Tonight we are having a belated birthday celebration for my mother-in-law. I love family birthday dinners and since the real feel in St. Louis is currently 14 degrees with light snow flurries, I settled on chili for dinner. Do you have recipes that you make over and over? Our chili recipe has been made in our family for years and comes from the 1960 edition of Peg Bracken’s The I Hate To Cook Book: More Than 180 Quick and Easy Recipes (with drawings by Hilary Knight). 

I am now the keeper of this book–you can tell by the pictures that it’s been well loved and repaired many times. My copy was first bought by my grandmother, then given to my mom and now to me. It is extra special to see my grandmother’s notes throughout. The recipes are a delight to look through as many of them are a product of their times. Bracken’s humor sprinkled throughout makes this even more fun. And I can identify. It can certainly be fun to cook but there are many nights where I’m burnt out and have no dinner ideas and little energy. Flipping through this book helps, even though I’m not lighting up a cigarette while drinking a dry martini. 

There’s a 50th anniversary edition that came out in 2010. I remember checking out a copy from the library. It was lots of fun to look at and read, but I knew I didn’t need to buy it since I had my original. 

Here’s a fun article: Why the ‘I Hate to Cook Book’ Stands the Test of Time: Because sometimes you just want a dry martini a lot more than you want to prepare dinner. By Anna Hezel April 24, 2017, Bon Appetit

Here’s a link to a web site that includes some recipes from the original book: The I Hate To Cook Book 1960. “Peg Bracken’s witty cookbook offered relief to women who “hate to cook but have to.” It didn’t promise to turn reluctant cooks into gourmet chefs. Instead, this 1960s culinary icon was filled with down-to-earth, easy to make foods, kid friendly dishes and ideas for using leftovers.”

Tell me about old cookbooks or recipes you still use in your family today.