Vintage Cookbooks

To state it simply, I love cookbooks! I especially adore vintage cookbooks. I learned to cook from my mother and two cookbooks: Betty Crocker's Cookbook (23rd printing 1974, copyright 1969) and The Fannie Farmer Cookbook revised by Wilma Lord Perkins (Eleventh Edition, 1965). My mother gave me the basic building blocks of cooking and the two cookbooks taught me the many structures that could be created. One of the reasons I love vintage cookbooks so much is that they don't insult your intelligence. They expect that you can debone meat, mix batters by hand, and chop, slice, and mince with your own knife. I no longer wonder that most Americans no longer know how to cook from scratch when many of today's cookbooks use as many convenience items as possible and advertise that all of your meals can be cooked in 30 minutes or less. There are popular chefs whose cookbooks do not follow this trend, but I fear their cookbooks end up being coffee table books rather than kitchen staples. I hope I am wrong, but with the number of people who tell me they don't know how to cook makes me worry.

Another thing lacking in many newer cookbooks is taste. Boneless, skinless meat should only be used to a certain extent. Cooks should not fear putting oil or butter in their pan rather than spray oil. Vintage cookbooks give me the recipes as people used to make them, full of flavor and style, but with out pretension. And after cooking a while, you can be your own judge of whether that recipe you want to try really needs a whole stick of butter or a whole cup of heavy cream. I approach vintage cookbooks as I approach all recipes - I adapt them to my own tastes or those of my guests.

So, my favorite cream of mushroom soup recipe is adapted from a Fannie Farmer recipe. I cut the butter and the cream. I usually use half-and-half rather than cream because that's typically what I have in my refrigerator. My favorite chicken potpie recipe is actually my mother’s, which she adapted from Betty Crocker. If you limit yourself to what is exactly in a recipe, you will get bored in your kitchen quickly. That said, vintage cookbooks are the land of "new" ideas and invention. There is a greater variety of ingredients in comparison to today's limited diet.

My current library of "vintage" cookbooks (and I suppose I use that liberally, since some are from the 60s) includes:

Betty Crocker's Cookbook by General Mills, Inc; copyright 1969, printed 1974.
The Fannie Farmer Cookbook revised by Wilma Lord Perkins; copyright 1965.
[I want to get this book in its older editions as well and compare the recipes.]
The American Heritage Cookbook by the editors of American Heritage, copyright 1964.
Sweets [appears to be by Lydia E. Pinkham's Medicines, no date is given]
The Metropolitan Cook Book by Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, printed 1925.
Choice Recipes: How To Operate a Fireless Cookstove by Toledo Cooker Company, copyright 1920.
Victory Cook Book: How to Eat Well... Live Well... Plan Balanced Meals... under Food Rationing by Lysol Disinfectant, copyright 1943 [and free with purchase of Lysol].
Everybody's Cook Book published by The Haskin Service, (no date, but was printed during WWII).
The next two I just received for Christmas from my brother, Kurt, and his wife, Jenny.
Modern Priscilla Cookbook: 1,000 Recipes and Cooking Methods by The Priscilla Publishing Company, copyright 1929.
The Wine Cook Book by The Browns (Cora, Rose and Bob), copyright 1951.

My new favorite sentence is: "Cookery becomes an art when judgment, skill, creative ability and a fine appreciation of flavors enter into it." [Quoted from Modern Priscilla Cookbook] Finally I have proof that I am artistic - with food!

Geeky Joy

Unlike many Wisconsinites who have apparently lost all contact with reality and stayed in this weekend for fear of the deadly storm, I went and did a few errands yesterday. I have been feeling a little under the weather emotionally lately, mostly the effect of a very long, very slow search for a job. So, I made a trip to a bookstore. I debated going to one of my favorite political bookstores in downtown Madison, but I felt the roads mixed with less-than-intelligent drivers made that a bad choice. So, I ended up at a chain bookstore, but a very nice one that caters to a highly educated neighborhood.

