Here is one of our favorite cookbooks that both of us have, The Golden Treasury of Cooking. This is a cookbook I use a lot, but also read it. The recipes are arranged by Decades and are a great history of the different styles of foods and the ways of cooking. It also shows you the difference in the life styles of families and the roles women played in Society in their different time span.
I think maybe as much as I like and use the recipes from this cookbook, reading it and enjoying the pictures makes it worth the cost of the book. I have the original edition published in 1973 and occasionally you can find it at used book sales. I have seen it at the large annual book sale in Des Moines. Meredith donates overruns of cookbooks and other books published by them to the book sale.
I am using two photos from the book that show you actual test kitchens used by Better Homes and Gardens. The older one is from the 30’s and the blue kitchen is from the 70’s. They say that they try to duplicate the average readers kitchen and tools and appliances so that the recipes are doable in our own kitchen.
We use this book so much we previously have posted quite a few recipes from it, like these classics:
Gumdrop Bars
Feather Rolls still the best
Swedish cabbage rolls! My mom made those, just about the same recipe you have. Her mother, my grandma was Swedish and the best cook ever. I was born on her birthday and named after her 😊
ReplyDeleteGrandma called these caldolmars. Not sure I spelled that correctly.
Very interesting about the test kitchens. Just think of the history and what an influence on America these cookbooks had and still give. They both recorded food and techniques from their respective circa, and explained new ways to cook! Amazing to think about.
We are Norwegian on our Dad's side of the family but had these anyway. I have always been a fan of the Better Homes and Gardens cookbooks and they are the basic cookbook I think most American cooks grew up on. That they are still publishing and updating their cookbooks is amazing also. Have fun trying some of these recipes. Thanks for reading our blog and have a great day.
DeleteMy favorite local thrift store always has a table full of cook books outside for 25¢ each. Lots of the church and group type ones. It is so difficult to restrain myself at that price, but I am getting better. I'll keep my eye out for this one tho. The store is near our three Sun Cities so they get a lot of older type discards and donations.
Delete(I have all the Pillsbury Bake-Off booklets except the first one. We really like the chocolate cake made with a can of cherry pie filling from the 25th year.)
Wow, I sure would have a hard time restraining myself at that price. Our thrift stores carry some but not a lot and seldom a good selection.
DeleteI have been weeding out some of the ones I don't use or look at and than regret that I donated them elsewhere, oh well, such is life.
I absolutely love old cookbooks; well some of the new ones as well but the older ones, they're the tops. I especially look for the ones that have hand written recipes, notes, etc. inside.
ReplyDeleteMy husband keeps telling me that I don't need another cookbook but there are times when I will sneak another one in and he would never know the difference being I have close to 3,000 cookbooks. I could put a new one on the shelf and he would never know.......providing no one told him about it that is :}He knows better than to take me to a Half-Price Book Store. Being married for 47 years I still enjoy a good cookbook
Colleen, that's an impressive collection! Would be fun to see some day. Do you use them or read them. I've been weeding out some of mine as I don't have the room and like to keep buying more.
DeleteI do both Myrna and I try to make at least 1 recipe or more from each and every book. I have been collecting cookbooks since I was 12 years old. I'm in my mid 60's so have been collecting for a number of years
DeleteWhat fun. That is our goal also to make at least two recipes from every cookbook we own. If I can't find anything to make however, it does not stay in my collection. Mainly because of space to keep them. Thanks for reading us.
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