Most Embarrassing Cookbook in Your Collection

[Beebs]

Rachel Ray's original 30-Minute Meals.

And what's even worse than owning it is the fact that I actually USE it.

Often.

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Haha! I have Rachel Ray's "365: No Repeats" -- and I, too, use it!

I hang my head in shame.....

[Chud62120798]

I bought "Cooking for Cher". It cost me 3.99 in a remainder bin. The recipes are actually O.K. So I'll nominate "The Sopranos Family Cook Book" which was a gift, and, well, just a piece of after market trash, but still there's a couple of recipes.... I have both of the "White Trash" author's cookbooks. I'm proud of them. Maybe the spiral bound "Mad About Cheddar"...

[Morgan_Weber]

A buddy of mine read this thread, and although he is not a member of eGullet, wanted me to post this one for him:

He own's The Cafe Nervosa Cookbook...yeah, from the sitcom "Frazier". It was the coffee house that Frazier and Niles frequented...

[Jaymes]

I like 'White Trash Cooking,' too. Turns out that's the way I was raised.

Especially liked the bit about eating tomato sandwiches over the sink while the juice runs down to your elbows.

Edited June 13, 2007 by Jaymes (log)

[Pat W]

I'm embarrassed to admit that I actually bought In the Kitchen With Rosie: Oprah's Favorite Recipes when it came out.

I can't remember exactly why I bought it or even where I heard about it, but it stays around because we really like the "Unfried Catfish" recipe.

pat w

[nonblonde007]

I like 'White Trash Cooking,' too.  Turns out that's the way I was raised. 

Especially liked the bit about eating tomato sandwiches over the sink while the juice runs down to your elbows. 

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Hey, me too! I feel better now thought I was the only one that owns, reads and truly enjoys this book. Not just pure entertainment though! I have actually *gasp* cooked a few things from it. Fried green tomatoes, yum. Not so sure I am ready to try Cooter Kebabs or Roast Christmas Possum yet, but I know I will be someday!

[Jaymes]

I like 'White Trash Cooking,' too.  Turns out that's the way I was raised. 

Especially liked the bit about eating tomato sandwiches over the sink while the juice runs down to your elbows. 

Hey, me too! I feel better now thought I was the only one that owns, reads and truly enjoys this book. Not just pure entertainment though! I have actually *gasp* cooked a few things from it. Fried green tomatoes, yum. Not so sure I am ready to try Cooter Kebabs or Roast Christmas Possum yet, but I know I will be someday!

It seems to me that there are quite a few 'homestyle' recipes that I have made from that book. Right now, all of my stuff is in storage in Texas, as I am temporarily living with and caring for my elderly parents. So I can't go grab the book and look up the things I've enjoyed making.

I will say that I have a close friend that is a home healthcare nurse. She's black (I'm not), but she mainly cares for elderly white folks (some of whom have gotten none too pleasant in their old age). She saw White Trash Cooking lying on my kitchen counter and she just about had a heart attack herself from laughing at that cover. She told me later that she bought it and always makes sure to leave it lying around when she has company.

And there was an interesting aside. In the book, they talk about fried egg sandwiches. You smear your bread with either mayo or MW, and then put a whole fried egg on one piece, and smash the other piece down on top of it. The yellow oozes out, and it's a real 'kitchen sink' treat. That's the way I was raised eating egg sandwiches, as was everyone I knew.

My friend, Carrie, on the other hand, was not. She asked me about that specific sandwich, saying that she had never heard of doing it that way. She and all of her family and friends hardboiled the egg first, then sliced it and put it on their sandwich, something nobody I knew ever did.

It's interesting to me that Carrie and I were raised in basically the same part of the country, but obviously were affected by different customs.

Edited June 14, 2007 by Jaymes (log)

[Kouign Aman]

I have Nigella Bites, which seems to be a british version of White Trash Cooking. I gave WTC to a friend a few years ago and regret not getting a second copy for keeps.

Most embarrassing is probably the local organizations fundraising book which contains an entire chapter of recipes for jello salad, which are pretty much all the same recipe, but submitted by different people. There seems to have been no editorial oversight on this one.

[SuzySushi]

Most embarrassing is probably the local organizations fundraising book which contains an entire chapter of recipes for jello salad, which are pretty much all the same recipe, but submitted by different people. There seems to have been no editorial oversight on this one.

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Or maybe the whole chapter was an oversight...

[Kouign Aman]

Most embarrassing is probably the local organizations fundraising book which contains an entire chapter of recipes for jello salad, which are pretty much all the same recipe, but submitted by different people. There seems to have been no editorial oversight on this one.

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Or maybe the whole chapter was an oversight...

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Amen!

[KristiB50]

I have some of those fundraiser cookbooks.

One year someone bought me the Buca Di Pepo cookbook. I haven't read it because I think the restaurant is horrid. Maybe I should take a look at the recipes.

