Unappreciated cookbooks

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danbuter

Senior Cook
Joined
Aug 12, 2011
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350
Location
Pennsylvania
Just wanted to know what cookbooks you think are great that don't get much mention. We all know Julia Childs, Fannie Farmers, Joy of Cooking, Silver Spoon, Bayless, etc.

I'm betting most of the underappreciated cookbooks are regional or even church cookbooks. If there are any general cookbooks that haven't made a splash, it would be cool to hear about them as well.
 
Well this is a start,

The old cooks almanac by Beatrice Vaughan
More with less cookbook by Doris Jantzen Longacre
American cooking by Sidney W. Dean
Prairie Kitchen Sampler by E. Mae Fritz
Country Flavor Cookbook by Hayden S. Pearson
The taste of country cooking by Edna Lewis
Crosscreek country cooking by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

The list goes on and on. Most any cookbook written before 1960 is worth looking at.
 
Were cookbooks done differently before 1960? I'm guessing maybe longer prep times or something? Sounds interesting.
 
I find the most unappreciated cookbooks are local church and organization cookbooks. I love opening up my old church cookbooks and seeing recipes written by my grandma, aunt, and other long-gone friends and family. And they all really knew how to cook!
 
I find the most unappreciated cookbooks are local church and organization cookbooks. I love opening up my old church cookbooks and seeing recipes written by my grandma, aunt, and other long-gone friends and family. And they all really knew how to cook!

I agree with you once you get past all of the mushroom soup and jello you can find some real heirloom recipes.
 
Aunt Bea said:
I agree with you once you get past all of the mushroom soup and jello you can find some real heirloom recipes.

Lol! My great aunt even published a recipe for Playdoh! We used to make it with her all the time as kids.
 
I find the most unappreciated cookbooks are local church and organization cookbooks. I love opening up my old church cookbooks and seeing recipes written by my grandma, aunt, and other long-gone friends and family. And they all really knew how to cook!
Absolutely!!!
Those cookbooks are a treasure trove of good eats!!!
 
People cooked.

I agree with you once you get past all of the mushroom soup and jello you can find some real heirloom recipes.

LOL!!! You hit that nail right on the head! Twice. It's the reason I usually avoid the church & organization books.

Most of the older books didn't have many pictures. They were just a collection of recipes, and you had to picture it yourself. I think the old standbys like Betty Crocker and Good Housekeeping are greatly underappreciated today. If they had a pic of every recipe, they'd get a lot more use.
 
A few months back I found a copy of the 'Women's Circle Cook Book: Reader Tested Recipes' from 1971 in a second-hand store. I've found a few gems in there, including a great egg-less, moist chocolate cake recipe (is it just me, or free-range / organic eggs getting ever more expensive?).

It's quite extensive, covering everything - punches, meals, starters, bread, candy and loads more. Some things I've never even heard of before. It also contains some excellent recipes passed on through generations of immigrant families.

Another great little gem is 'Henderson's Wholefood Cookbook' from Henderson's Vegetarian Restaurant / Cafe / Bakery in Edinburgh, which I picked up years ago when I lived in Scotland.
 
Lol! My great aunt even published a recipe for Playdoh! We used to make it with her all the time as kids.


I'd love to get a copy of this recipe pretty please if possible :) My mother used to make us home-made playdoh as a kid, but I don't think she has the ingredients list anymore
 
VegLover said:
I'd love to get a copy of this recipe pretty please if possible :) My mother used to make us home-made playdoh as a kid, but I don't think she has the ingredients list anymore

Sure!

Play Doh

3 c. Flour, 1 c. Salt, 1 T. Alum

Add enough water to these ingredients to give it a good working consistency. Food coloring may be added and this will store in covered containers for several days.
 
I hate it when that happens. I just hit something on the keyboard that deleted this. Start again.

I, too, cannot say enough about local civic organization cookbooks, especially for novice cooks who might live in areas where exotic ingredients are not readily available. I've bought them (there are 3 I think) in Hawaii, at ethnic festivals (my go-to-Greek resource) and a dozen or so places in between.

I went upstairs to just look at my extensive collection and of the books, the most worn out are "All Along the Danube" by Polvay (a collection of eastern European recipes), "Le Guide de la Cuisine Traditionelle Quebecoise" that I pull out every time I make tourtiere, even though I've settled on my own recipe, just to refresh my thoughts (I bought it in French to challenge my little gray cells, but it is available in English), and Jane Butel's Hotter than Hell. It just kills me that I can't find my all time go-to Italian cookbook, maybe it fell apart and died. It was something like the Rogmalis, I think from an old PBS series.

These are cookbooks I've used to death, to the point where I seldom use them any more because they're somewhere imprinted in my brain. But if you pick them up and let them flop open, they will open to a recipe I've used to death, the pages smeared and spotted, and notations on how to change the recipe -- double, halve or eliminate -- all over.
 
I love " Fix-it and Forget-it Cookbook - Feasting With Your Slow Cooker" by Ranck and Good. I bought it at one of my school's cheap book sales, and it's a compilation of TNT recipes. Much stained and well used.
 

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