1950s Dinner Ideas 🍽️ Trying 1950s RECIPES w/Jen Chapin!

Today I'm trying 1950s recipes with Jen Chapin! We're cooking up some old fashioned dinners from the 1953 Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book. If you're feeling nostalgic or just looking for some 1950s dinner ideas, you've come to the right place.
Be sure to check out Jen's video! • ✨ Cooking 3 Vintage Di...
Items from this video:
Jen's cookbook - The Essential Pantry Cookbook: amzn.to/43TY4xa
Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book (1953) amzn.to/44MaSa3
Nordic Ware Quarter Sheet: amzn.to/47mVfrp
Mason Jar Leak-Proof Storage Lids: amzn.to/3KhKsVk
Tiny Lemon Juicer: amzn.to/3q17dWN
Apple Peeler: amzn.to/3KpSGe1
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Timestamps
0:00 Intro
1:12 Menu 1 - Irish Italian Spaghetti, Green Salad w/ French Dressing, Brownie Pudding
9:12 Menu 2 - Sweet-Sour Tuna, Buttered Carrots, Crispette Squares
17:40 Menu 3 - Cheese Bun-nies, Calico Salad Bowl, Apple Brown Betty
27:29 Book Talk - Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook (1953)
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FRENCH DRESSING (pg 340)
1tsp sugar
1/2tsp salt
1/2tsp dry mustard
1/2tsp paprika
dash cayenne
2Tbsp lemon juice
2Tbsp vinegar
1/2c vegetable oil
IRISH-ITALIAN SPAGHETTI (pg 179)
1 onion, chopped
2Tbsp oil
1lb ground beef
1tsp salt
1/2tsp chili powder
1/2tsp Tabasco sauce
1/4tsp pepper
Dash red pepper
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can tomato soup
BROWNIE PUDDING (pg 199)
1c flour
2tsp baking powder
3/4c granulated sugar
2Tbsp cocoa
1/2tsp salt
1/2c milk
1tsp vanilla
2Tbsp melted shortening
3/4c walnuts (I left these out!)
3/4c brown sugar
1/4c cocoa
1 3/4c hot water
SWEET-SOUR TUNA (pg 288)
1 - 20oz can pineapple tidbits
2Tbsp butter
2/3c pineapple juice
2c green pepper strips
2Tbsp cornstarch
1 chicken boullion cube
1c boiling water
2tsp soy sauce
2Tbsp vinegar
1/3c sugar
2c tuna, drained and flaked (I used 3 - 5oz cans)
CRISPETTE SQUARES (pg 194)
1/4c shortening
1/2c brown sugar
1c flour
dash salt
1c brown sugar
2 eggs
1tsp vanilla
1/4tsp salt
1c shredded sweetened coconut
1c chopped walnuts
1c crisp rice cereal
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MY FAV KITCHEN GEAR - seriously, I use this stuff ALL the time:
- Geometry kitchen towels: geom.crrnt.app/AnnaB15 - use my link for 15% off!
- Twist whisk: amzn.to/3SBmNCA
- Ove Glove: amzn.to/3CkmyV5
- Small offset spatula: amzn.to/3GB9Rb7
- OXO Mini Angled Measuring Cup: amzn.to/3Gx2osz
- GIR Silicone Spatula: amzn.to/3ImvNIs
- Butterie Flip-Top Butter Dish: amzn.to/3YZ8j1I
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INSTAGRAM: _cookingthebooks_
FACEBOOK: / cookingallthebooks
PATREON: patreon.com/CookingAllTheBooks
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[@Jen-Chapin]

I am so trying that spaghetti!! Thanks for collabing with me!! 😊

[@cooking_the_books]

Anytime! Thank you for inviting me! The spaghetti was super good. I combined the leftovers with a different pasta shape (gemelli maybe?) and it definitely had an old school Hamburger Helper (but better) vibe.

[@celestewatson4874]

In 1960s & 70s, my mom made the Irish Italian Spaghetti from her copy of BH&G - given to her for her wedding, 1958 ❤ she topped it with American cheese and we called it 'American Spaghetti'. We lived in Southern California, and there were really no cheese choices except American singles, cream cheese, cottage cheese and green can grated parmesan. Varietal cheese was still sold thru cheese mongers mainly, and sliced in deli. So it was uncommon for broad-use american cookbooks (such as this) to call for varietal cheese. This made me want to have it again after about 45 years!

[@trinity6180]

I am 70 years old. If you want to get closer to the actual taste of recipes from the past use grass feed meat. There is a huge difference. Yes, you will need lower fat meat. When you can get it get local produce that was picked when ripe. Produce did not come from all over the world. The flavor is different. Real nutritional value was much better back then. Also Tuna came more chunky back then. Our food products have change so much in the decades. I hope my memories on cooking from the era are helpful to you. You channel is wonderful. I still have that cookbook and the Betty Crocker one from the era. Thank you ❤️

[@sweetea3272]

We recently made the switch to organic grass fed and yes the taste is totally different! It's much, much better

[@redrooster1908]

And use lard. Every farm wife cooked with lard back in the old days. Nothing tastes quite the same now.

