The 98-year-old’s adventures at Fallingwater are intertwined with recipes for the dishes she served there for 15 years in The Fallingwater Cookbook: Elsie Henderson's Recipes and Memories, written by Suzanne Martinson. Chef Robert Sendall and the late Jane Citron, longtime cooking instructor, also contributed to this unique volume. During the library program, Henderson will respond to questions from friend Lowell Britson, and then answer questions posed by the audience. Copies of The Fallingwater Cookbook will be available for purchase and signing after the presentation. Register to attend this program online, visit the library circulation desk, or call 724.941.9430.
At 98 years old, Elsie Henderson is certainly a woman of many stories. Rising from her Mount Washington roots as the youngest of 14 children, Elsie found her blue collar self in a world of American royalty. Her natural know-how in the kitchen landed her jobs cooking for families like the Mellons, Heinzes, Shrivers and Kennedys.
But her longest and most memorable position was as a cook and baker for Pittsburgh retail mogul Edgar J. Kauffman at Fallingwater, the architectural masterpiece of a home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Here, Elsie’s found herself among the nation’s most famous writers, painters, opera singers, industrialists and politicians. Her experiences went beyond whipping up sweetbreads and soufflés, allowing her to see into a world of wealth, influence and celebrity.
Now retired and living in Highland Park, Elsie has not stopped cooking. She combines her expert recipes with her quirky stories about the lives of the rich as famous as seen from their kitchens in the new book, The Fallingwater Cookbook: Elsie Henderson’s Recipes and Memories.
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