When John and I were first married (November 1963) and living in a small silver trailer in the Marine Corps' Midway Trailer Park (officially designated as "substandard housing,") at Camp Lejeune, we were living on his corporal's pay. It was not much but enough. (I got a teaching job the following September and we felt like plutocrats.)
But in those early days, we had to watch every penny. The fine china, crystal, and silver we'd been given as wedding presents seemed like a joke in our current circumstances. Plus all that stuff was back in Tampa.
Anyway, after a few months of life in the trailer, we decided we needed a television set and went to a discount store that advertised "90 days --same as cash!"
We selected their cheapest model--a small black and white set that probably cost $150--a not inconsiderable outlay for us.
But! As a bonus they threw in a little paperback cookbook- The World's Best Recipes!
I was thrilled. I had begun housekeeping with two cookbooks--The Gasparilla Cookbook from the Tampa Junior League (I've worn out two copies and am on my third) and Betty Crocker's Cooking for Two (which was useful but uninspired.)
The World's Best Recipes drew from well known cooks and cookbooks, as well as various celebrities. It was, (and is) a fun read.
(The original little paperback fell apart finally, and I was thrilled to find a used hardcover copy online a few years ago.)
4 comments:
I think Sue purchased a number of Betty Crocker cookbooks. I think there were various themes; one for desert, I think. I am not sure if any are left down in the kitchen, but if there are, they are not used.
I replaced my Fanny Farmer paperback with hardback, but never got into Betty's cookbooks. A few that I've picked up at used sales have been there on the shelf as well...and maybe I enjoyed most looking at the photos!
So many cookbooks I've parted with because no recipe stuck with me. If it's only one or two it's better to copy it and put in a binder and part with the cookbook.
I've still got my earliest cookbook, which contained everything you needed to know in the 70s, when we ate very plain food compared to now. It's held together with duct tape now but I still look at it when I'm trying to work out oven temperatures or how long a hard boiled egg takes to cook. (I never can remember!)
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