So! A couple of nights ago Jim made Salisbury Steak. He’s a great cook so I was surprised to taste some pretty sub-par food. I asked how this could be, Jim answers, “Well it’s YOUR recipe.”
Now my brain instantly folds into itself saying NO….NO….NO……..! It was not my recipe and I had to prove it by referring to my source. I attempted to find my personal Holy Grail of cookbooks, Betty Crockers’s DINNER FOR TWO COOKBOOK (published one year after we were married.) It’s not here!!! We’ve recently cleaned out about 300 cookbooks. This is one I would never have given up. As a young wife, this book was my cooking Bible. Each week I would study the book and languish over menus and potential successes or anguish over possible failures. Each menu presented multi-course options, embellished with crisp green salads, gleaming glasses of wine and strategically placed florets of parsley. All the time believing, “If I could do this, I’d be a “Stepford Wife!”
Jim consoled me that we had probably stored it downstairs in our book archives. But I was in panic mode. I’m now on a mission to find it. Jim forbids me to go on a book hunt and unpack many sealed boxes. I didn’t care, I had to find it. I traveled downstairs with a sharp knife in hand ready to delve into many many sealed boxes. After moving many items away, I proceeded to the opening of boxes, I opened my first box (Holy Cow) there it was my Holy Grail, my Bible. Laying right on top of all the other books, like it knew I’d come back to it someday. I’m breathing much more calmly now.
Spent time with my Book this morning over a cup of tea confirming that Jim’s Salisbury Steak was not my recipe! It brought back many, so many, memories and well-learned lessons. Nostalgically, I offered to make any menu Jim wanted. He selected Breaded Veal Cutlets, Noodles Romanoff, and Zucchini Provencale. Turns out that many of the recipes are outdated, and this one was, but they make great starting points. In particular our revised Noodles Romanoff turned out great and I will share the revised recipe in a future post. I’d give it to you now but I haven’t written it yet.
Going to share more old-school learning from this book. It’s a romp into my past. Book is no longer in print but you can get it on EBay and Amazon. Found out it is a collectors item. The book sells for about $88.49 on EBay (Ouch!). So stay tuned here, I’ll share many more menus and tips.