[@genegene385]

I just wanted to say thank you for pointing out these differences. I've just hit my mid fifties and I sometimes wonder if I'm just misremembering how things tasted or came packed. I've been seeing stories like yours and am realizing that no, Twinkies really are much tinier and some flavors simply aren't the same as I remember from 45 years ago. At least I'm not just crazy I guess.

[@user-in2ru8cs1g]

I notice the shortening now is mostly palm oil. A few years ago, it was mostly soybean oil, and 60 years ago, it was common to use lard.

[@jenthulhu]

@@user-in2ru8cs1g The original Crisco was hydrogenated cottonseed oil. So appetizing! They use whatever is cheapest at the time to make shortening. Neither my mom or my grandmothers used lard to cook but there was generous application of bacon drippings. A lot more people had gardens back then. I grew up gardening with my parents and grandparents. We even grew out of few cows and pigs to stock our freezer--and it did taste much better, being pasture-raised without grain. Today I still prefer grass-fed and am really happy that at least some cows get to eat a more natural diet.

[@Amym0011]

My Dad used a crab apple tree every year to make wonderful apple pies. He was raised by people who survived the Great Depression. In fact my Grandma is 96 and still talks about living on the farm in Utica NY and making milk deliveries wrapped in the bearskin while riding on the horse and carriage delivering milk w her Grandpa. She also remembers when they got electricity for the first tine because she was the one they allowed to 'press the button' to turn the lights on for the first time. This is before light switches, if u have ever seen 2 black buttons on the wall. Guess where she was turning the first electric light they ever had on? In the barn. The barn had power before the house did. They had emigranted here from Italy. She was a wonderful cook.

[@delmaplain5358]

This just shows that as prices go up, package and cans shrink! It's called shrinkflation.

[@donnaeckler4190]

I lived in Lewis County also on the party line system and also in New Berlin on the party line.

[@chiarac3833]

Thanks for posting, that's an interesting story grandmother had!

[@chiarac3833]

​@@delmaplain5358I remember as a kid when coffee went from a 1 lb container to smaller size. It still cost the same. That made the nightly news and I would watch with my grandmother and she explained it to me. There began my mistrust of corporate America.

[@juliereminiec4937]

Beachbird, do you have the recipe for the apple pie ? crab apple will be one of the fruit trees that will be growing outside of my house

[@dbw825]

I'm 73 and it's weird to me to call something from the '50s "vintage". lol. That means I am vintage as well.

[@cooking_the_books]

Not to worry, by definition, I am also vintage! 😂

[@robertgoss4842]

I am a retired airborne infantry officer, and I am teaching myself how to cook. I grew up watching my mother and my big sister cook from the very books you highlight here. Indeed, I have one one of them to this day. I want to cook a pot roast. Wish me well!

[@makelikeatree1696]

Good luck, soldier. If you want to make anything Italian, I recommend “Essentials of Classic Italian cooking” by Marcella Hazan. Straightforward, well written, NOT fussy recipes.

[@carolg.6838]

I can't cook meat very well. However an easy recipe is a pot roast in a crockpot. A chuck roast, an envelope of dry onion soup mix, and I think 1/4 ,cup of water. Low about 8 hours. Meat tender and you have gravy. Really good. Can add carrots and onions.

[@redrooster1908]

I hope your pot roast was delicious, Sir❤❤

[@kateg7298]

Hi Robert. I have the world's easiest and best recipe for you. Kent Rollins does some of the best food you've ever tasted. Good luck! kzbin.info/www/bejne/pnKuq2CAha6oqdU

[@angelabutler7761]

I have a tip. Whenever I need to cut butter into a recipe, I put the butter in the freezer for a few minutes and then just grate it into the flour mixture. Works like a charm.

[@cooking_the_books]

Great tip! ❤

[@sandradummer4726]

I learned this idea from Chef Carla Hall who use to be on the “ Chew”.

[@cooking_the_books]

@@sandradummer4726 I miss that show!

[@sandradummer4726]

@@cooking_the_books I hear you

[@toscadonna]

Does seed oil sludge like Crisco even freeze? I know butter dies because it’s natural, but I’m not sure about the hexane-refined shortening crap.

[@lk9637]

My mother received this cookbook in 1955 as a wedding gift. It is still her go to cookbook. The Brown Stew recipe on page 251 is a favorite as is the Relish recipe on page 159. This cookbook is quite special!

[@nursekaren]

I have my mothers as well. She had 2 editions. I too, love this book.

[@miehoen6212]

Keep in mind that cans of soup in that era were 15 ounces, not the smaller cans they sell now.

