Betty Lives!

The New Settlement Cookbook
1954

Twenty years ago this month I traveled to Paris for the first time. A string of fortuitous circumstances led me to the home of Madame Isabelle DuPasquier where I lived joyously - with a view of the Eiffel Tower out my window - for five months. Isabelle has four […]

The New Settlement Cook Book
1954

In looking back over the last year I can say with confidence that there are recipes that improve with age, such as those for pork. There are also recipes that withstand the test of time (see any number of them on this blog), and there are even recipes for […]

The Omelette Book
Narcissa Chamberlain with Drawings by Hilary Knight
1955

Apologies to those who have been waiting for a new entry. The last week of July was bananas because I was getting ready to move the brood out to Pennsylvania for the month of August and also preparing for the arrival of the daughter of friends […]

Best Chocolate and Cocoa Recipes
1931

This is one of the oldest books I have and one of the most challenging to interpret for modern cooking. It was printed by Walter Baker & Company which was a division of General Foods and all the pictures are full color and depict rich and luscious chocolate desserts. […]

Woman’s Day Encyclopedia of Cookery Vol.11
Soufflé to Tongue
1966
I made another go at the Encyclopedia this week and came out with two more winners. Volume 11 is rich with possibilities. It contains chapters on such topics as South American, Southeast Asian, Southwestern, Spanish, Swedish and Southern cookery as well sections devoted to Sour-Cream […]

Woman’s Day Encyclopedia of Cookery Vol. 7
1966
My friend Teresa found this entire Encyclopedia at her town dump in New Jersey and, knowing my fondness for old cookbooks, did me the great favor of hauling all 12volumes back to her house. I’m so sad that she’s not in Brooklyn any more, I miss her every […]

How America Eats
Clementine Paddleford
1960

Oh my god, this casserole was an enormous undertaking. I don’t know what I was thinking. Actually, what I was thinking was that I wanted to make a chicken dish and I had a ton of leftover sourdough bread so what the hell. I must have had a brain […]