As many people who know me have discovered, I enjoy collecting and reading vintage and historical cookbooks. This has led to some abortive attempts to do historical cooking projects.
But it is 100 years since the publish date of one of my favorite ridiculously cute and dated cookbook. A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband, with Bettina's Best Recipes; The Romance of Cookery and Housekeeping. Written by Louise Bennett Weaver and Helen Cowles LeCron and published in 1917 by A.L. Burt Company Publishers in New York.
This cute (and very heteronormative) book is written ss a novel about newlyweds Bettina and Bob and all of their young people friends. Each chapter ends with a menu of a meal, and the recipes to make them. Critics of this book find Bettina preach-y, and moderately obnoxious. I do find her emphasis on everyone finding life fulfillment as a married housewife irksome, but I accept it as the mores of the time. Also, I consider this book as a late adherent of the conversation novel, with a knowing teacher and uneducated student. Note: this book is available for free on Project Gutenburg.
So my goal for this year is to cook the menus listed in the proscribed months. I will start this Friday hopefully!
No comments:
Post a Comment