[@gailmpintos7232]

Yes, and evaporated milk was 13 ounces.

[@horticultureandhomes]

Did you know butter flavored shortening did not exist until the 80's. Yes, I remember when it came out!

[@loriloristuff]

So do I. This is correct.

[@fnjesusfreak]

You know, I think I vaguely remember Butter Flavor Crisco being a new thing around 1985ish.

[@patricianorton3908]

I think that the Crisco Co. must have gradually introduced it gradually in different parts of the country because I distinctly remember using it to make baked goods (sugar cookies 😋🥹, cakes and frosting 😋😜, and all types of crumb toppings)! That was in the mid to late 50's in Boston. From NH, Patricia 👵🏻 🤗

[@horticultureandhomes]

@@patricianorton3908 according to crisco, they released it in 1981.

[@Dindasayswhynot]

​​@@patricianorton3908Crisco (the company) says they introduced it in 1981. Let the hunt begin for what other companies were playing with the idea. Crisco probably bought the other company. EDIT: I vaguely remember something about Spry brand. Maybe in some food history/food science class. I couldn't see if they did a butter flavored one, but it would not surprise me. Here's a link to a Wikipedia article that is interesting: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spry_Vegetable_Shortening#:~:text=The%20marketing%20efforts%20were%20phased,being%20used%20through%20the%201970s.

[@GrannyLinn]

This was such fun! My mom married in 1945 and learned to cook in the ‘50s. She’s 95 now and I miss her cooking.

[@jenniferlynn3537]

This was so much fun! Thank you for staying true to the recipes. I’ve actually wondered whether older strains of popular veggies were “tougher” - and required longer cooking times. I’m 58, and do recall fresh corn being tougher as well as the skin on peppers and tomatoes. I also think we forget how limited the selections in the grocery store used to be 70 years ago - but these recipes are certainly enlightening! I don’t think any respectable modern cookbook would call for tinned tuna or cans of soup - but really, that was the foundation of a more ambitious mid-century pantry, as it expanded meal options, even in more rural areas when one couldn’t get to the store frequently. Not only could canned soup stand as a meal in and of itself, but they served as the base for casseroles, stews gravies - and as you showed, sauces! Serving eggs for dinner is practically unheard of today - but for modest income homes, that’s what one might resort to. Having left the deprivations of WWII and the Depression years before that ...people felt lucky to have that reliable source of protein. I guess it could be interpreted as quite sad, but I think it’s kind-of sweet to imagine a pair of newlyweds dining on those cheesy egg “bunnies.”

[@matthewbrill876]

Julia Childs often dined with her husband on eggs or egg related dishes for dinner.

[@reiterated]

I love eggs for dinner. So good!

[@Amanda-Vintage67]

I have the 1967 edition of this cookbook, it was given to my grandmother for Christmas. I was given the 1985 version and have gifted my grown sons the newer version. The 1967 book was what I learned to cook with :). I have a lot of vintage cookbooks...I consider them history books!

[@cooking_the_books]

I feel the same way! My kinda history books. 😀

[@sandihj]

I’d recommend waiting to mix the mayonnaise into the salad until just before serving, because the French dressing acts as a marinade for your vegetables and really amps up the flavor. Then folding in the mayo shortly before serving adds the creaminess you want. A bit of mustard added to the mayonnaise would not be a bad idea, either.

[@juliez4944]

Totally what I was thinking!

[@RC2214]

that's a great tip thnx 🙂

[@annettenorlen7866]

My mom had this exact same recipe and I grew up eat Irish-Italian spaghetti. I LOVED IT!!! In fact when I had my mom and dad over for dinner the first time (we were married at 17) I made this and it was delicious. I agree with the outlets. I couldn’t believe I never thought of that. I’m really enjoying your personality. You have a darling personality ❤.

[@cooking_the_books]

Thank you so much! I really really liked the Irish-Italian spaghetti. I can see why it was a favorite!

[@eclairtreo]

Yes, she does have a darling personality!

[@christinewilliams5713]

It looks and sounds yummy! My only issue is that I'm allergic to mushrooms. I wonder what I could substitute for the cream of mushroom soup?

[@scrapstampcreate]

​@christinewilliams5713 maybe cream of chicken

[@nikkisowell3263]

So curious, what makes it Irish Italian and not just Italian?

[@cooking_the_books]

Would you make any of these vintage menus for dinner? Let me know in the comments below!

[@catherineannelockman3805]

Definitely...

[@cr293737]

Jen sent me - great vid! Bostonians (me, kinda) are chuckling. The later immigrants (Irish and Italians), after fighting for a generation or so (plenty of movies on that), often married each other... I'm assuming that's the origin of the recipe... Except every full-blooded Italian is screaming bloody murder about the canned soup.

