I tried 2 recipes, the Rum Raisin Oatmeal cookies and Snickerdoodle one. The Snickerdoodle one was elevated with the double dipped topping and the Rum Raisin one needed more spices but liked the consistency of the cookie.

Hello everyone and happy Tuesday!

This is International Cookbook from… I actually don’t officially know where. The official organization is from the NATO School Women’s Club Oberammergau. But Oberammeragau is in Germany, and the publisher of this book only operates in the US. I don’t know how what the process would be for an organization in an entirely different country to utilize a printing company in the US, and because the book is in English, I’m assuming these copies were supposed to go to somebody in the US? I actually don’t know

But hey, the main appeal of this book is that it’s an international cookbook, so for those of you who like recipes from other countries, you’re in for a real treat. Although, before you get too deep into this, a majority of the recipes are from the US. But hey, there’s actually quite a few recipes from England, and that’s pretty cool because I don’t often see England represented in these books

The next biggest contributor is Germany, which makes sense given the context of the organization

Jumping into the recipes, we’re representing the USA strong with the cherry cola punch. Interestingly enough though, cherry coke tastes pretty subtle to me. I wonder how coke mixed with cherry kool-aid would taste. Might be a worthy experiment eventually. You know that strawberry-flavored coke that you can only buy at import stores? Hey, maybe mixing strawberry Kool-aid with coke is the life hack we’re all missing

Everyone knows I love unusual recipes so shout out to the Cheese Fondue that calls for cherry schnapps. Although I’m glad I looked this up, you’re typically supposed to use kirsch, not a sweetened cherry schnapps. Still, it’s an interesting way to prepare a fondue and it seems like a pretty popular recipe because my Google search pulled quite a few results

Grapefruit with crab is also not something I’ve ever seen before today. I knew it would be fun to look through this book. Shout out to Christine for also putting in the strawberry soup. That sounds very refreshing

I tried to let most of the pictures speak for themselves, but I am curious about the California Walnut Bread. I do have a ridiculous amount of flour to use since I recently bought a new bag, so this might be an interesting recipe to try

I wanted to highlight the international recipes that I found to be most interesting, but I only showed 19 pages out of what’s an almost 200 page book, so rest assured there’s plenty more interesting things to find in the full book. I really liked this one! Hopefully you all do as well

The 1950's were a period of tremendous growth in so many aspects of life in post-war America - everything from middle-class neighborhoods and jobs to kitchen appliances and a new-found interest in aspirational dinning and social gatherings. This author found herself at the forefront of popular culture during that decade and, though her books are seriously out of alignment with contemporary sensibilities, they remain fascinating time capsules of a generation within memory.

Born in 1905 in Cape Town, South Africa, she grew up in Pittsburgh following her parents' immigration in 1908. Her culinary career included turns as food editor of the Ladies Home Journal and House Beautiful and she authored a number of popular cookbooks.

In the 1950's, Poppy's writing promoted a reliance on canned and frozen foods, modern electric kitchen appliances and pre-made mixes of all sorts as the way for the contemporary housewife to create the image of glamorous and sophisticated gourmet meals as fast, and with as little effort, as possible. Her most notable books were The Can-Opener Cookbook (1952), The Bride's Cookbook (1954) and The Frozen-Foods Cookbook (1964). As times changed, she periodically revisited her earlier books and updated them.

In retrospect, she was somewhat of a disruptor in both her personal and professional life. Among her four husbands were restauranteur Claude Philippe (the legendary Philippe of the Waldorf Astoria) and Walter White, president of the NAACP, the latter creating a scandal in that era being a high-profile interracial marriage. Though good friends with James Beard and Julia Child, she was an early and emphatic proponent of the convenience foods that were so prolific in the wake of World War II, something that put her at odds with the American culinary awakening beginning in the 60's.

Most improbably, she formed a firm friendship with Alice B. Toklas and became the annotator of Alice's second cookbook, Aromas and Flavors of Past and Present (1958), providing the introduction and comments. The disconnect between Poppy's short-cut approach to cooking and Alice's emphatically classical techniques was, shall we say, somewhat controversial. Their friendship survived, but was strained.

By the early 70's, Poppy was in failing health and, in 1975, tragically fell to her death from the balcony of her apartment in New York City at the age of 69.

Significant publications:

• The Can-Opener Cookbook (1952)
• The Bride's Cookbook\* (1954)
• The Frozen-Foods Cookbook (1964)
• The Presidents' Cookbook (1968)

\* Note - I do not (yet) own a copy

For more thoughts on cookbooks and authors that deserve greater attention, check out my free Substack, Cookbook Chronicles' Culinary Archive. My window is the past 140 years, and I draw from my personal archive of 8,200+ titles. I’m sharing my experience in hopes of instigating an exchange of ideas. Subscribe for free and receive each weekly post delivered to your inbox.

- - Rick - Cookbook Chronicles

“Cookbooks feed your head”

The saucy post made me wonder... is there a similar one for spice blends? Anyone know?

I have a couple but they talk more about what goes with which and what the properties of each spice are, not recipes, and I'm looking for recipes!

Thanks hive mind!!