I don't venture into bookstores as often as I would like because I buy more than is necessary every time. I managed to restrain myself this time and only bought two books (Nalo Hopkinson's newest novel and The Darker Nations). After that purchase, I realized I hadn't browsed the magazines. Am I ever glad I decided to look around. I found Gastronomica, a journal printed by the University of California Press. This is the best find in a long time! What is better than a quarterly journal that "is a vital forum for ideas, discussion, and thoughtful reflection on the history, literature, representation, and cultural impact of food?"*

*This quote is lifted from the Gastronomica website which I've linked in the sidebar.

Never tease a starving person

The other night I went to the gym for an intense aerobic workout (heavy bag, 3 1/5 mile run and 20 minutes on the stationary bike). I would have done some stair climber as well, but my ride had arrived. On the the way home, hunger pangs stabbing, I inquired as to what we were having for dinner. The response? "Leftover pea soup." I love pea soup, but like anything, I don't like eating it repeatedly within a short period of time. The excuse was that mom didn't feel like cooking and he was "lazy." I was angry. I admit it. The result was a less than enthusiastic response when I found out he HAD cooked. I snapped. I'm ashamed. I blame hunger and a not-so-hot day. A sorry excuse I guess.
Now, the family joke is, when dad cooks dinner is one of the following:
Frozen pizza
Grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup
Chicken cacciatore
(and more recently:)
meatloaf
spaghetti

That evening, though, dad had gotten creative. A pork dish reminiscent of Caribbean dishes, asparagus, and (sweet) cornbread. It was delicious. I ate a bit before taking a picture. *sheepish grin* This is how he described making this dish.
He found a recipe for stuffed pork and sort of followed it, but not really. He chopped half of a large onion, an apple and some walnuts. He cooked the pork loin, which he had sliced, in a pan with water. He sauteed the onion, apple and walnuts together and added undefined amounts of sage, marjoram, cinnamon, salt, pepper and honey. The result was a slightly sweet pork dish. It was so good. The asparagus was boiled. The cornbread (from a Land o' Lakes cookbook) was baked. My angry stomach monster was assuaged. Thanks Dad!

I also mutter outside the kitchen

In fact, if anyone comes within audible distance of me while I'm doing most anything they will inevitably ask, "What?"

I grumbled and muttered a lot while making this skirt from some material I bought while in Japan for a friend's wedding. I loved the fabric, and now I have a skirt I love. I took a full skirt pattern and shortened the main body of the skirt. Then, through much trial and error, I figured out that in order to make the border I had to extend the part I cut off by 1 1/4 inches at the top and 5/8 of an inch at the bottom. I hemmed the skirt and both sides of the border and then sewed the border to the inside of the skirt. I also discovered the reason you stay stitch curved edges, especially on long narrow pieces like those. The original cut pieces were way too long once they stretched out of shape. Luckily, I bought enough of that fabric to cut more pieces (just barely, though). Now I just have to find a shirt that looks good with it. The sweater in the photo is okay, but the collar (which you can't see) isn't quite the right style.

This skirt will not be worn while I cook. I have ruined many-a-clothing item wearing it while cooking. I am a MESSY cook. Even when I try to be neat, it doesn't work. I can use a splatter screen and the grease will still coat the entire top of the range. That's why I have a clean up crew (my mother). I don't think she minds too much, seeing as I do most of the cooking while living with them. It allows her to actually enjoy cooking when she does it, as opposed to while we were growing up. Every day we posed the question "What are we having for dinner?" To which she would reply, "I don't know, what sounds good?" The perpetual answer..., "I dunno. Food?" The woman (or man) who does all the cooking for the family is a tortured soul, especially when they cook only because nobody else will or can.

Which reminds me, I don't have to cook tonight. We have split pea soup. I'll post a picture and recipe tomorrow. I thought I might add a dessert of stuffed chayote.
I actually knew what I could do with this vegetable thanks to The Field Guide to Produce by Aliza Green that I got for Christmas from my brother and sister-in-law. They also got me the Field Guide to Meat and the Field Guide to Herbs and Spices. Hopefully this will lead to more creative cooking on my part.