Wednesday, January 25, 2012

And It Was Free

Meal planning is actually a thing I enjoy.  I lay out several cookbooks, I review the previous month's dinners, I check out the pantry supplies.  I may hate cooking dinner some nights, but at least I've usually got a plan for what should be cooked and two kids and a husband who can follow a recipe so I don't have to!

When I visit the library, I always check out the Friends of the Library book sale.  Before I even leave the house, I make sure I have at least two quarters.  There is nothing worse than getting to the library, finding a book a I desperately want, but not having any money to purchase it.  On occasion, there is a free box.

Is there anything better than a box of free books? 

Sometimes, the box is full of weird, smelly books.  But then I hit the jackpot.  I can't believe that this book is  in the free box.  A cookbook the likes of which I have never seen!  Spiral bound at the top, winter and spring one way, turn it around and summer and autumn the other.  

 Today's meal plan would be:
At which point my daughter seriously questioned whether this book was really the jackpot I thought it was, because it might not smell, but it was weird.  What is a shirred egg anyway, she asks, and I say the recipe is at the top of the page.  She reads it and says nope.  No way does she want to eat anything out of this cookbook.

I'm not rushing out to make a cottage cheese and date salad or stuffed onions, but I do love this book.  It tickles my meal planner heart.  And it was free!  That tickles my frugal heart!

10 comments:

  1. That book is a keeper, for sure! (Well, at least for you - - someone obviously didn't think so or they wouldn't have given it to the library!). And, can I hire you to plan out my meals for a month?!

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    1. Only if you want to try things like curried lentil soup....last night's dinner that the family voted as "please do not ever make this again!"

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  2. I can't stand to plan meals. But maybe that's because I rarely am in charge of the meals anyway, unless I come across a recipe that inspires me too cook.

    I love free books! and recipe books! I'd keep the book. It was a great find!

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    1. It's a keeper! It might collect dust, but from time to time, I will take it out to give it a read. It's really fascinating!

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  3. I love it, but I am not sure I would actually cook anything from it!

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    1. How about Southern Fig Muffins? E loves figs....And there is something called Winter Casserole that calls for potatoes, apples, onions, and bacon.....intriguing!

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  4. Stuffed onions? Now you have me hooked. Exactly what are they stuffed with? I enjoy planning meals also and it makes a lot of sense when I am at least a half an hour away by dirt road and highway to the nearest place where I can buy an onion. I laughed when I read the part about making sure you had two quarters. It's nice to know that four bits will still buy you two books, just like when I was a kid and paperbacks were routinely in that price range.

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    1. Onions stuffed with seasoned bread crumb stuffing, of course! We make twice monthly big grocery runs, so I've got to plan out my meals pretty well. But I am not including the stuffed onion. The desserts intrigue me more....butterscotch crisp or ginger apple surprise!

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  5. I LOVE old cookbooks. I have my grandmother's copy of "The Searchlight Cook Book" copyright like 1918 or something and it is a fantastic glimpse into the past. I will confess that I've hardly ever made anything out of it (except the Never Fail Fudge, which I know by heart in any case). (PS--I will admit the book smells a little funny.)

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    1. I passed on to one of my sisters a cookbook from 1914 where every recipe had Crisco has a critical ingredient. She loves Crisco so I couldn't resist!

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