Ever heard of cold-oven pound cake, Hummingbird Cake, Mile-High Bologna Pie, or Mashed-Potato Fudge?

You'll find these recipes and more like them in America's Best Lost Recipes, a book that grew out of a nationwide contest for the best heirloom recipes, with recipes selected and put through their paces by the editors of Cook's Country magazine.

Evocative of both family ties and our national heritage, recipes like these are powerful touchstones for the past. Packed with full-color photos and enhanced features that make it a perfect gift (blank pages on which to detail your own family's lost recipes, a pocket to hold the recipes, and a bookplate), this collection features food you will want to make for your family and friends. Test kitchen notes tell the story of our recipe testing and detail what you need to know to be successful in the kitchen.

Contest entrants describe the recipes and history in their own words in brief introductions, lending this collection a narrative and personal quality few cookbooks possess. A slice of Americana, America's Best Lost Recipes aims to preserve the best our culinary heritage has to offer.