July 18, 2020

My First Cookbook

Here’s a review of my very first cookbook.

Daddy and I referred to it often when I was a little girl. It’s Betty Crocker’s Outdoor Cook Book. Ca. 1961. The title and copyright page of mine are missing because we referred to it so many times. This wonderful little, spiral-bound book also has damage to the spine from age and lots of loving use. According to the prevailing prices on Amazon and various vintage book sites, it has an approximate value of around $12.00 and up. But, my first outdoor cookbook has sentimental value that far exceeds those amounts.

**Its claim to be a “complete guide to every kind of outdoor dining…” is an honest one.**

200 tested recipes are organized into two distinct sections. One is for camp-style cooking and dining. The other is for more civilized outdoor cooking and dining like in your back yard. This outdoor cookbook is very 1950’s suburbia.

The beginning of this outdoor cookbook walks you through the basics of cooking outdoors.

It gives the cook a choice of fuels and equipment. There is safety instruction, so you or the neighborhood won’t go up in flames. For the total suburbanite, 1½ pages are devoted to electric equipment and appliances that can be plugged in and used outside.

Menus are offered for every theme imaginable.

From poolside parties to seaside clambakes, this little outdoor cookbook offers entertaining tips, photographs, illustrations and recipes that are sure to help out. About the only subject this book skipped over was food safety. Considering the absence of refrigeration beyond an ice chest, and the presence of dirt and insects, I was surprised to find this subject omitted.