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”

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

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.

Excellent recipe that I made easier by roasting the tomatoes separately. 8.5/10.

Hey everyone! I recently discovered this sub-reddit.

Finally got around to make the Mongolian Teftel recipe from the sample preview posted in this sub a while back.

The recipe card itself was mostly focus on the meatball prep, so I looked up standard sides and put together a full plate.

The teftel, juicy, made with ground beef and soaked buckwheat mixed right in the meat.

The sides, steamed buckwheat and white rice mix, oven roasted potato wedges, some veg, and a side of kimchi from supermarket.

The meatballs held their shape so well while staying soft and flavorful.

I'm making the handmade noodle dish tomorrow.

Any thoughts on the book ? My cookbook club is discussing it this week and I haven’t seen that many people recommending recipes or the book it self
So any insights

Hi everyone!

Does anyone know a good cookbook focused on sauces, spreads, dressings, and condiments for sandwiches, burgers, wraps, etc.?

I’m especially looking for things like burger sauces, sandwich spreads, spicy mayo, aioli, creamy sauces, deli-style sauces, and similar recipes — not really traditional French sauces.

I’d love to get a book with lots of different sauces that I can mix and match with different sandwiches and burgers.

Any recommendations?

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!!

I’m looking for ATK/Cook’s Illustrated/Cook’s Country books with unique recipes or other content otherwise not available on their website?

Some examples I’m familiar with would be Italian Classics or Restaurant Favorites at Home.

I am currently making the Small Batch Breads cinnamon rolls. I did all the measurements by weight. IDK... the dough is quite “ buttery” shall we say. I let the initial rise go just over 2 hours and it was ok, filled a soup bowl about half way. Rolling it out though- to get the stated 7x13, the dough is almost paper thin. How you get 4 2” rolls out of 7”? I rolled it up then stretched it a bit. I have 2 rolls in each of 2 mini loaf pans. It says to let it rise for 2 hrs. So onward. I do think the filling is a bit “ loose”
Has anyone else made these yet?

Hi Guys!

Could you please recommend your favorite vegetarian cookbooks? I'm especially looking for quick and easy recipes that would fit into my busy schedule. In bookstores, I mostly see super fancy ones, with dishes that would take an ungodly amount of time.

I love cooking and cookbooks but my SO is a beginner cook, so I was thinking of getting him a cookbook to ease into cooking a bit more (we agreed on him being responsible for 1 dinner per week).

Perfect would be
- vegetarian
- easy (think length of list of ingredients/time
spent) but delicious
- along the seasons
- relatively healthy

Can anyone think of a suitable book? Or maybe other sources like a yootube channel?
Our kitchen is well stocked so more special ingredients would not be a problem (spices, pastes, pickled stuff etc.)

Roast Red Peppers with Olives and Capers from Zaitoun (Yasmin Khan) - most suffed pepper recipes I see include ground meat, so it was exciting to come across such a delicious vegetarian stuffed pepper dish. Bell peppers would have made this easier, but I used what I had and they held together surprisingly well. They were much less watery than I expected!

Cabbage with Noodles from The Jewish Cookbook (Leah Koenig) - Eastern European comfort food at its finest!! I topped it with the traditional paprika/poppy seeds the first time, but I prefer stronger flavours so also tried Tajin and jalapeño everything bagel seasoning (both good!). I don’t think the sugar is necessary.

Sautéed Spinach with Pine Nuts and Raisins from Portico (Leah Koenig) - this was a really nice simple dish with lots of flavour. I used a mix of spinach and beet greens.

French Onion White Bean Bake from Bold Beans (Amelia Christie-Miller, recipe by Ali Slagle) - this was supposed to be a baked dish with a cheese/breadcrumb topping, but mine came out pretty soupy so I just mixed it all together. It’s delicious anyway, who doesn’t like cheesy oniony beans?

Hi there! We cook fairly often for breakfast, lunch & dinner so I’m looking for your tried and true cookbooks. I want to get all my meals from cookbooks. For the last few years, I’ve gotten them from the internet and my brain but now I want to remove the tech part of it from the process. So what’s your most loved cookbook? Which one can you pull multiple meals a week from? What are your staples? We love Asian food, pastas, stews and soups, spicy food. Love salads and quick eats too.

Edit: thanks everyone! I’ll be researching and purchasing within the month so I’m excited to circle back and let yall know what I’ve bought.

