Pinecones and Roses

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Teenage Reading


I was 12 years old when I received a Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook. It had a mostly black cover along with a picture of a pretty pie with lattice crust, a baked chicken and a jar of cookies on the front. It was so beautiful.
IF I could fake a fever and convince my mother that I was coming down with something, I would spend the whole day in bed reading that cookbook from cover to cover, all day long. What a beautiful, ordered world with Baked Alaska and turkeys served with little pantaloons (I never understood that one, a dead bird wearing fancy stockings to the table). When I got married - that's the way it was, not when I get out on my own but when I get married - I would cook or bake all of those wonderful things.
That cookbook finally fell apart completely but it did have a lot of use. I hated to get rid of it, it was so nostalgic.
Cooking isn't a real big thing with me, I get by the easiest way I can now, a chicken in the crockpot with some veggies and I'm off to my art room. No pantaloons on the chicken either! Diane

7 comments:

Ruth's Photo Blog said...

Cookbooks are great friends.I have a large collection,most of which I seldom use to cook from.I do love looking through them.I find it so interesting to hear that others also enjoy their cookbooks,yet are not fancy cooks.
Blessings,Ruth

Name: Amanda said...

I'm still like that with cookbooks. I read them cover to cover and dream of making the perfect ____________ (fill in the blank).

xobean

Pondside said...

I wondered about those little frilly socks too - thought they might be something especially American as I too had a Betty Crocker cookbook, and it was from the US. I love to read cookbooks - I take them out of the library and dream about what I'd cook if I had time.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Hi Diane, Darn---no pantaloons on the chicken, huh?????? ha ha ha ha... You are just too funny!!!!!

I got my first Betty Crocker cookbook when I got married... Had no interest til then--even though my mother was an excellent cook and wanted to teach me.

Enjoy your art room!!!
Hugs,
Betsy

Jayne said...

I've never been into cooking that much. Oh, I pretend to try occasionally, but it's just not something I really enjoy doing! ;c)

June said...

Such a fun read today Diane. I still have my very first cookbooks from when we married 37 years ago and they are covered in my sloppy cooking, but I will keep them forever. So many meals were prepared from their pages. They are like good friend to me now. I'm like you now, I cook the easiest way I can and sometimes get out of it alltogether,whenever I can.
hugs

Heidi said...

I think the cookbook your talking about is the one my mom got as a bridal shower gift at 18. that book has th best cinnamon roll recipe, her book is falling apart and one trip out shopping for the store we came across one that had hardly been used, talk about excited!!have a great day.