The I Hate to Cook Book: 50th Anniversary Edition

	List Price: $22.99 Our Price: $12.46 You Save: $10.53 (46%) Prices subject to change Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing Author: Peg Bracken Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
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Binding: Hardcover Dewey Decimal Number: 641.5 EAN: 9780446545921 Feature: ISBN13: 9780446545921 ISBN: 0446545929 Label: Grand Central Publishing Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 224 Publication Date: 2010-07-26 Publisher: Grand Central Publishing Studio: Grand Central Publishing
Features ISBN13: 9780446545921 Condition: New Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
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Customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: What's for dinner? Comment: Fifty years ago, cookbooks were not the plentiful item they are today. Housewives who panicked each evening about what to fix for dinner relied on mothers and mothers-in-law (however unapproachable), or friends who were also strapped for ideas. Then came Peg Bracken and her //I Hate to Cook Book//. The most popular section, from an author who (allegedly, at least) wanted to spend minimal time in the kitchen, was the 30-Day-by Day entrees. This 50th anniversary edition, with a few adjustments by her daughter, Jo Bracken, is every bit as welcome. Despite the jokey approach, the recipe ingredients and quantities are rigorously correct, the recommendations for cooking time and serving impeccable. Yes, we have books with household hints, recipes for special diets, dinner guests, and kids' parties, but all in one fairly skinny volume? I don't think so. Bracken was a pioneer in short cuts long before packaged meals and cheap take-outs. Even if tuna casserole has fallen out of favor, personal experience confirms there are no better, easier cookie recipes. Her overnight macaroons have been my standby by longer than I care to mention. Reviewed by Jane Manaster Customer Rating: Summary: Meals from midcentury Comment: Let's go back to an era where cream of mushroom soup was an ingredient in its own right, just before Julia Child changed everything. Chances are if you're over the age of 30 or so you probably ate like this growing up; if the proliferation of Taste of Home titles is any indication, many people still eat this stuff on a daily basis, and even many foodies still like this kind of food from time to time, either as a guilty pleasure or just for its own sake. It's not healthy, there's a lot of salt and fat, and the flavors are perhaps described as heavy and loud... but there's no question that much of it is still yummy. Peg Bracken's sense of humor, whipping wildly between dry and hammy on a whim, makes the book a fun read that will put people intimidated by cooking at ease. Canned vegetables and mushroom soup aside, Bracken also included a generous variety of simple from-scratch recipes that would be less intimidating to the sort of person who thinks convenience means Sandra F'ing Lee-style cooking. What was considered sophisticated and elegant in 1960 may seem cliche now, but if nothing else this book (combined with a generous dose of doo-wop and poodle skirts) should make for some great themed dinner parties. Like I said, this isn't every day food, not anymore. This is at least as much a history book as it is a convenience cookbook, with generous giggles and snickers to boot. It's nice to see it brought into the 21st century. Customer Rating: Summary: Buy it for the humor, not for good food! Comment: I have an old, tattered paperback copy of this in a box somewhere, but was thinking of upgrading to this new edition. I've never cooked from it but it's a funny and charming book. Unfortunately I agree with the 3-star reviewer re: the new edition sadly lacking the original Hilary Knight cover. And why would they omit "Cooking When Alone" when there are so many singles out there these days? But, more importantly, although this book is very witty, the recipes are quite dated and most of them have never appealed to me. For one thing, the cooking times are way too long -- typical for that era. (Baking chicken pieces for 1 to 1-1/2 hours, sometimes uncovered?) I get the impression that the long cooking times were a function of wanting maximum uninterrupted cocktail time -- certainly this is my parents' philosophy! She relies heavily on canned everything, especially canned cream-of-something soups. Also, like many cookbooks of this era, she calls for things like frozen potato or shrimp soup -- neither of which I've ever seen in a supermarket. Maybe others have? But again, this book is worth a read for its wry humor, the cute illustrations, and the helpful hints glossary at the back, which is quite good. If you really are a cooking-hater, you'll enjoy it. Customer Rating: Summary: Still funny after all these years Comment: I really do hate to cook, so this book made it easier to go to the kitchen. A little out of date and high in fat but still easy to make and the humor puts you in a better mood, if you must be in the kitchen anyway. Customer Rating: Summary: Like a visit from an old friend! Comment: If you remember this book as fondly as I do, you will be thrilled to read it again. If not, several of the receipes in here become very dependable stand bys. The Jam Tarts alone are worth the price of the book. More Reviews
Editorial Reviews: "There are two kinds of people in this world: the ones who don't cook out of and have NEVER cooked out of THE I HATE TO COOK BOOK, and the other kind...The I HATE TO COOK people consist mainly of those who find other things more interesting and less fattening, and so they do it as seldom as possible. Today there is an Annual Culinary Olympics, with hundreds of cooks from many countries ardently competing. But we who hate to cook have had our own Olympics for years, seeing who can get out of the kitchen the fastest and stay out the longest." - Peg Bracken Philosopher's Chowder. Skinny Meatloaf. Fat Man's Shrimp. Immediate Fudge Cake. These are just a few of the beloved recipes from Peg Bracken's classic I HATE TO COOK BOOK. Written in a time when women were expected to have full, delicious meals on the table for their families every night, Peg Bracken offered women who didn't revel in this obligation an alternative: quick, simple meals that took minimal effort but would still satisfy. 50 years later, times have certainly changed - but the appeal of THE I HATE TO COOK BOOK hasn't. This book is for everyone, men and women alike, who wants to get from cooking hour to cocktail hour in as little time as possible.