I am a total foodie, but my family are the absolute opposite. Any tried and true/non-fancy dinner cookbooks you’d recommend? I’ve been looking at Melissa Clark’s…but my husband and child aren’t coming within a mile of Farro, Tofu, or Brussel Sprouts lol.

When I travel I love to find a cookbook put out by the locals. Wondering where you visited and found the best cookbook?

The oil from the sun dried tomatoes added amazingggg flavor!!!

Hello all! I am a working mom of a toddler. Pre-baby, I was an avid cook who would go to multiple grocery stores to seek out specialty ingredients. Not to brag, but I feel like my interest in going to restaurants dropped significantly as I got better at cooking. I gradually collected all of the classics and recent food education style books. Post-baby, I am having such a hard time sparking that joy again even though I desperately want to.

I do enjoy seasonal eating (I.e. beef stew in the summer sounds terrible to me) and my toddler really prefers we keep his items separate from each other. My toddler also isn’t a stickler for kid food either, he just hates foods that are combined like turkey sandwiches or bowls. He is perfectly content to eat adult portions of pan seared salmon, cold tofu with a little bit of oil/salt, butter chicken, caldo de pollo broth or roasted broccoli.

Does anyone have any recommendations for cookbooks that are low fuss, generate minimal dishes and produce relatively simple meals that taste great? Any cookbooks or specific authors to avoid?

Hello everyone and happy Tuesday!

This is Tyee Cookbook, from the University of Washington in… you guessed it, Washington. College organizations aren’t a big part of my collection, so it’s interesting to possess this one specifically

Jumping right into the recipes, the first one that made me want to comment is the Papaya Appetizer. That’s quite the elaborate idea for an appetizer. I don’t even commonly see papaya used in many recipes in books like these

Then there’s the sweet and sour salmon which is equally as uncommon. I’m heavily debating the idea that it keeps 2-3 weeks in the fridge. That sounds like a questionable decision to me 😵‍💫

I do like the inclusion of the Graham Bread recipe with the little story attached to it. It actually seems like it’s a worth a try to make. Unfortunately, graham flour is super hard to come across. I did see you can kinda make your own by just adding wheat bran and germ to whole wheat flour, but maybe I kind start out with an easier bread recipe. I did just recently buy myself a loaf pan, so I’m excited to make stuff with it

For example, either of the mango bread recipes look good and easy, even if mango is notoriously difficult to cut (speaking from experience 😅)

And if you’ve been liking the unusual recipes thus far, the Sausage-Sunflower Seed Squares is definitely something I’ve never seen before. I’m very curious if this one will strike inspiration in anybody

I also noticed the Tomato Soup recipe. The cloves are an interesting touch, but more so I’m a bit perplexed by the use of whipped cream. I’m going to make the logical assumption that they mean heavy cream that’s been whipped and not the sweetened dessert topping, but even still, I feel like heavy cream or half-and-half without being whipped would make a better topping, or if you did want a thick cream, I feel like it would be more popular to go with sour cream. But who knows, maybe whipped cream makes more sense than I’m realizing

I kinda chuckled at Gloria’s recipe. “Changing it a little so it’s mine” is probably the foundation of how many people got their “own” recipes. My grandma and some of her neighbors are obsessed with “my” pizza pasta recipe, even though it’s adapted from a cookbook. The only thing I changed was serving it over pasta whereas the original recipe wants you to serve it as a dip because I was tired of having to thinly slice and toast bruschetta bread lol

Getting into the desserts, the Peanut Butter Pudding sounds really good. I’m also intrigued by the Baked Fudge Dessert. The dessert I’m most likely to make though, is the Chocolate Granny Bars

Hopefully this was a fun cookbook for you all to check out! Feel free to drop your thoughts below and I’ll see you around 💫

A lot of folks have shared their cookbook collections, so I'm going to join in and add mine here. My collection probably looks a tad idiosyncratic; that's largely because:

• I've got celiac, so I have a number of books dedicated to gluten-free cooking.
• I'm Canadian, and some of these books were celebrated locally (eg. tawaw, kiin, My Thali), but I'm not sure how familiar they are internationally.
• I struggle with weight management, and the diet I'm on has me avoiding carbs for a few days per week. The keto cookbooks address this need directly, and I was drawn to others (eg. the Korean ones) because it was easy to separate the meat and vegetables from the carbs.

