Worst. Cookbook. Ever.

[SylviaLovegren]

That looks quite a bit like the first cookbook I started from, when I was 8

Ahhh... My first cookbook was an excellent Sesame Street Cookbook that I have not been able to find for my girls. It had simple to medium recipes presented by the puppets as their favourites. I don't really remember much of what was in it, but I liked to look at it, and do remember the chocolate chip cookies from the Cookie Monster. For some reason I also remember a pea soup - must have been Oscar...

Was that the 70s Sesame Street Cookbook? http://www.alibris.com/booksearch?browse=0&keyword=the+sesame+street+cookbook&mtype=B&hs.x=0&hs.y=0

[jjahorn]

I would not have recognized the cover (found a pic here: http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/The_Sesame_Street_Cookbook)

But it seems to be the book.

Rubber Duckie Floats, Sherlock Hemlock's "P" Soup...

The cookies are not chocolate chip though... Well, 30 years later, things get fuzzy

[LaurieB]

"Astronaut Surprise"

How could you NOT want to make this?

I almost fell off my chair laughing.

[Lisa Shock]

I agree with Diet for a Small Planet and it's successor, Recipes for a Small Planet. I started being a vegetarian when those books were released, and recall vividly measuring out ingredients to ensure complete proteins were available at every meal. The Moosewood Cookbook was a little better, and, the Vegetarian Epicure was notably better. I'm not saying good, I'm just saying that the 'Diet' books are a lot worse.

There used to be a website with a really disgusting company cookbook posted on it. I have lost the link, or else it no longer exists. I believe that I linked to it on EG long ago, before some forum updates that make search kind of wonky. Now, that cookbook was not a professional endeavor, and was only made to be seen by employees, but it was bad, really bad despite low expectations.

[Panosmex]

I am on my second copy of The Vegetarian Epicure, Book Two, having worn out the first copy. Many, although not all, of the recipes, are among my regular favorites. The salads section is especially good. I often use the pizza dough and sauce recipe. There are two very good gazpachos. This is a book deserving more respect.

Note: I am not a vegetarian.

Some of Adele Davis's books are candidates for "worst". I haven't looked at one in a long, long time, but I shudderingly recall a recipe for a raw liver "shake".

[pervis]

Volt

[FrogPrincesse]

Volt

What is so bad about it? Just curious; I have not read it.

[redolivemartini]

Blendtec should be ashamed of themselves. Though to be fair, I used the Vitamix recipe binder that came with my parents' Vitamix YEARS ago (around 9) and they had a recipe for French Onion Soup- that I made- that just basically just told me to chop the onions in beef stock using the blender, then boil them together. Needless to say, it didn't taste good.

[Lisa Shock]

Ok, I finally found it! The Company Cookbook: accept no substitutes!

[scubadoo97]

Okay, you win

[Lindacakes]

Mayonnaise, Hollandaise, Bernaise 'edited by' Justine Harding et al.

I bought this online, unseen, while researching whether or not to write my own book on the topic. This book contains a compilation of sauce recipes from previously published sources owned by the publisher. There is no author given for any recipe, they just credit the editors of the source cookbooks. The 200+ recipes given include gravies, pestos, marinara sauces and fruit coulis. Only 17 of the recipes are for a mayonnaise, hollandaise or bernaise and those recipes are just the bare-bones classics taken/stolen from Escoffier, Mrs. Beeton, and other classic sources. If you own any decent comprehensive cookbook like Joy, Fannie Farmer, Escoffier, Julia's Mastering the Art, etc. you already have these recipes and far, far more.

The binding is hardback, and that's the only nice thing I can say about this book. Amazon.com has copies for $2.45 and I am warning you not to waste your money on it, you will regret it.

. . . Malaise . . .