more retro food

Along with aquiring Kermit's old book, I got 4 additions to my 60's and 70's Better Home and Gardens cookbook collection (see others here and here). I got these 4 gems:



The first one, All-time Favorite Beef Recipes, is the most boring. By Boring, I mean it contains mostly good-looking recipes. Like these short ribs:



Moving on, The After Work Cook Book has a few things that make me giggle. Recipes such as this Sweet and Sour Chicken Mold:


The next one, Lunches and Brunches, is pretty darn awesome. Plus! It came with a bonus...some handwritten and typed recipe cards, and a business card for "Microwave Magic Internationsl" which offered a Microwave cooking school and a complete line of microwaves and accessories.

This book also had a savory gelatin ring. This time, a tomato aspic topped with Perfect Potato Salad." mmmmmmm...


Also, this tuna ring:


Last, but certainly not least, is the Meat Cook Book. Wow, is this one fun. "Meat" turns out to encompass a wide variety of protiens, including fish, offal and "canned luncheon meat." Here is said SPAM with potatoes. Canned potatoes.


This tongue recipe actually sounds interesting...


Can you spot the "interesting" part of this recipe?



dang, I am so hooked on these books!! Luckily they are cheap...I didn't pay more than $2 for each of them. There was a booth with more of them, but they were $3.50 a piece, which I found just too high. Which shows that I'm not completely addicted....right?

kermit's cutco cookbook

I went to browse around an antique mall close to where I live last night. I left with some vintage cookbooks. The most expensive one being this Cutco cookbook at $3.95. I could not resist, mainly because of the adorable illustrations within...


Also, seeing the former owner's name clinched the sale...

Plus! It might just come in handy. It has good info on some basics that you don't see in today's 30 minute cookbooks. Check out this page identifying offal or "variety meats"!

Now, being a 1961 book, I was pretty shocked at the...un-PC..well...pretty much downright racist caricatures. Huh...




History is crazy! Eek.

Anyway, my mom has given us a cutco knife for the past two Christmases. Our old neighbor boy (bully!) sells them. We have the carving knife and the pairing knife. They are pretty good knives (compared to our pathetic old cheap knife collection), and looking at the photos in the book, It looks like the design hasn't changed in over 40 years! Neat!

thrifty gourmet

So another fun thing I did on my vacation last week was visit garage sales and thrift stores and such. Thrifting is one of my favorite things to do. Just about my entire wardrobe is thanks to Goodwill. Going in to normal retail stores for clothes has become nearly impossible...$15 for a shirt? Whatevs, I won't pay more than $4. :)

Anyway, ever since I found these crazy 60's cookbooks at a church rummage sale a couple months ago, I have been keeping my eyes peeled for cookbooks and kitchen items while I'm thriftin' it up.

So, Wednesday I got up early and hit some garage sales. I was only able to find 3 sales...must plan better next time. Oh well, still got some good stuff. At one I got 4 Frugal Gourmet cookbooks for $1 a piece. And, no, I was not aware of Jeff Smith's legal issues when I bought them. Now I don't know that I really want to use them. I mostly got them for Jack, as he grew up watching the show every Saturday morning after cartoons. He seemed to thing it was a pretty cool purchase.


And in two of the books there were bonuses from the previous owner! A 1989 magazine article and a handwritten deep-dish pizza recipe. I love finding tidbits like these in old books!


At another sale I got one of my favorite finds, a stack of old tupperware sandwich boxes with a handle to connect them all. I love the 60's colors! I love the handle! I can't wait to use this for a picnic. I'm imagining it filled with various antipasto. The brown one is missing it's lid, but I can use it for something, I'm sure...

Speaking of Tupperware, check out these awesome old catalogs and ads!

Last month I found this blue bakeware set at a garage sale for $6. It matches all my current bakeware! I was excited because I did not have a loaf pan, a pie pan, nor custard cups. And I can always use another bowl and casserole dish, right? Pretty!


Back to my vacation...after eating at Carl's Drive-In, my mom and I ducked into the little used bookstore across the street while it poured rain outside. It was a nice little shop, sort of maze-like with shelves of books to the ceiling everyware. The prices weren't that great though...that's a girl's spoiled by dirt cheap books at garage sales and thrift stores opinion. I did end up finding two to buy. The Moosewood Cookbook, which I had been wanting for awhile now. If you're not familiar, it's a 1970's all vegetarian cookbook which was all hand written. It's got lots of cute illustrations and the recipes are supposed to be good. I paid $7 for it. I also got my favorite find of the whole week, the Mafia Cookbook. It was published in 1970 and written by a guy name Joe Cipolla, who was actually a cook for many mafia families. It's a crazy book, the exact opposite feel of the Moosewood cookbook, what with illustrations of guns, handcuffs and guys on meathooks. This book will get it's own Iron Stef entry, for sure. I got it for $2.25. I googled it, and the only person I've found so far who's selling one has it for $91!!! Score!


Here's a picture one of the Moosewood pages:


and in contrast, a preview of the Mafia Cookbook:

Whoa!