[@cooking_the_books]

Thanks for coming over! Great thought on the origin of the spaghetti recipe. I knew the canned soup would be uhhh..controversial. 😂

[@russbear31]

People think that "fusion cooking" is a modern concept. Nah.... We've been at it for centuries. Example: I live in Kansas City. Decades ago when the city was segregated the Italians and the Mexicans were lumped together in the same neighborhood. This gave birth to the "Kansas City Taco." Italy-meets-Mexico in a taco shell. The Mexicans only had Italian grocers and Italian ingredients to work with, so they developed a unique version of Mexican food here. There are still small Mexican restaurants here they keep the tradition alive. When I take people to try a Kansas City Taco, they're usually blown away. They all say it's the best freakin' taco they've ever ate. I know one lady who occasionally drives almost 300 miles, round-trip, for her taco fix. 😅

[@juliebrooke6099]

Back in the seventies my mother used to make us a similar sweet and sour dish but with chopped sausage instead of tuna. We had it with rice and honestly it was quite exotic for the time!

[@voxveritas333]

I like the vintage kitchenware bowls and servingware. Nice touch.😃. Brings back good memories.

[@carolbutler6932]

I am a cook book collector of many years. When our children grew up to the age of cooking for themselves I hunted down copies of this cookbook for each of them. It is one of several that I call necessary. Sometime look up the lasagna recipe. It is different from today's but very good.

[@matthewbrill876]

My mom used to make the lasagna from this cookbook recipe also. I remember it to this day and she has been gone for several years

[@saragates1337]

I have an original copy of this book! It was given to my mother by her mother when Mom got married in '71. Some of my mom's favorite recipes came from this book. I remember fondly helping her cook from it when I was little. Sadly, Mom passed in 2013, and this book became mine. It is a cherished item for all it represents. Thank you so much for making this video!

[@greysfreak1992]

My grandpa always said never crack eggs straight into what you’re cooking in case the egg is bad.

[@TW1257]

I'm old enough to remember a green salad with iceberg lettuce, tomato and mayo.

[@eclairtreo]

I think that recipe just assumes that people would drain off the fat. Edited to say, I am having a blast binge watching your content. I hope your channel blows up! You are fantastic!

[@cooking_the_books]

Aw thank you again!

[@KarenHoney39]

Btw…as I told Jen, I have this recipe book too. I received it as a wedding gift in the 70’s. I also love the style of it because it’s easy to find a page and open the book and it stays! Also I appreciate all the additional information contained within…

[@cooking_the_books]

I agree, I love this binder style of cookbook! It's so nice and every section is a snap to locate.

[@SuzanneBaruch]

These menus have definite "school lunch" vibes 😊

[@jewisley]

The pineapple reminded me of my father. He always had pineapple upside down cake on his birthday. Now I want one.

[@merriemisfit8406]

What a coincidence. I've been making vinaigrettes for YEARS to clean out mustard bottles and jars, and just this VERY MORNING I did it for the first time in a while ... so now up comes this video in the KZbin queue and here you go doing essentially the same thing. Mine this morning started with the residues stuck to the insides of a Koops' Düsseldorf-style mustard squeeze bottle, to which I added red wine vinegar and olive oil (not measuring, just eyeballing it), a little dribble of lemon oil (because I had no lemon, no lime, nor either of their juices instantly handy), and a generous sprinkle of Manitou Trading Company harissa spice blend. Shakey-shakey-shakey-shake and into the fridge here at work to use on chilled steamed-green-beans-and-potatoes salad with tiny tomatoes on top for lunches this week. Your vinaigrette REALLY looks a lot like what I ended up with ... AND IT SHOULD!

[@annieknight71]

That’s my mom’s cookbook. We had a lot of the recipes from it. It was the only cookbook I ever saw until I was married and got one as a shower gift.

[@NothingToNoOneInParticular]

This is NOT the channel for people who do not like adventures into normalcy. F 'em! Keep doing your channel AS IS LOVE it! Foodies KNOW you must learn the basics to create new variations.

[@carriepieszak3239]

My mom gifts ‘the checkered cookbook’ to All the kids in the family when they are ready to move out on their own. She has some old ones and some recipes are weird! My copy is ‘94

[@brightspacebabe]

I have an old original copy of this cookbook that was my moms. So nostalgic and she would make some of those recipes!❤

[@Sunsetsonthehorizon]

Oooh the brownie pudding looks like the Hot Fudge Sundae Cake from Betty Crocker cookbooks! One of my all-time favorite recipes!!

[@terrysuemakesvideosforyou9940]

Hi! I love that you are making things from this cookbook! This is the cookbook that my mom had. In old cookbooks they often cook the vegetables for a long time because alot of them were canned in the home. The cook times were to insure that if something was bad that it would be safe to eat. They just automatically did this all the time. It seems wrong to us now, but you have to remember that this was not revised until the 1960's in cookbooks. ( also back, way back people had ice chest refrigerators, not consistent cooling.) Thanks for the video!!

