"PegBracken" news and stories

Last week Bob wrote a post about how cookbook author Peg Bracken had died. I followed up his post with one of my own that included her recipe for Fake Hollendaise. It was only after that post went up that I noticed that a commenter had specifically asked if anyone had Bracken's recipe for Hellzapoppin Cheese Rice. Mary, this one is for you.

Hellzapoppin Cheese Rice

4 cups cooked rice
4 eggs
2 tablespoons minced onion
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons salt
1 pound grated sharp Cheddar
small pinch each of thyme and marjoram
1 package chopped frozen spinach
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons melted butter

As we noted last week, Peg Bracken, author of the I Hate To Cook Book and the original queen of recipe short cuts, died last week at the age of 89. This morning Weekend Edition aired an interview that Liane Hanson did with Bracken in 1999. She was witty and irreverent and hearing the interview sent me to my bookshelf to find my copy of her book.

Flipping through it, her voice leaped off the page. Some of her recipes are a bit dated and yet many of them are still very useful and relevant. One recipe that jumped out at me was her instructions for Fake Hollandaise, because that was one of my grandmother's go-to sauces. She would make it to pour over steamed broccoli, boiled potatoes and to fancy up asparagus. So, in honor of Peg Bracken's life and work, I offer you her Fake Hollandaise recipe after the jump.

"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.