Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book

by Betty Crocker

Hardcover, 1950

Collections

Ridge Haven Library, Family Personal Libraries, DLFJG2023

Publication

McGraw-Hill (1950), 449 pages, First Edition, Sixteenth Printing

Description

It's the book that started it all, the well-loved edition that first bought Betty Crocker cookbooks into American homes and hearts. Published in 1950, this ground-breaking title made cooking easy, it made cooking appealing, and best of all, it made cooking fun. Packed full of practical tips, useful hints, and lavish color photography, this was the book that shaped cooking for generations, the book that people remember. Every recipe you -- or your mother -- ever wanted is here, from pigs inblankets, to Emergency Steak to Chicken Tomato Aspic. Enjoy the clever ideas throughout -- twelve months of birthday cake ideas, showing how to decorate a cake to match each month's gem stone, pointers to make setting up a kitchen easy, or hints to make housework more pleasant. Feel a part of history when making Home Front Macaroni, developed during WW II rationing to stretch meat. Get into the spirit of fun with a Betty Crocker "Cookie Shine" or cookie baking party. People who grew up with thisbook will want it for the memories; those who are new to the book will want it for its charm and its intelligent approach to cooking. It's a perfect keepsake and a great gift.… (more)

Call number

AA.1.20 CRO

User reviews

LibraryThing member HoraceSPatoot

I've been making pies for years, but have never been satisfied with my crusts. This year I decided to put that right, and started making lots of pies and pot pies on weekends, for practice. I tried the methods in quite a few cookbooks; Alton Brown, Better H&G baking, several detailed recipes on the

internet, and I could never quite get the tender, crisp, flaky crust I wanted. Finally, in desperation I reached for my pastry cutter with one hand and Betty Crocker with the other. Combining this book with some of the principles from the other books, I accomplished what I wanted -- crusts so good that I can't think of anything about them that I'd want to improve.

The moral of the story: The book may be old, stained, yellowed, and funky and the illustrations hopelessly out of date, but they really knew a lot about cooking in the days before fast and frozen food. Put the glossier books out for the guests to see on Thanksgiving, but keep this book handy for the actual preparation.

This book has a great deal of good advice that I haven't seen in my other cookbooks. In case you wondered, there never was a Betty Crocker -- she was just a persona...

...or at least that's what the CIA would like for you to think.

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LibraryThing member teandoranges

I bought this first edition copy when I first started learning about collectible books as a hobby. The binder version from the 1960s is what I learned to cook from - a wedding present to my mom. When I found this first edition bound copy in such good shape - it was totally worth the splurge of @$40

at the time. Still use a few recipes from it and love browsing through the colored pictures that were the same as the ones in my mom's 1960s binder version.

Good simple recipes alongside fancy kitschy ones (Baked Alaska!) - and the treatment of women is somewhere between shocking and hilarious. High on the Sentimental Value scale.

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LibraryThing member SunnySD

I inherited my copy from my grandmother, complete with all her penciled in notes on what her husband and other family members did or did not like. Hearty, not necessarily healthy, soup to nuts recipes for almost any occasion. The cream puffs are to die for, the fruitcake variations an annual

tradition, and the sweet dough has graced the table (and promptly disappeared) in the form of cinnamon rolls, coffee cakes, kuchen and Swedish Tea Ring on many a weekend morning. Shepard's Pie, omelets, roast turkey with stuffing.... You name it, it's in here, along with all sorts of helpful basic information for the novice cook.

I even managed to locate a well-loved, used, later edition for my sister when she got married. (Well, I couldn't very well part with mine!)

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LibraryThing member ohjanet

Because the truth is too few foods are made with pounds of lard and bacon fat these days. Bacon jello mold anyone? Okay, so that's not in the book, but plenty of other delectable delights from your grandmother's kitchen table are.

LibraryThing member harleth

This is a book for cookbook lovers and nostalgics. It is a reprint of the original Betty Crocker Cookbook complete with three ring binder and technicolor photographs. While many of the recipes are outdated, unhealthy and certainly not laid out in the luxurious spacious format of modern cookbooks I

don't think that's the purpose of this book. This book is for you to flip through with your mom and laugh about the old sunbeam mixer she used to use. And it looks great on the shelf.

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LibraryThing member annab.

An American Classic -"Home Is Where The Heart Is" printed inside back cover

LibraryThing member drmarymccormack

This was my first cook book.My mother-in-law gave it to me and it was old when she received it. The guide to be a good housekeeper in the back is SUPER FUNNY! My husband always asks me if I have any interesting stories to relate from my day. But... this is how I learned to bake. What a great

introduction!

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LibraryThing member jeanbmac

I owned a copy of this book in the '60s and gave it away when we moved across the country. When I came across a pristine copy at the Library sale, it was like contacting an old friend. Naturally, I had to buy it. It's now taken up residence with my other treasured cookbooks.

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