It's a book, copyright 1961, a Christmas gift from Beth and Dicky, and it's attributed to "Peter Pauper Press." No individual would take credit for this one! A classic that leads with:
TO THE READER
Dear Lady, I beg you
To cook as you please,
But don't overlook the
Importance of cheese!
As a casserole topping
All bublly and brown,
It will make your fine cooking
The talk of the town.
As a spread for a sandwhich
Or a puffy soufflé
It will help you to cope
On your busiest day.
Its tang and its flavor
Will tempt and will tease;
'Most all of your dishes
Can be sharpened with cheese!
Hee!
The book starts with cheesy poetry that continues through the book. It's terrifically and enjoyably terrible. Each letter of the alphabet is given a short little ditty except for XYZ; they're grouped for some odd reason. A sample poem for your enjoyment:
The "J" poem:
Just bring me a bottle
of red bubbling wine;
I'll furnish the cheese -
And we'll get along fine!
Each four-line poem is then followed by recipes with crazy nonsensical names. The "J" recipes include: Julios Macaroni, Jiffy Cheese Muffins, Jiffy Clam Puffs, & Jenny's French Onion Soup.
And yes, this is how the book is organized! No other tools to help you find anything in particular although glancing through the recipes such as the one for lasagna that includes "2 pinches of ground basil" as the entire herb addition to the recipe, I'm not sure that's really a problem. But still, finding French Onion Soup in the "J" section is not exactly intuitive.
This is rich and rare, one of the most amusing thing I've seen in ages!
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4 comments:
Hilarious. Though, I don't think I would EVER forget to cook with cheese!
I went to look for a cheese jingle for you but found this website instead.
http://www.geocities.com/foodedge/jingles5.html
Here's the jingle I was actually looking for though:
"When my get-up-and-go has gone up and went, I hanker for a hunka cheese."
Still trying to figure out why French onion soup was filed under "J"...
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