Oh pshaw, on Mon 05 Jun 2006 07:24:41p, Chris Marksberry meant to say...

>
> "Reg" > wrote in message
> . com...
>> Kent wrote:
>>
>> > If anyone, based on the uniformity of this thread, is thinking about
>> > buying the "Joy of Cooking", it's very important to get the last
>> > edition (1974) written by the Rombauers without help from anyone
>> > else. The "Joys" published after this date were added to by Ethan
>> > Becker. One rewrite took the original famous emergency dish "tuna
>> > noodle casserole" and added cheese to it! That's almost
>> > sacrilegious!!
>>
>> I prefer the older editions, too. I've had many over the years. My
>> first, the one I made cakes from when I was a kid, still had the
>> recipe for cleaning and cooking a porcupine.
>>
>> My first major revelation into the world of food was reading
>> the JOC "Know Your Ingredients" chapter in grade school.
>>
>> --
>> Reg
>>
>
> I have most of the versions of the JOC starting with the 1943 version
> (wish I had the 1931 version, but too pricey) which is a hoot. I
> sometimes sit down and read it like a novel. It was published because
> of shortages during WW II.
>
> I don't think the Ethan Becker versions have the same flair that his
> grandmother had.

I have my mom's 1944 edition of The Good Housekeeping Cookbook which also
has a fair number of recipes that reflect the WWII rationing; e.g.,
"Butterless, Eggless, Milkless Cake", which actually is pretty good...dark,
spicy, and full of raisins. Apart from that, there are good cake and pie
recipes that I have used many times.

It's a fun read to understand a very different generation of cooking.

--
Wayne Boatwright @¿@¬
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