Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Tribute To The Non Cook, June 30, 2004
Here's a woman after my own heart: she hates to cook and is unashamed to admit this. The manner in which Miss Bracken admits is rife with humour and finesse ~ plus she tosses into the bargain 180 quick, easy, housewife tested recipes (this book was published in the '60s ~ 1960 to be exact) that anyone can make, even those hostile toward kitchen environs. Miss Bracken's wit is peppery (note the food connotation), vinegary (ditto), and her prose is salted (!) through with references to classic literature, tidbits of common sense advice, and slams at 'pop' psychology (as hilarious then as it remains today). Here's a sampling of (some of) what you're in for with this read: 'The Leftover, or Every Family Needs a Dog'; 'Spuds and Other Starches, or Ballast is a Girl's Best Friend'; 'Potluck Supper, or How to Bring Water For the Lemonade'; 'Luncheon for the Girls, or Wait Until You Taste Maybelle's Peanut Butter Aspic'. In between the pages of these chapters you'll find recipes for such tasties as: 'Skid Road Stroganoff', 'Sub Gum Yuk', 'Oddment', 'Old Faithful', and, appropo for the era, 'Beetniks' (a nifty way of fixing shredded pickled red beets). If you catch a whiff of the droll and acerbic, you are quite correct. Peg Bracken is a jewel. Very popular in the Sixties and Seventies, she also published an Appendix to 'The I Hate To Cook Book', plus several other books including 'The I Hate To Housekeep Book', 'A Window Over the Sink', 'I Try To Behave Myself' (etiquette), 'But I Wouldn't Have Missed It For The World' (travel), and 'On Getting Old For The First Time'. In all of these, she never misses a beat, her timing is impeccable. The sort of woman you'd love to have for a friend or neighbour, especially when one runs out of sugar and can't find the car keys. I highly recommend you begin your Bracken odyssey with this book, and see where it leads you. Enhanced by Hilary Knight's warm and witty line drawings.
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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A cookbook for those with more good humor than time., December 16, 1996
By A Customer
Peg Bracken's book is for those of us who look at Martha Stewart
and want to bang our heads against the wall. Most of the
recipes create simple, "normal" food, in relatively small
amounts of time. Her advice is funny and straightforward.
The book is a pleasure to read, as well as to cook from.
I've had luck with all but one of the recipes I've tried -- the
one that "failed" came out okay, but my tastebuds gave it a
bad grade.
The best of the lot are "Sweep Steak." "Innocent Chicken," and
"Boeuf and Oeufplant," but there are still more that I'd like to
try out.
This book is especially helpful for people just starting to
keep house on their own; Peg Bracken's insights help keep a
light perspective on the entire domestic endeavor.
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cookbook Author's Favorite Cookbook, March 19, 2006
I write cookbooks, and I collect cookbooks, and this is my hands-down favorite. Bracken writes incredibly well; she's both clear and very funny. The recipes are for real food the family will like. Bracken addresses all sorts of real-life food situations -- the family get-together, the casual gathering after the kids' soccer game, the late night snack, the potluck supper. She makes the valuable points that recipes are resilient, that you can and should go with your own tastes, cutting back or leaving out what you don't like, adding more of what you do. She demystifies cooking, something that is essential for the currently generation of young adults who grew up in non-cooking households.
And the food tastes good.
I openly admit that several of the recipes that have appeared in my cookbooks are adaptations (usually for nutritional purposes) of recipes I got from Peg Bracken. Imitation is definitely the sincerest form of flattery. I only hope to be as good a cookbook writer as she.
You want this book. You need this book. Buy this book now.
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