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I have a few cookbooks from the 50s and 60's, and family recipes from way before that. I love getting ones with handwritten tips in them, or better yet hand written recipes!
My rule of thumb is that lard adds flavor, and if you're ever in doubt, grease it up! (good thing I don't cook from scratch all the time, I'd never lose weight!)
My mom's house burned to the ground when she was 12. As a gift, all her mom's friends (my grandmother), presented her (my grandmother) with a recipe book they each wrote their favorite recipes of the day in. She then was able to add to it over many years. It is my absolute favorite possesion from my grandparents.
I have more trouble finding the ingredients form some of the older recipes. It's funny I read some of the older cookbooks and I am horrified at the fat content, lol, but things were so different then. The portions were smaller, there wasn't much junk food, less or no additives, and people got more exercise.
Seriously though. I never got what a #2 can was...as an example. When the recipe called for a canned ingredient, they wouldn't say how many ounces should be in the can, but what number the can was.
... Seriously though. I never got what a #2 can was...as an example. When the recipe called for a canned ingredient, they wouldn't say how many ounces should be in the can, but what number the can was.
You need a Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book - General Mills Inc 1950 First Edition. I have the one that belonged to my parents. I like this book because it has a lot of things I would want to cook. For example dishes with less than ten ingredients, and things I would probably have around the house. And basic information not found in more modern volumes, such as how to cook a chicken, or make hard boiled eggs, or how to cook many kinds of vegetables. Plus how to measure, equivalents, substitutions and contents of cans. How to prepare special ingredients and meaning of terms.
It is charming to read the sections for the new post WWII suburban households such as what utensils to have and how to have a dinner or party for friends.
I have been told that the baking instructions must be reinterpreted now because a change in today's flours.
I was looking through an old cookbook from my grandma and found a pickle recipe. First instruction said to start with a peck of cucumbers. I stopped and didn't read any further. There were some other rather interesting recipes I would have tried, but since the can sizes and packaging have changed, I have no idea about conversion, e.g., large package of marshmallows. Some of the titles were cute, too... Cherry Yum Yum and Stuff Husbands Like.
I have some really old, vintage recipe booklets from way back when - one of them was done by Bisquick back in the 30s, and each recipe was spotlighted by a celebrity (Claudette Colbert, Mary Pickford, Bing Crosby, etc.) this is one where they included meal plans for hosting parties, and one of the items listed in the dinner plan was "cigarettes". Yikes!
I had an old "Cooky" cookbook from back in the 50s that I picked up at a yard sale, which I loved because the previous owner actually had tried nearly each recipe and added comments next to each one (Good, Excellent, Bad, etc.). I have lost track of it but fortunately my SIL took several of my recipe books years ago and made photocopies from cover to cover. My best recipe for snickerdoodles was in that booklet, and I haven't made them since I lost track of the booklet. Maybe I need to hit up my SIL soon!
I recall an old cookbook that gave instructions for fried chicken that began "Select a chicken with a bright red crop and comb."
Not that's a good example from an old book. One of the things I like is the window into the past these books show. They just casually mention things that sometimes stop us in our tracks or sometimes are just a thinker.
Quote:
Originally Posted by modifiedancer
I have a few cookbooks from the 50s and 60's, and family recipes from way before that. I love getting ones with handwritten tips in them, or better yet hand written recipes!
Yes, and when buying these old books sometimes recipes, printed or by hand, are stuck in the pages. I keep those too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CoastalMaine
My mom's house burned to the ground when she was 12. As a gift, all her mom's friends (my grandmother), presented her (my grandmother) with a recipe book they each wrote their favorite recipes of the day in. She then was able to add to it over many years. It is my absolute favorite possesion from my grandparents.
CoastalMaine, that's awesome!
Quote:
Originally Posted by TKramar
"Grease the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan...."
Seriously though. I never got what a #2 can was...as an example. When the recipe called for a canned ingredient, they wouldn't say how many ounces should be in the can, but what number the can was.
Many books have conversions to ounces.
Quote:
Originally Posted by quiet walker
You need a Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book - General Mills Inc 1950 First Edition. I have the one that belonged to my parents. I like this book because it has a lot of things I would want to cook. For example dishes with less than ten ingredients, and things I would probably have around the house. And basic information not found in more modern volumes, such as how to cook a chicken, or make hard boiled eggs, or how to cook many kinds of vegetables. Plus how to measure, equivalents, substitutions and contents of cans. How to prepare special ingredients and meaning of terms.
It is charming to read the sections for the new post WWII suburban households such as what utensils to have and how to have a dinner or party for friends.
I have been told that the baking instructions must be reinterpreted now because a change in today's flours.
My thoughts too. I love to read those kinds of instructions and such just as much as the recipes!
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