Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits

Golden, layered biscuits made with cold butter and tangy buttermilk — the kind that pull apart in steamy flakes.

⏱ 34 min8 biscuitsBakingBreakfast

Cast-Iron Skillet Cornbread

Crisp-edged, lightly sweet cornbread baked in a sizzling hot cast-iron skillet. Ready in 30 minutes.

⏱ 32 minOne 10-inch roundBakingSides

Sunday Dutch-Oven Pot Roast

Beef chuck braised low and slow with onions, carrots and potatoes until fork-tender, in a rich pan gravy.

⏱ 3 hr 55 min6 generous servingsSuppersBeef

Old-Fashioned Chicken & Dumplings

Tender chicken in a silky broth with fluffy drop dumplings steamed right on top. Pure comfort in a bowl.

⏱ 1 hr 10 min6 bowlsSuppersChicken

Double-Crust Apple Pie

A flaky all-butter crust filled with cinnamon-spiced apples, baked until bubbling and golden.

⏱ 1 hr 55 minOne 9-inch pieBakingPies

Classic Pumpkin Pie

A smooth, spiced pumpkin custard in a crisp, blind-baked crust — the centerpiece of the Thanksgiving dessert table.

⏱ 1 hr 40 minOne 9-inch pieBakingPies
Lessons from grandma's kitchen

Old habits that still make better food

Generations of home cooks learned these by feel. We explain the why.

1.

Keep pastry cold

Cold butter melts in the oven and creates steam pockets — that's what makes biscuits and pie crust flaky.

2.

Cook low and slow

Tough, economical cuts like chuck become tender with gentle, patient braising.

3.

Heat the skillet first

A sizzling cast-iron pan gives cornbread and potatoes their crisp, golden crust.

4.

Let it rest

Pies, roasts and cakes all slice better after a rest. Patience is an ingredient.

Free tool

What's a "gill"? How hot is a "moderate oven"?

Old American recipes were written in measurements few of us use today. Our free measure translator converts terms like teacup, wineglass, butter the size of an egg and slow oven into modern cups, tablespoons and Fahrenheit temperatures. It works in your browser — nothing you enter is sent to us.

  • Volume terms: gill, teacup, coffee cup, wineglass, saltspoon
  • "Size of" butter measures and oven descriptions
  • Approximate modern equivalents with notes
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Old-Fashioned Butter Pound Cake

A fine-crumbed, buttery pound cake with a golden crust — simple, rich and perfect with fruit and cream.

⏱ 1 hr 30 minOne 10-inch tube or two loavesBakingCakes
Questions

Frequently asked

Why is it called The Food Receipt?

"Receipt" was the common word for a recipe in early American cookbooks and family notebooks, and many older cooks kept using it well into the 1900s. The name is a nod to that tradition of writing down and passing on the dishes a family loves.

Are these historical recipes?

They are original modern recipes for classic American dishes, written in the spirit of traditional home cooking. We share general history about each dish, but we don't reproduce text from historical cookbooks or claim any recipe belonged to a particular person.

Is the site free?

Yes. Recipes, guides, the translator and holiday plan requests are all free. The site may show ads to cover costs — see Funding & Ads.