Fifty years after the original publication of The I Hate to Cook Book, it's been updated, revised, and re-released this summer (pictured here), with its publisher hoping to find a new generation of homemakers who appreciate the Kraft cheese, Campbell soup and "alcohol included" recipes that made it beloved among millions of rebellious housewives in the 1960s and 1970s.It's also interesting to note that the original 184-recipe book, by Peg Bracken, was way ahead of its time, even though it was written with a premise that was then considered downright sacrilege. Bracken simply contended that cooking is not as joyful as the women in TV commercials standing in front of a hot stove in high heels and pearls made it look, and that it should be done as quickly as possible, preferably with ingredients that were already in the cupboard.
This also made the original book itself somewhat revolutionary in its time, ranking way up there with other 1960s "rebelliousness" like birth control pills and public bra burning. Oh, we women were mischievous "scamps" back in those days, weren't we?
Peg Bracken, Betty Freidan, Gloria Steinem, et al...we salute you.
Meanwhile, go on out and grab a copy of this re-release. It's definitely a classic bookshelf keeper.
Read more here
Meanwhile, go on out and grab a copy of this re-release. It's definitely a classic bookshelf keeper.
Read more here
1 comment:
I do hate to cook, but I'm not sure I want to use Kraft cheese (if she means sliced) in my recipes. Alcohol's good, though!
Hmm ... how appropriate -- word verification is "bradicap", a combination of bra and handicap.
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