Most Embarrassing Cookbook in Your Collection

[dockhl]

The other is serious...I bought it thinking it would be a little Joy of Cooking type thing (sorry for the blurry picture):

The last paragraph of the introduction is priceless:

And here it is. Well printed . . . well bound . . .  well planned (I hope!) . . . and yours for a price so small that you can afford to keep one upstairs and one down. You may even end it to a friend as you would a greeting card! .....

It's got such delicacies as boiled eggplant, boiled celery, and asparagus peanut scallop. Also delicate subtleties as "boiled asparagus" and a different recipe for "boiled cut asparagus." Another favorite is Mushroom Vegetable Chowder: made of 1 can vegetable soup and 1 can mushroom soup. Asparagus Mushroom Soup is equally original: 1 can asparagus soup, 1 can mushroom soup, with the daring addition of chopped pimiento. Lots of the recipes really do look like something you'd fine in the Gallery of Regrettable Food.  But I keep it around because...well, not really sure. But I keep it around.

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This one reminds me of the 70's WEIGHT WATCHERS CARDS THREAD. So much lovely food.....

[nonblonde007]

Can I join the party???

Lets see..........thats;

Hillbill Cookin Mountaineer Style

with Souse, "something that comes with cold weather and hog killin time"

Squirrel and sweet taters

Mush biscuits

High On The Hog, Lickin Good Eatin Hillbilly Recipes

Squirrel pie

Corncob Jelly

Taters N Maters N Black-Eyed Peas

Possum, "Thez ugly ole varmits iz gud but you gotta cook az much fat az you kin outta them r you mouth will be kivered in fever blisters!"

Turtle, "carefully hold the turtle n chop hits haid off fore he chops yo fingers off"

Chittlins, "This iz a mountain delicasey but be shore to open the windows whin you cooks em!"

Just Like Mother Made, Ozark Recipes

Suit pudding

Dinner in a dish

Ham loaf

Cook Book, Recipes, legends, and Such, Pickles Gap, Skunk Hollow, Toad Suck Arkansas

Nuff said!

[Bella S.F.]

Oh, where to begin... some of these I know I got from my mother, although some of the "treasures", such as the Joy's of Jello series, I cannot remember her ever using. Then there are the Cambell Soup cookbooks. I do think that she used these because she could get home from work late and still get "dinner" (a different time and a different definition of the word) on the table.

In another bag in the garage there is a series, the "Lytton Microwave Cookbooks". I am guilty of purchasing them back when I bought my very first microwave. I did not realize that microwaves were really just for reheating or defrosting. I had visions of creating amazing meals in no time at all.

These would not fall under the "embarrassing" label, but rather the "amusing" and "period pieces" category. I have some booklets, (I am not sure how else to describe them) that bring back the Ozzie and Harriet era. For example, one of the books has a woman on the cover... dress, pearls, apron... standing at the stove, stirring something in a pan. The first page states, "Now you do not have to panic when your husband calls and says that he is bringing his boss home for dinner. Casseroles are the way to go..." The pictures and the writing are both quite amusing, and the recipes ... dreadful. Great fun!

[Emily_R]

Ok, surely I can't be the only one out there with Peg Bracken's I Hate to Cook Book series... I first read them at my aunt's house, as she does actually hate to cook... They were written in the 50's / 60's (I believe), for women who hated to cook back in a time when that wasn't socially acceptable... I've never cooked from them, but love to read them for the hilarious intros to each recipe, and the bastardized French she throws in there for good measure...

Emily

[The Naughti Literati]

Alright, alright. I own Skinny Cooks Can't Be Trusted by Mo'Nique (comedienne, actress, host of VH1's Charm School).

I would lie and say that I got it as a gift, but I bought it because aside from the usual soul food recipes (many of which can be found in G. Garvin's book which is much better) , the writing is pretty funny. My favorite has to be the "morning-after" breakfast options: blueberry pancakes, home fries and 3-cheese scrambled eggs if the man was great in the sack, or a bowl of lumpy oatmeal (with fresh fruit) if he left a lot to be desired. That way you're still feeding him, but also giving him a hint that he has to come correct next time. Hahahah

And I am shedding REAL TEARS over A Man, a Can and a Plan! I've seen that book before!

[BarbaraY]

Cooking with Soup, by The Campbell Soup Co.

I inherited it. Honestly.

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I have it and I, too, inherited it. I think it's a somewhat newer vesion since I can't find porcupine meatballs although I thought they were in it. Maybe I have two copies.

Unusual but not really embarrassing By hook or by Cook, The Official Nevada Brothel Cookbook.

Cat House Cuisine Concocted by Nevada's Finest Working Ladies.

