Girl Clown Dancing
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact

My Beautiful Love Affair

3/1/2015

26 Comments

 
Picture
 I’m smack dab in the middle of a beautiful love affair.

This wonderful relationship, as the best love affairs so often are, always feels new and exciting… this, despite the fact that my sweetie and I have been happily ensconced for a good two decades.

Oh, and you should also know that my husband isn’t in the picture. 

Even so, he not only approves of what I’m doing, but encourages me on, often and heartily, to please spend more time with my love.

You’ve probably figured out by now that this particular coupling has nothing to do with rolling around in the sheets.

My affair is with vintage cookbooks.

I wouldn’t call myself too obsessive about them.  I mean, I keep my two dozen or so in one specific area of the kitchen, in bookshelves designed just for them. I don’t dust the area as much as I should, but I am always organizing them.  And when that happens, I can’t help but ever-so-slowly leaf through at least one of the books, at least once a week.

The collection began, modestly and not surprisingly, with what was once my mother’s go-to cookbook—the perky, red and white covered Betty Crocker’s Picture Cook Book.  

This is a first edition, published by General Mills in 1950, with dulled silver duct tape now holding the binding together.  Intended for young, post-World War II brides who could barely boil water, the beginning pages of Picture Cook Book feature clear photographs under the title of Useful Kitchen Utensils, and a glossary called Meanings of Terms Often Found in Recipe Directions.  There’s also A Dictionary of Special and Foreign Terms (included here is caviar, entrée and macaroons). 

I absolutely love the Spanish rice recipe, which begins with a hot skillet and four tablespoons of melted butter.  What’s not to like?  There’s also a terrific basic sugar cookie to try, and lots of pies not seen much anymore, including New England Squash and Early American Pear.   

Along the way, I’ve bought Ruth Wakefield’s Toll HouseTried and True Recipes.  Yup, Wakefield is the accidental inventor of the chocolate chip cookie, which she named The Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookie.  (More about the cookie is here, at http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/03/the-accidental-invention-of-the-chocolate-chip-cookie/).  Then, a few years back, my husband gifted me withThe Margaret Rudkin Pepperidge Farm Cookbook, where I read that there really was once a real Pepperidge Farm, part of a 125-acre parcel in Fairfield, Connecticut, purchased by the author and her husband in 1926.

About a year later, in a neighbor’s box of free stuff at her front curb, I discovered, complete with dust cover,The Fireside Cook Book by James Beard.  Published in 1949 by the venerable Simon and Schuster, its subtitle, in luxe cursive handwriting, is “A Complete Guide to Fine Cooking for Beginner and Expert Containing 1,217 Recipes and Over 400 Color Pictures.”   

Of course, my cookbooks are great fun to look at.  But they have imparted two important lessons as well.    

One, cooking is not nearly as difficult and labor intensive as so many of us were taught to believe. 

Indeed, simply follow the recipe.  (And in these vintage gems, most really are pretty  easy.)  You don’t even have to know how to measure, because a measuring cup and spoons do all of that for you.  And after making the dish once, you can always add or subtract seasonings or herbs, thereby making it the signature dish that will become unique to you. 

Two, despite the fact that so many of these recipes routinely call for butter, bacon grease, red meat and white sugar, one didn’t really see morbidly obese people when these books were being used by millions of homemakers.  Why? 

My common sense theory is this:  not one of these dishes calls for ingredients that sound like they were created in a chemistry lab.

In addition, meat was purchased in butcher shops run by real meat cutters, and about half of all Americans picked their veggies from their own backyard gardens. 

All of these elements, in their own way, make the recipes a kind of clean food.  Consequently, what is then put on the table is not only easier to digest, it’s also way easier to not have second helpings because this sort of honest food fills one up the first time around.

All in all, collecting vintage cookbooks, and USING them, has been one of the most satisfying—and certainly the longest lasting—love affairs of my life. 

What about you? 

If you have a favorite cookbook, I’d love to know about it, and why.  And don’t forget to include a recipe… or two or three.   I’m already putting on my apron! 

26 Comments
Hank
3/1/2015 08:08:50 am

What a fun hobby. Somewhere I have a thin box with my Grandma Nuwer's recipes from the 30s and 40s. When I come across it, I'll send a recipe. You must read "Classic Russian Cooking" by Elena Molokhovets (translated by Joyce Toomre).

Reply
Hilary
3/1/2015 09:20:38 am

Oh, I bet there are some treasures in that recipe box. I have my mom's... many Jewish recipes like her noodle kugel... I use the recipes in there on a regular basis.

Reply
Lori Dansky
3/1/2015 08:21:20 am

Love this blog! Your collection and interest in vintage cookbooks sounds fascinating. Have you checked any libraries for more cookbooks? I am not much of cook, I never use cookbooks. I have occasionally used the internet to find a recipe. I pretty much use what my mom taught me and mostly make the same dishes she made. Lots of luck with your new blog, I will continue to follow. I have always enjoyed your writing,

Reply
Hilary
3/1/2015 09:22:28 am

Thanks, Lorraine! I've scoured thrift stores for cookbooks but haven't really looked in the library. Good idea! Since I'm such a foodie, I *willl* be posting recipes from time to time in the blog. Click on the chocolate chip cookie link... interesting facts about how it was invented!

Reply
leslie spoon
3/1/2015 09:06:20 am

Hilary Can you post some of your favorite recipes from those books?

Reply
Hilary
3/2/2015 06:02:05 am

Here's the basic sugar cookie recipe, called Sugar Jumbles...

Mix together:

1/2 cup soft shortening (I use one stick of good butter, softened)
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla (use the real stuff!)

Sift together in a separate bowl (you can borrow my sifter!):
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Stir the dry mixture into the wet mixture.

