My best friend knows that I love vintage cookbooks (she does, too), so for Christmas she got me a facsimile edition of a 1959 Betty Crocker book: "Betty Crocker's Guide to Easy Entertaining: How to have Guests--and Enjoy them."
I have to say that the etiquette advice in this book is still relevant; it always helps to be able to smooth over awkward situations during a party. But the recipes all are from the open-a-box-or-can-and-dump-stuff-in-it school of cooking. To be honest, some of the recipes don't sound half bad, and they remind me of the church potluck food I enjoyed as a child--but then there are the sandwich loaves.
Look at that monstrosity in the lower right corner! It's dyed green! GAAAAAAH! Why were sandwich loaves so popular in the 50s and 60s? I've seen several different recipes in old cookbooks, so they must have been fairly common. I sincerely don't get it. That picture does not look appetizing at all.
In any case, this book has afforded me hours of fun, and I couldn't have asked for a better gift.
I have to say that the etiquette advice in this book is still relevant; it always helps to be able to smooth over awkward situations during a party. But the recipes all are from the open-a-box-or-can-and-dump-stuff-in-it school of cooking. To be honest, some of the recipes don't sound half bad, and they remind me of the church potluck food I enjoyed as a child--but then there are the sandwich loaves.
Look at that monstrosity in the lower right corner! It's dyed green! GAAAAAAH! Why were sandwich loaves so popular in the 50s and 60s? I've seen several different recipes in old cookbooks, so they must have been fairly common. I sincerely don't get it. That picture does not look appetizing at all.
In any case, this book has afforded me hours of fun, and I couldn't have asked for a better gift.
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