[@cbears57]

I have this vintage cookbook. I would definitely make everything with the exception of the sweet and sour tuna. I don't think my family would be able to get past the name. 😂

[@cooking_the_books]

I knew the sweet-sour tuna was a bit of a gamble when I chose it. 😂

[@eclairtreo]

Haha, just call it Pacific Rim tuna, and they'll never know.

[@adbreon]

The brownie pudding, also known as hot fudge pudding cake is still in the current edition of the Hershey’s chocolate cookbook. I hate frosting so it’s a go to for me. Only problem is it’s definitely best the first day.

[@pettytoni1955]

That's why we eat it all the 1st day.

[@rivards1]

You seamlessly transitioned from the best-looking thing you've ever cooked (the Brownie Pudding), to Sweet-Sour Tuna, possibly the most cursed and vile concoction I've ever seen. Thank you for the Crispette palate cleanser!

[@dreamweaver3406]

I have to agree. Putting pineapple green pepper in tonight together just doesn’t sound good to me.

[@rivards1]

@@dreamweaver3406 Really? It wasn't the pineapple and hot tuna?

[@amyspeers8012]

This was always my go to cookbook. My mother gave me one when I got married. I gave one to my son when he got an apartment in college. When I moved to France, I brought mine with me!

[@ellingtongriffin5521]

I love how unpretentious many of these recipes are. Modern food bloggers would be too terrified to put tinned tuna in a recipe but I always have some in my pantry 😂

[@LindaCasey]

The standard cook book for us growing up in the 50s

[@AuLily1]

I recently found this cookbook in a thrift store for a $1! It was in better shape than my well loved and worn c1980s edition.

[@cooking_the_books]

YES I love a bargain! Great find!

[@bernadettec6386]

I am almost 80 years of age and unfortunately here in the UK we did not see the likes of peppers etc until probably the 1970s. The country was in rationing until the late 50s. In the States you were far more fortunate as really you are today, when I look at videos of supermarkets as we call them I cannot believe how well stocked your shelves are. Here empty shelves are a normality. If I had said to my mother spaghetti or lasagna , she would not know what you were speaking of. It was meat and two veg and fish on a Friday. The joint of meat on a Sunday practically fed us for the rest of the week. Thank you for your video.

[@stillsinglestephanie]

So awesome that you did a collab with Jen Chapin! The brownie pudding looks so good and I love the organization with those trays from Costco, I’ve seen them but haven’t bought them!

[@cooking_the_books]

This was such a fun collab! I've been using the little sheet trays non stop. They're great for my videos but also just for baking small amounts of things.

[@russellzalisk2005]

I remember the pineapple liver sausage being made for my parents 25th anniversary party. I thought it was good

[@josephaguilar6928]

Hi nice dinner you made ! Spaghetti makes a really nice dinner, Spaghetti also reminds me of the I love Lucy episode when she s at the Brown derby restaurant in Hollywood! You can actually find that Spaghetti and meat sauce recipe on the internet the one Lucy was eating! It also has meatballs in the sauce!

[@Dindasayswhynot]

😂. LOVED that episode.

[@tommyschwanfelder5285]

I LOVE the juicer/measuring cup! That's a fair amount of "heat" for an Irish dish! LOL Your glance at the camera when prepping the mixer! LOL "Put outlets on both sides". Ya lost me at "shredded coconut". The carrots look GREAT! ALWAYS granny smith apples! ALDI cheese!! YES to that dinner plate! THANK YOU for this video! Now where's my "crisped rice"? ;)

[@cooking_the_books]

Tiny juicer was a Christmas present from my mom and I use it a TON. I am forever wishing for an extra outlet on that kitchen island! 😂

[@orsie200]

Hi Anna, I’m here from Jen’s channel. I’m an Iowa gal too, and I have both the Better Homes & Garden and Joy of Cooking cookbooks. I grew up in the 50’s and started cooking when I was 9 years old. I have a lot of vintage cookbooks . I really enjoyed your channel and subscribed, so you’ll see me commenting from time-to-time. Loved seeing your vintage bowls and dishes, as that’s another thing I collect. I think I’ll make the Sweet and Sour recipe with chicken, and will add water chestnuts and bamboo shoots. We have a large garden with many green peppers,so will use that too. Love from Iowa, ~ Lori Parrish Niemi ~

[@cooking_the_books]

Hello and welcome! Thanks for coming over and for subscribing. ❤ I love hearing from fellow cookbook and vintage kitchenware enthusiasts!

[@faithgills800]

Hi, great video! What’s the name of Jen’s channel? Thanks!

[@aunttee6644]

That spaghetti is the only way ate it until I was in my 20s. Think I’m going to try it again! I learned to cook from that very cookbook.

