Retro Cookbook: Betty Crocker's New Dinner for Two

by Nicole Weston, Posted Jan 31st 2006 @ 11:10AM

Looking through older cookbooks is always entertaining. There are almost always lots of interesting illustrations and the recipes themselves even have entertainment value. Betty Crocker’s New Dinner for Two cookbook has some good recipes and some ones whose popularity didn’t last beyond 1964. The book is geared for anyone who is a "bride, a buisness girl, career wife, or a mother whose children are away from home," so all the recipes serve one or two, with a few large-scale ones thrown in for entertaining purposes. This is the first edition of the book, those subsequent versions were released into the 1980s.

Perfection Salad made me laugh out loud, with a combination of pickles, pimento, celery and cabbage, suspended in lemon-flavored gelatin and served with mayonnaise. I wasn’t tempted by that one. Peanut Crunch Slaw and Tuna and Chips Casserole were not likely to make my mouth water, either. Strawberry Shortcake, Ham and au Gratin Potatoes and Grapefruit and Avocado Salad all sounded fine, though, and I think that I might even be persuaded to try the Pineapple Marshmallow cream.

There was a recipe for a simple, low fat whipped cream substitute. Could it be the forerunner to Cool Whip? With three ingredients, I was willing to give it a shot. All I had to do was beat together ¼ cup ice water and ¼ cup dry powdered nonfat milk, then gradually add ¼ cup sugar and beat until thick. Let me tell you that the mixture did not get thick enough to stand in for whipped cream merely from beating it, but after a few hours of refrigeration, it was soft, thick and fluffy. I could not believe it! I topped a small piece of cake with the cream and berries. It actually tasted quite nice, though after about two spoonfuls it became much too sweet. For an experimental recipe that didn't even sounds like it would work, though, the results were great.

Filed Under: Food Porn, Food Oddities, Retro cookery, Feast Your Eyes, Ingredients, Books, How To
Tags: betty crocker, books, classics, condiments, cookbook, cool whip, CoolWhip, dairy, dessert, food porn, FoodPorn, how to, low fat whipped topping, oddities, recipes, retro, retro cookbook, retro food, used books, vintage, vintage cookbook, weird recipes, whipped topping

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

2-28-2006 @7:50PM Joan Permison said... To anyone who can help!
I lent my Dinner for Two Cookbook to my mother and she can't find it. I'm looking for the Shrimp Creole recipe on page 26 please. Thank you, much appreciated.
JMP

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1-31-2006 @11:35AM T. Allen said... I LOVE retro cookbooks!! I don't know how it happened, but I have a drawer full of them. Mostly my mom's, I think. I agree with your opinion of the "Perfection" (?) Salad tho.
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1-31-2006 @2:48PM Lady Amalthea said... I find that so many recipes in Retro cookbooks are just bizarre flavor combinations, like the "Perfection Salad." It makes you wonder--did people enjoy eating such foods? (And if you're one of them, I don't mean to offend!)
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