I've also got a nifty Mexican cookbook from the fifties when it was clearly considered (to the target audience anyway) kind of scary and exotic.

Both resale shop finds. I need to get back into that.

Arepas!

I've also got a nifty Mexican cookbook from the fifties when it was clearly considered (to the target audience anyway) kind of scary and exotic.

In the vegetarian cookbook from 1914, there are a ton of recipes where there's one basic recipe for something, and then a "Mexican" version which is the exact same thing except with added tomatoes and onions. Sometimes there was also a "Spanish" version, which I think had tomatoes but no onions.

I've also got a nifty Mexican cookbook from the fifties when it was clearly considered (to the target audience anyway) kind of scary and exotic.

That's what I love about my 50s/60s cookbooks-- the idea of bringing the exotic home. One of the biggest fascinations was with Hawaii and the Far East-- roasting a pig was clearly too much work and really, who needed to be digging a hole in their yard-- what would the neighbors think? So just add some canned pineapple, so yummy!-- to your ham steak and voila! Easy Hawaiian flavor!

Dear (probably PMS-related) anxiety attack - Fuck you. No love, me.

One from the thirties says that, even if you don't normally have servants, you simply must hire a few people when you're having a party, because it's just absurd for one woman to fill the three jobs of cook, server, and hostess

My mother would absolutely agree.

I acquired a Home Economics text from 1920. At least I think that's what it is, "School and Home Cooking". Besides instructions on how to cook there are also instructions on setting tables, creating meal plans, serving with and without servants, experiments and "at home" assignments. The experiments sound neat, like putting different kinds of fat in test tubes, heating it, and observing changes. Or putting milk in a test tube and then adding acid and observing the results and then adding acid and soda and then milk to a test tube, observing those results and drawing conclusions between the two tests and the practical application for cooking.

The experiments sound neat, like putting different kinds of fat in test tubes, heating it, and observing changes. Or putting milk in a test tube and then adding acid and observing the results and then adding acid and soda and then milk to a test tube, observing those results and drawing conclusions between the two tests and the practical application for cooking.

That does sound nifty. I wish my 7th grade home ec class had done that.

It's also interesting to read about the dietary guidelines for children.

According to this book there was a difference of opinion about the use of meat in a child's diet. Some experts advise beef broth and more easily digestible meats for small children. Others say milk and eggs only are better and not to give children meat until they are 8 years old. Also no raw fruits until at least age five. Only cooked fruits and fruit juice, esp stewed prunes and fresh oj because they are good laxatives.

Others say milk and eggs only are better and not to give children meat until they are 8 years old.

One of the items on the wish list for an animal shelter I volunteer for is meat-only baby food. I'm kind of boggled to know there is such a thing.