Betty Lives!

Woman’s Day Cook Book of Favorite Recipes

1958

This small book, which was published to commemorate the twentieth anniversary year of Woman’s Day magazine, is not part of the Encyclopedia about which I have written much.  This was printed eight years earlier and is infinitely less interesting as far as recipe content, illustrations or general culinary interest.

I don’t know if this was their first attempt at cookbook publishing but by 1966 I can say with certainty that they had definitely gotten it down.

I’m having an Alexander-variety week (terrible, horrible, no good, very bad) so I’m going to be brief here and then take a long, hot bath.  The Senate Bean Soup appealed to me for its simplicity and because I have come across bean soups with the moniker “Senate” and was curious about them.  Read more about the mythology here.  At its essence it is a bean soup with a ham bone, what makes it Senatorial is the addition of mashed potatoes.  It goes like this: soak 1 lb navy or great northern beans overnight, drain then cover with  enough water to make five quarts.  Add a smoked ham bone (I used a hock) and cook for two hours.  After two hours, tip in 3 medium potatoes which have been cooked and mashed, 1 cup chopped onion, 1 cup diced celery and 2 minced garlic cloves.  I also added 1 cup of chopped carrot because it seemed like the right thing to do.  The vegetables and beans mingle over low heat for an hour at which point you remove the bone, cut the meat and add it back.  It was delicious and soothing with a pure, ham-flavored broth that I could not stop sipping.  Because the vegetables are only cooked for the last hour they act more like seasoning and the addition of mashed potatoes gives the whole cauldron some body.  But despite the soup’s bi-partisan approval, it was not enough to improve this god-awful week so off I go to immerse myself in bubbles.