[@TheAutumnGypsy]

Ground beef was much leaner in the 50's. Great video.

[@annabrahamson4320]

BC cook books are my faverite. I have them all the way back to 1932

[@angelabutler7761]

I came over from Jen’s channel and subscribed. I love to read cookbooks especially regional and/or vintage cookbooks. There are always new things to learn!

[@cooking_the_books]

Thanks for coming over and subscribing! You're right - there are always great recipes to discover and new things to learn. 😄

[@marionpeebles3836]

After my father died I was working as a school cook so I had all summer off and I would drive my mom wherever she wanted to go on vacations. I did all the driving she tried to entertain one of the things we would do is buy regional cookbooks or do you know the symphony cookbook or the women’s league or whoever and she would read the recipes to me while I drove for some reason I found it very entertaining we bought one at Saint George Island Florida‘s volunteer firefighters cookbook it was I was in hysterics because every recipe called for like a pound of cheese. I still have that cookbook somewhere around here and it’s still one of my favorite cookbooks to read I also really love the sweet potato queens recipes in their books my grandmother made danger pudding for years. I still do occasionally

[@casaagogo2573]

The orange one you might be thinking of is Catalina dressing. It includes ketchup... otherwise it's pretty similar, ingredients-wise.

[@beverlyhando9226]

Came over after watching Jen’s post. I too love vintage cookbooks…my favorite is my mom’s Betty Crocker Picture cookbook from her bridal shower in 1960. I love reading the little stories behind the recipes. Just subscribed!

[@cooking_the_books]

Thank you so much!! Love hearing that you have your mom's BC Picture Cookbook. That's such a good one!

[@leslieprebyl6238]

I have been following Jen for years and recently just discovered your channel. I have all of my mom's vintage cookbooks. I enjoy thumbing through them and seeing what was popular back then and not so much now. I really need to try more recipes from them.

[@cooking_the_books]

Hello and welcome! It has been so much fun trying all of these recipes for my videos, and I"ve even discovered a few new favorites. Not sure if you've watched my Hawaiian Banana Bread (Aloha Loaf) video, but that recipe has become my favorite go-to banana bread recipe.

[@dianaw.571]

My Mom made a similar chocolate dessert called Hot Fudge Pudding cake, served with vanilla ice cream! She also made a lemon version. They were from the Betty Crocker cookbook and were family favorites. When you were making the Crispette Squares, it reminded me of 7 layer bars. Sounds good!

[@MeMe-Moi]

Looks good! Granted, some of this stuff would require tweaking to accommodate my household's allergies, but some of these (like the brownie pudding) look like they would be worth the effort of modifying. Also, if I remember correctly, Frensh dressing used to refer to a vinaigrette style dressing rather than a specific dressing recipe. So, basically any uncooked oil and acid salad dressing with any combination of herbs, spices, and flavorings but no eggs or dairy would qualify as a French dressing, in contrast you would have cream based salad dressing, mayonnaise style dressings, and cooked or "boiled" dressings. Yeah, I read cookbooks for fun and I just realized how obvious it is 😅.

[@cooking_the_books]

If you can make the Brownie Pudding work for your household, it is definitely worth it! 😋 I love and appreciate your deep knowledge of salad dressings! 😄

[@MeMe-Moi]

@@cooking_the_books I couldn't even begin to tell you where I picked up the different salad dressing types. Best guess is either The Boston Cooking School Cookbook (1941 edition) or a modern copy of The Joy of Cooking. Though none of that is guaranteed. I kind of went through the home ec section at my college library as if I had a second minor and they still had all the old textbooks even though home ec hadn't been a proper major or minor in over a decade.

[@laurac-ss1cp]

Throwing out the French dressing I bought it was too sweet

[@user-lx8dx3id5y]

When I grew up in the 50’s., my mother made something similar without the cream of mushroom soup. It was called “ American Chop Suey”

[@LLJerseyGirl]

I just love that striped apron! 🩷 Also, I had to laugh about the instructions of carrots boiling for 25 minutes because I grew up in the 70s and my mom boiled the life out of veggies. LOL My sisters and I laugh about it still…I am a barely steam the veggies girl. Quite the contrast to the lifeless boiled method my mom used. 😂 (My mom was a fabulous baker and cake decorator, she said she loved to bake…but cooking not so much. In her defense, 99% of the food she made was delicious.)

[@GreatDayEveryone]

Mine too!!

[@dianaarmitage512]

Recent subscriber here. Love your content and your laugh!!! Looking forward to watching your older videos.

[@cooking_the_books]

Thank you so much!! 😊

[@pennybechtold3524]

I got that cookbook when I got married. It no longer looks like that. It’s been used and abused. The cover got burned on a stove burner and some pages came out and they are yellowed., but I love it.

[@moniquebutler8572]

I am very happy that I found your channel. I love vintage recipes and have several cookbooks.

