i have a small library of cookbooks around the apartment, but i find myself only using a select few. i don’t know about you, but what draws me to cookbooks are the pictures, so even the ones i don’t use very often usually have beautiful spreads of cakes or closeups of golden brown seared scallops. i’ve also got a predisposition for vintage food stuff, as my parent’s house is chock full of antique butcher shop signage (among other cool fixtures like barber chairs!).
so imagine my delight when i stumbled upon copies of the woman’s day encyclopdia of cookery (1966) and the pillsbury treasury of bake-off favorites (1969) at the book thing in baltimore. for anyone not in the know, the book thing is a big book warehouse where you can grab anything for free (no limit on quantity) and donate books you’ve finished for others to enjoy. it’s a free bookstore with a constantly rotating stock of old and new, and if the world was perfect, there would be a book thing in every city.
anyway, these cookbooks are a treasure trove of forgotten recipes, a slice of history from a time when anything could be made into a casserole, despite its biological origin. they’re also a odd collection of grotesque photographs. most of them i couldn’t identify without the captions. i’ve included 3 below. which brings me to…
the giveaway
all you have to do win is comment with what you think is in the pictures below. bam.
now, the rules:
- to enter, comment below with your guess at what dish is featured in each picture.
- PLEASE comment only once (or risk disqualification!!!)
- winner will be chosen at random, so have fun with your guesses! funniest entries will get a shoutout when i announce the winner.
- entries will be accepted until 11:50 pm EST, february 6. winner will be announced february 9, right here. we have a winner!
but wait, there’s more! if the winner already has a copy of artisan bread in 5 minutes a day (as many of us do), i’d be willing to send them a copy of another cookbook on their wishlist (of equal monetary value).
so let’s get on with it, shall we? i present to you, selections from the woman’s day encyclopdia of cookery and the pillsbury treasury of bake-off favorites: