Retro Recipe Books

The great spring purge has begun, thanks to Marie Kondo.  Not going into details on how silly I find her Netflix show, or how I don't determine if  every object I own does or does not bring me joy.  What she has done is inspire me to declutter and to organize. Time consuming, yes, but already my life seems more focused. Exercise (or exorcism) number one was kitchen cupboards and the dining room hutch.  There, I unearthed some amusing, well worn cookbooks.

Since this is my year of retro reading, I figured talking about them fits the bill.  So far in 2019  my vintage  reading has included The Road to Wellville, Mary Poppins, and The Egg and I.  On Saturday I sold a copy of  Valley of the Dolls. that counts, right?  

Let's get cookin'.  Isn't she lovely?  I wonder what marketing genius thought that the target audience of 1960's American housewife would relate to this image.

Apparently people in the 60's were eating lots and lots of casseroles. These pages are filled with yummy concoctions, many including "medium white sauce" -  the recipe for which is nowhere to be found in this cookbook. The final pages suggest recipes for a nice luncheon to serve to guests: lettuce salad, hash, and vegetable casserole. For breakfast we might like cream of tomato soup along with berry pancakes.

Of course, most of these simple, small books proudly feature goodies made with a specific ingredient, and so we find Aunt Jenny recommending Spry Shorting throughout 10 Cakes Husbands Like Best. Except for the 1/2 cup of Homogenized Spry, the Chocolate Rapture Cake sounds pretty good. Turn the page and you'll find a cake sure to loosen up even the most uptight man in your life - spicy prune whip cake.

I found a tiny LaChoy book with drawings of an ethnic character sprinkled about  Few people other than the current White House occupant, would find this acceptable.  

This cute banana book from the fine Chiquita folks actually has some good ideas although I doubt that I

would ever serve baked bananas along with brussel sprouts, fried green tomatoes and cream corn at the same meal.  On page 9, you will find a lively little song, complete with musical notation, celebrating  the nutrients found in bananas, and the final page explains why we need bananas in every stage our our lives. "Old folks find a fully ripe banana a pleasing, satisfying treat because they are a bland food, easy to chew, easy to digest and low in fat content."  

My favorite find turned out to be a 1926 offering from the Corn Products Refining Company titled The Modern Method of Preparing Delightful Foods.  Mrs. Ida Baily Allen shows us how to set a proper tea table for four, but the poor dear is pictured at a table with only enough room for one chair. I now know how to prepare a fancy ladies luncheon, but I couldn't tell if is the ladies or the luncheon that should fancy.

As in the Kitchen Craft  book, Mrs. Ida sets great store in a proper breakfast. She tell us "a substantial meal, hastily swallowed, is often worse than nothing.  Each breakfast makes a new beginning.  It should be a happy - gay -satisfying meal."  While I agree with that, I question her suggestion to jump start the day with codfish balls, and dried beef.  Serving breakfast on washable, stenciled
doilies only takes a minute and enhances the experience...doilies or not, there are still those codfish balls!

Anyway, happy spring cleaning.  I hope you find lots and lots of treasures to save and peruse when spring cleaning 2020 comes around.

Thanks for stopping by.