Tonight I'm just in the mood to share a couple great books from my childhood. I so remember being delighted by these books, looking at the pictures, and making some of the projects. First we have Betty Crocker's New Boys and Girls Cookbook, copyright 1965 (the year I was born).
This is just a charming book with great photos and line drawings throughout. It's actually my brother's book, but my mother kindly passed it on to me. I honestly don't remember if I ever made any of these recipes, but I do remember pouring over the book and imagining what I might make.
This photo in particular drew me in. Love the picnic theme and the frosted sugar cookies. Another really charming detail of this book is that it shows line drawings of all the child recipe testers and has little quotes from them. 
The second book is The Kids' Kitchen Takeover by Sara Bonnett Stein. This one dates back to 1975, which was really my childhood era. The kids in this book are so darn natural. I love that. It seems like these days kids in books and catalogs are so styled! I love these down to earth looking long haired kids! And the projects are great--all kinds of kitchen projects are included, not just food. I remember making the icebergs shown above and the frozen cup and a jello disc, just for playing with, and the orange rind teeth, and the slicing the banana while it is still in its skin trick. There's also candlemaking, batik, tie dye and fake fossil making. Also there are just weird things like "hint for migraine headache sufferers," a cure for bee stings, and what to eat before you take a test. I spent hours pouring over this book. It's just by luck that I have a copy today. I lost my copy sometime after childhood, but sometime after having Faith and Jacob I began to remember my book, the look of it and the content of it, but I could not remember the name. It was so frustrating. Just by chance I found it in a library and my dad tracked down a copy for me on E-bay. Thanks dad!I loved many novels too, of course, but my nonfiction books hold a special place in my heart.
5 comments:
What's the hint for migraine sufferers?
To drink a strong cup of coffee when you first feel a migraine coming on. It says this remedy is often prescribed for children b/c adult pain pills may be too strong for them. Do you do this?
You have the best book suggestions ever!
As for the coffee - it must have to do with the caffeine...I believe that is the main ingredient in Excedrin, the "headache" medicine.
Caffeine is a vasoconstrictor.
Oh my goodness, I used to have that Betty Crocker cookbook when I was a little girl. How I loved that book--I always wanted to make the castle cake, and I remember toward the beginning of the book they suggest playing a game called "Table Topics" in which members of the family come up with topics to discuss and each person at the table gets a chance to tell everything he knows on the subject. Yeah, that game didn't go over very well at supper time. I also remember the line drawings of the testers. And their little quotes.
Thanks for taking me down memory lane :)
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