Roger nailed it. It was cooking. Tarbell had been asked to contribute recipies to a cookbook by a Mrs. George Warnsing of Petersburg, Ill. In August of 1928 Tarbell replied that she didn't have any recipe worth sending. "Years ago I was able to make three or four things very well. I could make a pie crust as flaky as any you ever saw and I could make delicious waffles and Scotch Woodcock. These accomplishments were in the nature of parlor tricks."
Later, Tarbell noted "Spurred by your letter, I tried a few weeks ago to make waffles for the family. The results were so tragic that out of respect to me nobody has spoken in my presence of the episode since--a silence which is as funny to me as the waffles were disappointing to them."
Roger, if I can ever find Tarbell's recipe for Scotch Woodcock, I'll send it to Vicki and she can make it for you--or you can make it for her.
Best
Rob
Abraham Lincoln is the only man, dead or alive, with whom I could have spent five years without one hour of boredom.
--Ida M. Tarbell
I want the respect of intelligent men, but I will choose for myself the intelligent.