Series consists of approximately 300 culinary, medical, and household recipes dating from roughly the 1780s through the 1850s. Recipes are handwritten in multiple late 18th- and early 19th-century hands on papers of varying sizes, including many small fragments. Medical recipes consist of doctors' prescriptions and various formulae for making and using medicines. Household recipes and instructions are found for products such as polishes, cleaning solutions, and dyes, and activities such as clothes washing. Culinary recipes, the largest category of recipes, are found for a variety of dishes and ingredients, including multiple recipes for puddings, wines, jellies, cakes, gingerbreads, vinegars, biscuits, yeast, pickled dishes, and preserved fruits.
Many contain attributions by the recipe writers, listing the creator or provenance of the recipe. Some recipes also feature names of addressees. Many of these are addressed to Mrs. Warde and appear to be recipes that were either sent to her or solicited by her from friends and acquaintances. One document that postdates the rest of the items in the series is a bill (1950) addressed to Mrs. Warde-Aldam (MSG 1231-2-9).