 |
| The newest edition has an orange cover |
Here’s a cookbook I like so much I’m on my second copy…the
first one literally fell apart. The More-with-less Cookbook is one I bought at a restaurant in Kalona, Iowa years ago. It’s actually a cookbook you can read; the
premise of the book was originally a response from the Mennonite Central
Committee to their call for church members to eat and spend 10% less. Mennonite periodicals carried the request for
recipes and hints to help members achieve the goal. This cookbook is a compilation of the
recipes; after more than a 1000 were tested by more than thirty home
economists.
I like the book as much for the recipes, of which there are
plenty, but also for the suggestions, and the thoughts and philosophy about
using and enjoying food without waste.
After 25 years, when I read this book again, I find it has greatly
influenced my own attitudes about cooking and choosing what to cook. Many of the recipes were contributed by church
members and missionaries in many countries, so there is a multicultural feel to
the recipes as well. One of my favorite
features of this book are the suggestions for using any leftovers or excess
food, at the end of each chapter.
The copy I have now is the 25 year reissue of the
original…still the same, but with added comments by people who have used the
original book and recipes. It's a cookbook that will always be on my cookbook shelf! There is now a 40th anniversary version, however it has been edited and some reviewers don't think it's as good as the original!
Here are a few of my favorite recipes from this book.
Scalloped Cabbage
I grew up with this cookbook. My dad was always hesitant at trying new menus, but my mom would say, "It's from the More with Less cookbook" and not only did he relax, but it will usually become a favorite. How funny, though...I haven't tried any of your favorites. Some of my family's standbys are the hot milk sponge cake, pizza rice casserole, cornmeal scrapple, spicy chicken gumbo, meat-potato quiche....I could go on and on!
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm getting out my book now...I do like hot milk spongecake, but my recipe isn't from this book. We'll be trying some of your favorites. We use many recipes from this book, I just didn't put them all on the blog!
DeleteGlad to hear how much your family liked it too.
Have loved this book for years. So practical. Also second the hot milk cake.
ReplyDeleteThose are the kind of recipes I like, as found in the books I have from the 1930s-1950s - mostly locally-sourced ingredients, simple, practical, not over-doing the sugar, economical.
ReplyDelete[Valerie, NZ]
Valerie...this is your cookbook...the book's philosophy is exactly yours and mine.
DeleteYou didn't mention that other virtue of those older cookbooks; smaller portions. You seldom see fat people in photos from that era, probably because they simply ate less. Nothing was over-sized; nothing was wasted.