Drop this batter in teaspoonfuls on a greased cookie sheet, about two inches apart. Bake until VERY lightly browned... about 8 minutes. Cookies should still be soft.

Cool slightly and remove from cookie sheet... and EAT!

No chemicals, no preservatives... YUM! :)

Reply
Hilary
3/2/2015 06:03:05 am

Oh, and bake them in a preheated, 375 degree oven!

leslie spoon
3/2/2015 11:56:13 am

Hilary Thanks for the sugar cookie recipe. I will try it this week and let you know how I like it. Do you have a simple recipe for frosting too?

Hilary
3/2/2015 01:20:25 pm

Frosting is simple... take 1 stick of softened butter and mix in a bowl with a hand held mixer. Add 4 cups of powdered sugar, about one cup at a time. Half way in, add a little bit of half and half, or even a tiny bit of buttermilk, to make it a little thinner. After adding in all of the powdered sugar, you add add a little bit of real vanilla. To flavor the frosting, say, strawberry, add some good strawberry jam. For chocolate, some unsweetened cocoa powder... but I like it just plain!

Deci Mackinnon
3/1/2015 09:32:20 am

Congratulations on the blog! Looking good.

Reply
Hilary
3/2/2015 07:14:48 am

Thank you Deci! I love that this particular platform is geared toward the visual learner like me. :)

Reply
Fran Phinney
3/1/2015 09:38:02 am

I remember your cooking Hilary. Wherever you got your receips, your food was delicious. This from someone who has no interest in stealing your old cookbooks. I'm more of a taste tester....and available to do that. Fun reading.

Reply
Hilary
3/1/2015 11:57:10 am

Haha -- we are BOTH taste testers! xo

Reply
Mary link
3/1/2015 10:41:44 am

I have a 1912 edition of the Fannie Merritt Farmer Boston Cooking School cookbook -- it was my Grandma's originally and came to me through my Mom. It has the recipe my Mom used for our birthday cakes. Devil's Food cake with boiled white icing. It's complicated but delicious! The thing about the recipes is that there are no oven temps, because temperature-controlled ovens hadn't been invented!
Here's the recipe: http://bozoette.typepad.com/red_nose/2012/01/more-birthday-cake.html

Reply
Hilary
3/1/2015 11:54:22 am

Oh, I will have to try this! So, what temperature do you use? 350 degrees seems to be the most common with the cakes I bake. I have a new Fannie Farmer cookbook that my cousin bought me a few years ago... good pie recipes!

Reply
Mary link
3/1/2015 10:00:26 pm

Yep, 350. Works perfectly.

Reply
Larry Grant
3/1/2015 01:07:00 pm

I'm the fortunate beneficiary of my wife's obsession.

Reply
Hilary
3/1/2015 02:13:02 pm

xo

Reply
Jeannie O link
3/2/2015 01:41:49 am

I've just cleaned out my bookshelf and am giving away the paperback, un-photoed version of that Betty Crocker red and white one.
Interesting point about the bacon grease, etc. We all grew up eating more moderately - nowadays seems like people either eat rigidly healthily, or completely fast-food-take-out-grossly. Not so moderately like we all grew up - pork chops and green beans and potatoes, and nope, no one was over-weight. Also, I think with all the working moms, people eat out as a lifestyle now, whereas we all grew up eating out maybe once a week as a treat. And when you eat in restaurants, I feel like they put a ton of butter and cuz it has to be delish so that you return.

Reply
Hilary
3/2/2015 05:49:49 am

Lots of good points here. I pretty much cook from scratch every night, and when we do have pizza at home, I buy a Boboli crust and add fresh veggies to it. I'm not perfect but our little family eats a LOT better than most families I know! We don't do fast food at all in this house.

Reply
Tammy
3/2/2015 09:12:53 am

I love those old cookbooks, I have one the even tells you how to properly set the table. I think you have this cookbook Hilary. The woman's companion cookbook. Wow we have come along ways. I think they are really cool. It's like going back in time and reading the history of cooking. Love your blog Hilary, keep it up!

Reply
Hilary
3/2/2015 09:39:07 am

The Better Homes and Garden cookbook from the 1950s, which I didn't write about but which I also use a LOT, has loads of pictures of how to set the table for different occasions. I also have one called Guide to Entertaining, from the mid-1960s, that's mostly a picture book and a hoot. There's even a section called Teenage Parties! And yes, it IS like going back in time and reading the history of cooking in the United States!

Reply
Jim Nolt
3/3/2015 02:28:06 am

When I was a kid, I was fascinated by my mother's cookbooks. So many wonderful dinners leaped from their pages. My mother died in 1993, and my sister now has those books. They surely do her more good than they would me, but I think I'll ask her to make something for me from one of them sometime soon.

Reply
Hilary
3/3/2015 05:05:49 am

Great idea! So many of the books have hearty stews and casseroles. Have her do one of those and then you'll get more than a few meals out of it. I can usually feed my three-person family (not counting the dogs!) dinner for a total of $10!

Reply
Patti Holman
3/5/2015 06:40:59 pm

Your blog is fun to read, Hilary. I'm excited to read future posts!

Reply
Hilary
3/7/2015 03:39:05 am

I have two more posts in the pipeline! If Lloyd wants to SHARE the blog on his/your Facebook Timeline so more people will know about the blog, well, I wouldn't protest! xo

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Hilary Roberts Grant

    Journalist, editor, filmmaker, foodie--and a clown! 
    ​

    Categories

    All
    Activism
    Blogaversaries
    Doing It Right
    Food
    Holidays
    Living Life
    Miscellany
    My Girl
    People
    Reading
    Remembering
    Taking Care
    Traveling

    Archives

    June 2023
    December 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.