Another gift was Food To Die For: Secrets from Kay Scarpetta's Kitchen by Patricia Cornwell. Cornwells character, a medical examiner, relaxes by cooking Italian food. Cornwell shares the recipes here. I've made a few things from the book and they've been really good. It's just a cheesy title bordering on "celebrity cookbook".

I used to have a Rachel Ray cookbook. She's just as annoying in print so I had to give it away.

I also have the Sopranos Family cookbook(again-a gift). The eggs in purgatory(Uova in Purgatorio) is very good.

[baroness]

Another gift was Food To Die For: Secrets from Kay Scarpetta's Kitchen by Patricia Cornwell. Cornwells character, a medical examiner, relaxes by cooking Italian food.  Cornwell shares the recipes here.  I've made a few things from the book and they've been really good.  It's just a cheesy title bordering on "celebrity cookbook".

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I've borrowed this title from the library and must agree - the recipes ARE very good (as are the Cornwell mysteries)!

[Marigene]

I would have to say the most embarrassing cookbook in my collection is Mickey's Gourmet Cookbook. It was a "gift" from a friend. She was sure I didn't have one in my collection. Right she was!

[PamelaF]

"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.

[foodie52]

Not so much embarrassing as puzzling. I have no idea where I got this or why it is still on my cookbook shelf. Probably because it is a skinny little thing and has been hiding lo these many years.

The What To Do With Tofu Cookbooklet

I'm a tofu fan. Eat it all the time. But this recipe sounds simply disgusting:

Hot Tofu Sandwich with Miso Gravy. It calls for 16 oz broiled tofu, miso, tahini and nutritional yeast.

They insist it is a "great dish to serve someone who is hesitant aobut trying tofu."

Talk about a way to lose friends...

[KristiB50]

Hot Tofu Sandwich with Miso Gravy. It calls for 16 oz broiled tofu, miso, tahini and nutritional yeast.

They insist it is a "great dish to serve someone who is hesitant aobut trying tofu."

Talk about a way to lose friends...

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Blechhh!

I also have the New York Cabbies cookbook. People always comment on it but it's got some great and easy international recipes

[hummingbirdkiss]

I have several really horrible books ..but embarassing ...hmmmm interesting subject ..I am going to stand in front of the shelves of cookbooks lining my hallway when I get off work today.. and see what books exactly make me blush with embarassment

I will report back to you on this!

[Sony]

Food Men Love. The foreword of the book is by Mario Batali, and there are essays by several chefs + associated recipes.

My friend gave it to me so I could hone my man-catchin' skills. I think it's going to take a lot more than those recipes ......plus, if loving those foods makes me mannish, I don't want to be girly .

[menon1971]

Aside from some abominably but predictably bad church cookbooks I have accumulated over the years at thrift store, yard sales, etc. I am going to have to go with a sixties piece once owned by my parents entitled "It's Fun to Fondue." I am still unclear what a "Monkey" is exactly.........................

[Jakea222]

Make it fun with Jello!

[MissAmy]

I would have to say the most embarrassing cookbook in my collection is Mickey's  Gourmet Cookbook. It was a "gift" from a friend. She was sure I didn't have one in my collection. Right she was!

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Oh my god! I think you just won the thread.

[Jaymes]

I would have to say the most embarrassing cookbook in my collection is Mickey's  Gourmet Cookbook. It was a "gift" from a friend. She was sure I didn't have one in my collection. Right she was!

Oh my god! I think you just won the thread.

Yep. Somehow, it's hard to imagine the juxtaposition of "Mickey Mouse" and "Gourmet"

[Malkavian]

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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I got that one my first Christmas away from home (Thanks grandparents) and it was followed up by a beer cookbook (ISBN 1412721822) which, while containing some interesting ideas, I found mostly somewhere between uninteresting and unappetizing.

I only own 3 cookbooks (those two plus a pretty good one that covered cooking basics that I use as a reference) so those two have to be tied for most embarassing (and most likely to be regifted )

[eskay]

"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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My mom has this cookbook! I remember reading the title as a kid and thinking it was going to be some awesome fairytale book or something, but turned out to be just boring recipes.

[sazji]

I have a couple..one is definitely tongue-and-cheek:

About the Author:

Among Mormons, Sister Enid Chreistensen is a popular author, den mother, cook and roll model. A prominent leader in the Payson, Utah, 227th ward Relief Society, she has cooked countless inpsirational meals and shared her testimony-strengthening culinary experiences with thousands of those weak in things of the kitchen.

There was a time, for example, when she was caught in a food-fight between Payson Troop 139 and Nagasaki Troop E=MC2. Her chef's hat torn from her head by Jell-O and suchi projectiles, she escaped without so much as a wrinkle to her polyester dress.

Regarding this latter special experience, Sister Christensen remembers, "We were on all-night kitchen duty when the twenty-gallon pressure cooker exploded, sheding showers of whole wheat shrapnel into my dear friend's kitchenette. Sister brown caught a direct hit. I listened all night to her moans while fighting off two or three scouts who saw their chance for a midnight snack.....

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.