[@stephaniewalter4673]

My mom always did a French Dressing - almost the same as what you used. It was our everyday salad dressing. Thanks for Sharing

[@barbaratrubenbach115]

I have enjoyed your recipes, some are very familiar. I have my grandmother's recipe book dating backto the 1930's and 40's. We have really lost so many very delicious, easy, and cheap meals.

[@mommam.6101]

I'm 83 and grew up in the 60's and 70s. No fast food or take out, just good home cooking. I never heard of that spaghetti, and the tuna sounds horrible, although I'll take your word for it that it is good. I do remember the chocolate pudding cake, but my mother added walnuts to the batter, which took it over the top. We used to make a small, dense vanilla sheet cake and made a sauce with sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch that we poured over. My kids loved it in the 60s but I can't find a recipe.

[@annetteherrera2813]

I love vintage cookbooks & recipes too. I literally could just watch this channel all day and read old cookbooks. It’s just the best!

[@cooking_the_books]

Yay! Thank you!

[@jenthulhu]

My grandmother had this cookbook but I never got more than a glance at it. However, someone gave my mother the 1960s version and I read that one cover to cover multiple times and made many dessert recipes from it as well as some breakfast recipes--egg in a window, for example! I loved this cookbook so much that I sought out my own copy from used bookstores as an adult. I still use it from time to time, especially for cookie (or cookey) recipes.

[@simonalyneenderz3247]

We use to have this book.I loved the drawings of the families.

[@trishfitzpatrick2066]

This cook book came out when I was a baby so my mother actually made this "Irish Italian Spaghetti" (although we were just Irish). The floating fat is a feature not a bug. My eight brothers and I were a super active bunch as were all the kids of that era. We went out after school and played until the streetlights came on so we were famished at the supper table. Calories were the focus. Can't run a car without the gas. Every meal included homemade bread and butter, whole milk, and the fattiest proteins mother could find. NONE of us was overweight in the slightest.

[@sharonwest1602]

I love dessert made with rice crispy so I bet that dessert is going to taste delicious 🤤 I going to want to try that dessert

[@dorawedlock3969]

That brownie pudding sounds just like something we made in high school home ec. I am making that!

[@shellakers10]

The irish italian spaghetti sounds like a NO GO recipe. BUT it actually looks really good (sans grease 😂)!!! Youve inspired me to do this tonight! Plus it looks perfectly kid friendly! My kiddos love spices and heat. Perfect! Ty!

[@cooking_the_books]

My curiosity was SO SPARKED by that recipe that I just had to try it. I ended up really liking it! Thanks for watching. ☺

[@user-nt5rr8tb8r]

I once had a full set of the same tupperware measuring cups, I still use the ones I have left. The cup has a melted part to help identify it. Certain I bought these as the result of being invited to my first tupperware "party."

[@jokelly1762]

My mom had this book. Now it’s mine and I make stuff from it all of the time.

[@tamaraw3620]

This was so much fun! You inspire me. I have the June 1956 Good Housekeeping Cookbook. I'm planning to try a Tuna Cashew Casserole, Deviled Hamburger Toast, and Salametti. Still reading through for salad and dessert ideas!

[@Rhaenspots]

That peeler 😭 an old roommate of mine had one and we always loved using it!

[@Rhaenspots]

Also I was so curious what the bunny was until you made it. In South Africa (and maybe other places) they make a “curry bunny” which is a loaf of bread hollowed out the same way and filled with curry

[@teresasalisbury4748]

Mom lived through the Great Depression, then was a "mother's helper" for room and board to attend high school, she learned recipes from many people. She married in 1941, so I guess by the 50's, she rarely used cookbooks, same with every friend's Mom. My first cookbook (1969) was a Fanny Farmer's, basic recipes I adjusted to our tastes) Funny to imagine some newlywed cooking these meals.

[@fyrekrystaal27]

I remember my mother having that cookbook

[@eugeniaosborne3883]

My mom had this cookbook. I made that spaghetti when I was about 10.

[@voxveritas333]

I have Corningware like that...somewhere! VERSATILE useful stuff indeed.

[@user-wr4we8ou8o]

I grew up having brownie pudding every other week in the winter! 😋😋😋

[@lisasmith5422]

Cooking The Books - what a great title 😎

[@cooking_the_books]

Thank you! ❤

[@paulandbenny]

I love seeing the full meals! When we were kids my mom would get us la Choi sweet n sour chicken sometimes. It came in a can and it was attached to a larger can of the chow mein noodles. You'd heat it up and spoon it over the noodles. It looked so much like the tuna you made. I have to try this- maybe with canned chicken first to see if it's the same😊

[@cooking_the_books]

YES the bi-packs! My dad worked at LaChoy, so we definitely had those at our house growing up. 😄

[@paulandbenny]

@@cooking_the_books No way!! I loved them. I wonder if they still make them.