It was a gift and the recipes are pretty standard but have suggestive titles . Have never cooked from it.

[srhcb]

I have it and I, too, inherited it. I think it's a somewhat newer vesion since I can't find porcupine meatballs although I thought they were in it. Maybe I have two copies.

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Meatballs: Yummy Porcupine

Cooking With Soup - 11th printing, 1972 - p. 9

1 can Condensed Tomato Soup

1 lb Ground Beef

1 Cup Precooked Rice

1 Egg Slightly Beaten

1/4 Cup Finely Chopped Onion

1 tsp Salt

1 Small Clove Garlec, Minced

2 Tbl Shortening

1/2 Soup Can Water

1 tsp Prepared Mustard

Mix 1/4 Cup Soup with Beef, Rice, Egg, Onion, and Salt.

Shape firmly into 16 Meatballs

Brown Meatballs and Garlic in Shortening, pour off fat

Blend in remaining Soup, Water and Mustard

Simmer, covered for 20 min, stirring occasionally

If you follow the recipe otherwise, but use the Meat Mixture to stuff 6-8 hollowed out green peppers, and bake them for 45-60 min, you have a quick, easy, pretty respectable dish.

[hummingbirdkiss]

Ok I just straightened out my book closet and while I have some very embarassing books in there... I have narrowed my most "embarassing" down to four

1. Sunset's Oriental Cookbook wow that is pretty awful ..the title ("Oriental") ..the recipes and the fact I somehow ended up with 2 copies???? how on earth????

2. The Soul Food Cookbook by a middle aged white woman back in the 60's I forgot her name now and I am not near the book or I would tell you

3 "Bone" Appetit A "paw" pourri of frecipes from the Cayman Humane Society

ok my mother put this one together and while I am very proud of her efforts ..the recipes are awful ...but there is a very cute picture of her dog in there!!!

4. The Higher Taste a Hare Krishna publication (I stood in line to eat at a Hare Krisna tent on Venice beach one time and they were passing out this book ..I did try a few recipes from it and they were horrible ..however the food on Venice beach was pretty damn good!!!

Edited July 28, 2007 by hummingbirdkiss (log)

[Dante]

I haven't seen a thread on this topic yet, but what is the most embarrasing cookbook in your collection?

"Doctor Who Cookbook"

'cause, y'know, I've been a fan since the mid-70's, so, I *had* to...

Sincerely,

Dante

[FabulousFoodBabe]

In my collection, I just noticed I have about 1500 cookbooks with "simply delicious" in the titles. I'm embarrassed for the publishers. For me, I'm embarrassed that I have a copy of Predestined To Be Good, the cookbook of the Ladies Auxiliary of the First Presbyterian Church of LaGrange, GA. I also have the favorite recipes for the U of Alabama Tigers Baseball Team (BIL was a member for a few years).

the most might be Eat This: You'll Feel Better! I did, and I didn't. Fatso was better. But still ...

[Bella S.F.]

(I don't know how do get the quotes to appear. If anyone can let me know.... "Thanks")

hummingbirdkiss, I actually have quite a few of the Sunset cookbooks. I haven't used them for years, but I can remember making fairly easy meals many of which, if I remember correctly, were pretty good. It is interesting how my cooking has evolved, and what I once thought of as special, I now would not ever make.

I don't know why you might have two, I do know why that has happened to me...

In cleaning out a closet to get it ready for friends who will be visiting from Chicago, I found TWO copies of the politically incorrect 1001 Oriental Recipes. I don't think that I ever made anything from that book, but I must have found it so special, that I bought an extra copy so that I could give it as a present to someone else. (I tend to buy extra copies of books that I like to give as presents. I have turned a lot of friends onto Donna Hay that way.)

In the same bag as the "Oriental" cookbooks was another I can add to my earlier list of "I can't believe that I own this." ... Favorite Brand Name Recipe Cookbook by the Editors of Consumer Guide What was I thinking? Now I know what to do with that can of Stokely's Finest Chopped Sauerkraut. If I only had a green pepper.

[snowangel]

A church cookbook that has a Jello salad recipe that calls for canned cherry pie filling, lemon Jello, a can of canned pineapple bits and (yes, this is true), a can of drained, sliced green olives with pimento stuffing. And, to think that I even packed the thing and moved it when we relocated!

[dividend]

This cookbook called " a man a can a plan" its shaped like a can, and its all about how to make anything from a can.......gross......

I can honestly say I have never made anything from it...

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My EX had this book. It has cardboard pages like a children's book. I thought it was a joke. Then he actually tried to cook from it. He picked "Spaghetti-o Stir Fry." Cooked bell pepper strips, browned ground beef, Spaghetti-o's. Tastes just like it sounds. He was so proud that he had "cooked" something. I made sure this got "lost" when we moved.

