Crocker Betty - Betty Crockers Good and easy cookbook

First published by General Mills, Inc. in 1954 First Skyhorse Publishing Edition 2017 All rights to any and all materials in copyright owned by the publisher are strictly reserved by the publisher. Foreword Copyright 2017 by Skyhorse Publishing Text by Amy Sherman Skyhorse Publishing books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or . Skyhorse and Skyhorse Publishing are registered trademarks of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., a Delaware corporation.

Visit our website at www.skyhorsepublishing.com. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file. Cover photographs: iStockphoto Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-2413-6 Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-2416-7 Printed in China

I admit, those portraits made quite an impression on me. Who was this mythical woman? Her style changed with the times. In years past she looked serious, wearing pearls and a bouffant hair-do, more recently she wore a more casual sweater and has a friendly smile. Of course, Betty Crocker never really existed. She was dreamt up by an advertising agency in 1921 and in a few short years became a household icon, inspiring legions of cooks. She changes as America changes, but she was and still is a reassuring source for reliable recipes and cooking guidance.

Betty Crocker is as American as apple pie. Both are not only familiar symbols of America, but they each have a lot in common. They stir up feelings of comfort and home, and memories of meals cooked from scratch by mom and enjoyed by the whole family. Imagine a Norman Rockwell scene of a family sitting around the dinner table. It used to be a common sight, but is it still? Year in and year out we are told that no one cooks anymore, that meals are eaten on the run, and certainly not at the table as a family. Mom is not the one cooking every night, if at all.

So whats going on? There seems to be a cooking conundrum. People are cooking from scratch less than ever before, as the food media continues to churn out new recipes and cooking celebrities all the time. New cookbooks are being published at an astonishing pace. We cant seem to get enough. So what is it we are hungry for anyway? Are we looking for something new and different? Or are we looking for something nostalgic and comforting? Have we forgotten the basics? Is it possible to look forward by looking back? Betty Crockers Good and Easy Cookbook was published in 1954 during the baby boom, and convenience foods were making their way into the American kitchen like never before. Today we are somewhat ambivalent about processed foods.

We want everything to be good and easy and quick as well, but processed foods have been demonized. Looking back, the recipes in the book are a reflection of the time. Theres a reliance on things like canned soup, baking mix, and cake mix. Exotic ingredients are limited to the likes of artichoke hearts, water chestnuts, Roquefort cheese, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, and chili powder. Theres no quinoa, no kale, no miso, no smoked paprika. There are no recipes for avocado toast or whole grain bowls.

The supposedly ethnic recipes are far from authentic, merely authentically American. According to the introduction, Betty Crockers Good and Easy Cook Book was designed for the homemaker. Its a term we dont really use anymore. But that doesnt mean the book isnt relevant for todays home cooks. Recently Ive read articles in magazines and online on the following topics: salads packed in wide mouth jars, crackers doctored with butter and dried herbs, homemade chocolate syrup and hot cocoa, endless variations on cake mixes, pressure cooker recipes and tips for making juicy burgers. Each and every one of these topics is also in this classic from 1954 and clearly just as top of mind today as they ever were.

While some recipes go in and out of fashion, others remain classics. The value of Betty Crockers Good and Easy Cook Book resides in the stalwarts, the tried and true recipes for things like New England Boiled Dinner, Deviled Eggs, Old-Fashioned Macaroni and Cheese, Tossed Green Salad, Coleslaw, Butterscotch Brownies and Hermits all are American classics that should be part of everyones repertoire. So, too, are the techniques for things like roasting a chicken, making soft boiled eggs, and whipping up salad dressings from scratch. The book has plenty of recipes for anyone just getting interested in cooking, young or old. My blog Cooking with Amy received considerable attention when it first launched back in 2003 and helped to propel my career as a food writer and cookbook author. I genuinely love to eat and love to cook and I describe myself as a culinary enthusiast.

I enjoy expressing my creativity by developing recipes for brands and cookbooks. When I go to a thrift shop or a used book store, I make a beeline for the cookbook section. Im always on the hunt for inspiration and to learn more about a particular subject that ends up becoming endlessly fascinating to me. I want to know how people cook today and how their parents cooked. I want to be surprised and delighted and to get hungry as I peruse recipes from different cultures and different eras. The Betty Crocker Good and Easy Cook Book is the kind of book I love to read.

But after spending some time with it, I realize why I never found it on the shelves. This is the kind of book people hang onto and rarely discard. I dont expect every recipe I find to be to my taste, but the promise of finding a special one makes it all worthwhile. The Betty Crocker Good and Easy Cook Book should be approached in the same way. Dont assume every recipe will be perfect for today. Rely on it for the timeless classics, dig deep for the hidden gems and treasure it for being iconic, just like Betty Crocker.