"Some women, it is said, like to cook. This book is not for them."
If you have any interest at all in cooking or history, you must get your hands on a copy of Peg Bracken's I Hate To Cook Book. Published in 1960, Peg Bracken was the forerunner to women like Sandra Lee, taking a semi-homemade approach to things that she felt obligated to do, like cooking for her husband. Peg's strategy was to get away from the stove and onto another cocktail as quickly as possibly. Her writing is clever and witty, downright hilarious at times. Even without considering that it is a cookbook, it makes a great read.
The book has 180 recipes, divided into chapters with headings like "Potluck Suppers, or How to Bring the Water for the Lemonade" and "Desserts, or People are Too Fat Anyway." The first chapter has 30 recipes, one for each day of the month, because Peg noticed that her husband (and the rest of the family) tended to get cranky when they were forced to eat the same thing day in and day out. Some, she says directly, are "pretty dull", but they taste good and they'll get you through the month. Others in the book are more interesting, but they're all quite easy.
She sums up the book with some household hints (to avoid heavy duty cleaning) and a chapter on how to fake your way through a conversation with someone who is actually a good cook by using words like "sauté" and "garnish" and avoiding "fry", "hamburger" and "top with bacon" .
[Photo by Nicole Weston]
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