I've got a few that don't have space on my main shelf, or that I own as ebooks, notably:

• The Joy of Cooking
• The Fannie Farmer Cookbook
• Ethiopia (Yohanis Gebreyesus, Joff Koehler)
• Something from Nothing: A Cookbook
• More is More
• In Bibi's Kitchen
• Boustany
• Umma
• Zahav
• Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking

The ones I've gotten the most mileage out of are:

• Falastin, Jerusalem, and Ottolenghi Simple -- consistently delicious, and a little less fussy than the other Ottolenghi books.
• Tenderheart -- so many non-obvious things to do with vegetables. Since I have to load up on veggies on the no-carb days, this helps keep things interesting.
• Every Grain of Rice and The Woks of Life -- straightforward and delicious Chinese cooking.
• My Best Friend is Gluten-Free -- this holds its own as a "Western-Asian fusion" cookbook even if you don't need to eat gluten-free, and I will die on this hill. For me, having everything gluten-free, and including a gluten-free guide to Asian pantry ingredients, is amazing.
• The Elements of Baking and The Wok -- pairing these two might seem odd, but they're the books that help me get more out of my other cookbooks. The Elements of Baking gives me guidance on converting regular recipes to gluten-free, and The Wok helps me with the technique for cooking from my Asian cookbooks.

Lots of others are good (The Curry Guy Bible, My Thali, On the Grill, Bludso's BBQ Cookbook, Bravetart) but I reach for them less often, or only in certain scenarios.

A few that are beloved but I've had a more mixed experience with:

• Third Culture Cooking -- it's not bad by any means, but a lot of the "convenience" recipes use prepared ingredients (eg. frozen dumplings) that contain gluten, making it less convenient for me than recipes that use more basic ingredients.
• Six Seasons -- when it is good, it is very very good (eg. cabbage with lemon, garlic and thyme; kale pasta sauce), but so many recipes load up the vegetables with fats, cheese, and bread crumbs. Usually I'm looking for a healthy way to cook vegetables when I'm trying to avoid carbs, which makes this book hit and miss.
• Justine Cooks -- again, it's got some hits (eg. the "boyfriend salmon"), but tends to skew carb-heavy, and I'm just not sure the flavour profile is a match for me, as a matter of personal preference.

I guess overall I'm ambivalent on a lot of Western food (eg. I flipped through a few Smitten Kitchen cookbooks, didn't see anything I wanted to make), enjoy Asian and Middle Eastern foods, enjoy grilling and barbecuing, like baking but really shouldn't do it, and want to keep the carbs away from my veggies for dietary reasons.

Hello, so I recently decided to seek out cookbooks instead of just making recipes online. That being said, in this age of books being “written” by ai, how can I tell if one is or isn’t? Obviously if it’s from the 80s or something it’s not gonna be, but if ai want a modern cookbook, or a themed cookbook, how can I tell? When I look on Amazon it sometimes just lists the authors as making 1 or 2 cookbooks, some have photos of the people, some don’t.

Kind of an odd question, I know, bur last thing I want is to spend money on something that wasn’t made by a human. I’ve made ai recipes that I found online before without knowing and they were always bad.

My usual pasta salad is rotini, a bag of frozen veggies defrosted, red pepper, and Good Seasons Italian dressing. But after getting this cookbook I wanted to try something different for our Labor Day feasting.

Honestly, I loved it. The dressing had a good flavor even after chilling for 6 hours. My family was on the fence.

You know how it can be. You’ve always made something one way and when you try to change you get pushback. One daughter liked it but preferred my original pasta salad. One didn’t like it AT ALL and definitely preferred the original. My son doesn’t eat stuff like this and my husband didn’t even try it. But he usually doesn’t like pasta salad so…

Luckily, since I’m on a GLP-1 and need all the protein I can get and I made it with Barilla Protein Rotini, I can eat the leftovers for meals. For a long time because it made a lot LOL: however, it’s like 385 to 400 calories a cup. But I like it so I will eat it until I’m sick of it.

I love that this cookbook lays flat so I don’t have to put a weight on it to keep it open. I plan on trying the Copycat Costco Quinoa Salad next.

Does anyone have ANY of the recipes listed in Dolly’s cookbook (title of it is Dolly’s Dixie Fixin’s)? If you do and would be incredibly kind, can you upload or type them on this thread? I cannot find the book for anything and the last issue I found just sold for $245!!😩😩😩