Welcome to Thursday Coffee Hour. This is an open topic thread so help yourself to the goodies and sit a spell and let us know what is new with you. I had originally hoped to finish my cookbook this year but with the holiday season coming up it looks like it will be next year before it is done.
My first cookbook was Betty Crocker's Boys and Girls Cookbook. My first adult cookbook was Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook from 1961. I have Mom's first cookbook which is Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook from 1956 that my Dad gave her as an anniversary gift.
I am a self taught cook. My Mom really was not a cook. She was a typical meat and potatoes cook who depended a lot on can and boxed things for dinner. When I was engaged in the early 1970s my then fiancé gave her a spice rack. When I moved in to take care of her the original spices were still in the rack. I cleaned them out and put my own spices in the bottles. When I cleaned out the kitchen after she dies when preparing to sell the house I found spices from the 1990s. Mom learned to cook from her Mom who was a terrible cook. I'm not sure where my ability to cook came from but an Aunt recognized it early and gave me my first cookbook.
I love to read before I go to bed but tend to put the mysteries down about an hour before I turn off the lights because they get too exciting and I can't sleep. I have cookbooks with cuisines from around the world. I find reading recipes to be very relaxing.
My favorite cookbook is Betty Crocker's International Cookbook from 1980. I think it was probably my most instrumental cookbook in the way I know cook. Before I got the book I would pretty much cook American staple dishes. With this cookbook I started my quest into learning the cuisine from other countries. You can tell the number of times the cookbook has been used over the years by the food stains on the pages. I am not the world's neatest cook. I do make a mess.
Almost anything I make now days is original recipes with trying out new ones and trying to perfect older versions. I still enjoy reading old cookbooks and seeing how cooking has changed. My favorite cookbook does rely on margarine which I won't use and MSG as an optional ingredient. I use lighter versions of many ingredients. I work to keep sodium down and watch the cholesterol levels carefully. Still even though they are recipes that I don't make any more or make differently they still are relaxing reads.
How did you learn to cook? Do you have a favorite cookbook?