I think mine would have to be The New Joys of Jello. Full of perky illustrations of middle aged 1950's suburban couples taking various jello-based dishes to cocktail parties. Think "loaves" made of unflavored gelatin and canned salmon, garnished with mayonaise. My mom gifted this to me among a stack of old cookbooks she thought I'd get a kick out of. I certainly did with this one.

[janeer]

Only thing is, I don't consider it embarassing: I collect them, and love every one. But someone else might think that "What You Can Do with Jell-o" or The Eagle Brand Condensed Milk "70 Magic Recipes" were embarassing.

Little Compton Mornings

[Jay Francis]

The most worthless book that I ever had was the cookbook for the Heaven on Eleven cajun-Lousiana style restaurant in Chicago. All of the recipes were, I am guessing, the restaurant recipes but just downsized for the home cook. Thus you had all of the spice and herb requirements in measures of 1/8 teaspoon.

[jsmeeker]

for this group, I guess a lot of people would laugh at my copy of Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals 2. I don't think it's all that bad, actually. Lots of decent recipes in there when you really take a look at them.

I really need to pick it up (and some of my other cookbooks that offer simple recipes), and start cooking from them some more.. I tend to get in a rut when it comes to cooking and make the same stuff over and over.

[srhcb]

for this group, I guess a lot of people would laugh at my copy of Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals 2.  I don't think it's all that bad, actually.  Lots of decent recipes in there when you really take a look at them. 

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I'll see your RR's 30 min's 2, and raise you 30 min's 1and RR's Top 30 30 min Meals - Kid Food!

Kid Food is actually kind of cute, ie: well suited to RR's style. It contains the opening advice: "(If) You're not baking or conducting experiments for the government - just feel your way through."

SB

[Dianabanana]

You all don't know from embarrassing. I'm the owner of the 2003 Miss Idaho Cookbook--and as anyone who knows me knows, I am definitely not the Miss Anything type. A friend of mine somehow found herself on the organizing committee of the Miss Idaho pageant and got a trunkload of these babies as a perk. The recipes were all contributed by the contestants. Scary. And not even in a funny kitschy way. Just plain scary.

[Dianabanana]

"The Enchanted Broccoli Forest", nothing against Molly Katzen. I have one or two of her more recent books as well. But that book is really a period piece on late 70's vegetarian cuisine.

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This isn't embarrassing! Or at least not to me. Molly Katzen's hand-lettered cookbooks (this and the Moosewood Cookbook) were objects of fascination to me as a young teen and really got me interested in cooking. My mom gave me my own copies for my 19th birthday and I still have them, although I admit I don't cook from them.

[Dante]

you said:

A church cookbook that has a Jello salad recipe that calls for canned cherry pie filling, lemon Jello, a can of canned pineapple bits and (yes, this is true), a can of drained, sliced green olives with pimento stuffing.

Wow...

that's, like 1950's-era style, what with the canned pineapple and olives...

Sincerely,

Dante

[Bueno]

3 Jamie Oliver cookbooks, and a Giada Delaurentis cookbook. :(

Oh the shame I feel. It keeps me up some nights.

[pam claughton]

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous cookbook! With Robin Leach on the cover, I think. Got it for Christmas years ago, and have used several times, especially for Wolfgang Puck's spicy chicken pizza recipe from his restaurant Spago.

Pam

[FabulousFoodBabe]

Only thing is, I don't consider it embarassing:  I collect them, and love every one. But someone else might think that "What You Can Do with Jell-o" or The Eagle Brand Condensed Milk "70 Magic Recipes" were embarassing.

Little Compton Mornings

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Janeer, since I started my career at a food corp and Mr. FB has worked with or for them for 25 years, I've got a whole shelf of these types of book. They may not be the most creative or fun to use, but they make for great conversation pieces. Plus, they are tested until they beg the home economists to stop!

Still, I'm a little embarrassed to have them.

[Susie Q]

Gourmet Cookbook 2 VOL SET in a slipcase. Christmas gift from the 80's.

Embarrassing only because everybody notices it, thinks I've cooked from it, and asks me about it.

I should crack it open and dive in.

Edited August 15, 2007 by Susie Q (log)

[dvoskuil]

A 1966 publication of Spin Cookery from Oster, which I'm sure came with the Oster blender that my mother owned until she handed it off to me when I moved into my own place in college. That blender probably gave up the ghost only 4-5 years ago, now that I think about it.

Besides that, Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals and its sequel. (I haven't even cracked the covers in a couple years, I swear.) Jamie Oliver's Happy Days with the Naked Chef is in my to-be-donated box - do I have to count that?