Kitchen

[151949]

My Grandma gave me a cookbook as a wedding shower gift that was everything you needed to know about cooking and entertaining.I still have it though it is pretty darn beat up by now. It has everything -- how to set tables from the most formal to a picnic. Menus - meals for 2 , 3, 4 etc. luncheon menus and formal dinner parties and all in between. All you need to know about meats - different cuts , how to cook them, carve them and serve them. Including a chart on how long to cook various meats. A section on appetizers, how to can veggies, how to make bread.Even how to pack a lunch box. Any question anyone every had about preparing or serving food is in this book. it is called THE AMERICAN HOMEMAKER.

[okaywitheasypay]

Yes. I have 2 Betty Crocker 's from the late 60s early 70s when I was a newlywed. The spines are patched with good ole duct tape and some pages torn , stained, & frankly a little rancid (butter or oil) . The old gals still have some helpful info and memories.

My go to cook book though is a Better Homes golden one from the 80s(?) I love the way it is indexed with markers.

[colliegirls]

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@ECBG wrote:

Do you still have it?

I do, and still it's always been my reference book!

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Me too, and it is still my favorite to this day!!

[novamc1]

The big bookstore in our community (Books-a-Million) is closing their store here--today is the last day------and all books have been discounted for a while.

It is a big store, and the cookbook section alone  covers almost the entire back wall of the store.  Fun to browse and look at it. 

I wound up buying a couple of little gifts for my granddaughter and for  myself, a big three-ring-binder edition of a more recent Betty Crocker cookbook, and a similar three-ring edition of the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook.

My old Betty Crocker is just like the OP's and is literally falling apart..   The newer versions of these old cookbooks include dishes no one could have imagined 40-50 years ago.

[house_cat]

@ECBG

I have the same one, along with a few others that I've ordered from Ebay. I love vintage cookbooks!  I have a BC cookbook from the 1950 that arrived in very good condition. It has notes throughout, from the original owner, for instance "Make this for Bill's birthday" and other family notes. I wish I knew the owner.

[deepwaterdotter]

I often refer to the "Betty Crocker" 3-ring-binder cookbook that my mother received as a wedding gift in 1955.  It has many stains, smudges, and hand-written notes lovingly applied while she was nourishing her growing family.  This cookbook is my personal treasure.  My choice of a more currently-published volume is "Cook's Illustrated Cookbook."

[house_cat]

I enjoy making recipes from the old books when cooking from scratch was seriously cooking from scratch.  We take so many conveniences for granted.

[novamc1]

@deepwaterdotter

I recently received two promotional issues of Cooks Illustrated magazine and just took advantage of their offer to subscribe for one year.  Fascinating info in there about everything from kitchen tools and cookware to dishes that the staff has tested, supposedly  up to 40 times per recipe.

[cotto22]

I received Pierre Franey's 60 Minute Gourmet as a gift, and made some incredible meals. They were not basic by any means, and I ended up having a very messy kitchen when I was done cooking, but it started me on a long voyage of loving to cook. In all truthfulness, I did not start using this book and another by this chef until we had our first child and I was home and not working. 

[deepwaterdotter]

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@novamc1 wrote:

@deepwaterdotter

I recently received two promotional issues of Cooks Illustrated magazine and just took advantage of their offer to subscribe for one year.  Fascinating info in there about everything from kitchen tools and cookware to dishes that the staff has tested, supposedly  up to 40 times per recipe.

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I have been an online subscriber for over 10 years.  I think you will find the articles to be very explicit and enlightening.