[@Dindasayswhynot]

Yaaay. Another egg free dessert. Brownie Pudding will be a keeper. The salad is more like a potato salad. The French Dressing would normally be the clear vinaigrette style, added to the vegetables while hot (hold the lettuce). That's even done today in potato salads. Leave out at room temperature until cooled, refrigerated as needed, then tossed with mayo like a potato salad. I don't think your seasoned dressing hurts anything.

[@janjones4224]

oh my goodness! so happy to find your channel. Thanks for Sharing!

[@laurawilliams7122]

🙂

[@pal4204]

We called it "Pudding Cake"! It was my favorite as a child!😍

[@TehachapiWildlife]

When I turned 18 my grandma gave me this cookbook. She recently passed away and I'm excited to cook my way through it. She loved cooking, so i can just imagine her looking through it with me I also randomly found your channel a week ago, wow what great timing! I have been binge watching all your videos 😂 tysm

[@rw8873]

just found you and so glad i did, just what i needed on a sick day - thank you 🙂

[@NancyPollyCy]

I love the original BHG cookbook! Try the "everyday waffles." They use whipped egg whites to make them light and fluffy. Sometimes I make them and just eat them without butter or syrup or anything!

[@2TeeG]

I am from the Deep South and I grew up eating something similar to that spaghetti. My mother called it brown spaghetti but I’ve never been able to find a recipe for “brown spaghetti” online. I believe she would also add a can of chicken and rice to the meat mixture.

[@2TeeG]

I might should also add we do have an Irish heritage

[@lauralutz4538]

I grew up in an Irish family but very fortunately my Dad made the spaghetti! My father’s best friend was Italian!! He did it authentically Italian. He made gravy, pork in olive oil with GARLIC, it was delicious. His meatballs had cinnamon in them as Greeks put cinnamon in the chopped meat of Pastichio. I can’t imagine eating this Irish spaghetti. Thanks for the fun!!!

[@pamchamberlin6703]

I have a 1981 edition of that cookbook that I bought with Green Stamps in the 80s. I still use it but it’s kind of falling apart. My son called me yesterday when he saw a 1989 edition in a thrift store. I told him to buy it for me!

[@kjeracarroll450]

Growing we would cook from this cookbook! It’s been so fun to see your videos and have great memories come back!

[@latedecember2805]

I have this cook book. I have had it for over 25 years, it was my Mom's, She got it from my grandmother. My daughter recently bought me a new copy of this book. I recommend the oatmeal/walnut/raisin cookies they are a family favorite. Some of the recipes are older than you think some of them were a 100 years old when the cook book came out in 1953. So really you are getting some recipes that are over 170 years old. They were good then and are good now.

[@rubytaylor4566]

Thank you , enjoyed you 😊❤🙏 Ms. Ruby

[@Breffix]

18:05 I love that bowl!

[@jenn4youtube]

ok magic hot water brownies. This looks really good (spaghetti, salad, brownies)!! I am glad that hot water brownie magic turned out well. Idk about the tuna. Idk man. that Apple peeler was SOO COOL! The last meal looks so good. Anna you have done it again, 10/10

[@cooking_the_books]

We will make the magic hot water brownies TOGETHER someday! and then we can peel apples together with my very cool apple peeler. Come on over, my house is fun and I am funny.

[@ConstantCompanion]

I've got a recipe I got in the eighties but I'm pretty sure it's a lot older than that. It's blueberry pudding cake. The same idea as the chocolate cobbler here but it's blueberries. Haven't seen it online, but maybe I just haven't looked. I've had it forever and it is to die for. My version of the chocolate pudding cake is actually mocha. I got it out of the 50s cookbook. Also amazing.

[@jodyrightnow]

Omg. Did anyone notice the fried rabbit or squirrel recipe on one of the cookbook pages 😮. Great video!

[@russbear31]

Until the 1970s the old copies of the Joy of Cooking included recipes for rabbits and squirrels, including "Fricassee of Squirrel." 😅 There's even a couple of recipes for cooking bears and other wildlife. If meat prices keep climbing we might all go back to hunting.

[@cooking_the_books]

Thank you!! I swear, none of the recipes in these vintage cookbooks phase me anymore. 😂

[@makelikeatree1696]

@@russbear31ugh. I grew up in a hunting family. I could still skin a squirrel if I had to. Thank goodness I don’t have to. Still occasionally eat domestic rabbit, but from the grocery store.

[@sundevil0271]

Loving your videos! Especially love the vintage kitchenware--those Tupperware measuring cups and Corelle mixing bowls bring back so many memories. Thanks for sharing your recipe exploration!

[@kinawood7454]

The brownie pudding is what we call chocolate cobbler, it is also sometimes called hot fudge cake. All good names for a delicious- cheap and easy dessert.