The Peanuts Cookbook

The Peanuts Cookbook.  It came out in 1969, which is probably about when my sister got it.  I went through a phase of liking anything Peanuts, as many kids did, and for a while this was great.  In reality, it's a cutesy little book that was put out to capitalize on the fact that somebody had gotten the license from Charles Schulz to do a Peanuts cookbook.  It's cute, it is very pink and green (the interior sticks with the same color scheme as the cover, a pink panel in a green border), and there is a recipe on the left-hand page and a four-panel comic (which may have a tie in to the recipe, or not) on the right.

The recipe selection?  Meh.  They found some things that would tie in to the comics. Doughnuts, macaroni and cheese, and a steak tartare recipe for Snoopy (only to be fed to dogs, or maybe cats).  Mostly they took kid-friendly recipes and changed the names.  Sally's Scrambled Eggs, Lucy's Lemon Lollipops, Charlie Brown's Brownies...you get the idea.

The one recipe I remember making, and making more than once, is Great Pumpkin Cookies.

Great Pumpkin Cookies

1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 lb. can pumpkin
2 3/4 cups flour, sifted
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1 cup raisins
1 cup pecans, chopped

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix sugar, shortening, eggs and pumpkin thoroughly. Sift dry ingredients and add to pumpkin mixture. Blend well. Add raisins and pecans. Drop batter by teaspoonful on uncreased baking sheets. Bake 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Makes about 6 dozen

A delicious snack while you're waiting for the "Great Pumpkin."
---------

I don't remember the pecans ever being used in ours.

Amazon link to The Peanuts Cookbook

Hi!

I realize I haven't said much about myself (or anything else, if I'm being honest). I always hated those essay assignments in school where you had to write about yourself. But I thought of something I could share -- how I became a cookbook collector.

Growing up in the 70's and 80's I had a few cookbooks that I read but didn't do much with.  From my mother's childhood I inherited a couple of books.  One, from the 1930's was magazine sized and staple-bound, with soft, pulpy browned paper and line drawings on the inside and red-orange on the cover.  At least, that's what I think it was like.  It disappeared at some point and I would love to locate it again.  If you have any ideas what it might have been, please contact me!

The other was a book called It's Fun to Cook, by Lucy Mary Maltby, from 1938.  It was the story of twin sisters and their adventures in learning to cook. Along the way they learn nutrition, how to set tables for various events, and many other things.  They're teenagers, and I loved this book to bits.  Well, I loved the DJ to bits. The rest of the book is one one of the shelves in this house.  Here's a picture someone else has of it.

I had a couple of cookbooks that my sister outgrew, but later reclaimed.  I was fond enough of them that I did replace them.  The Peanuts Cook Book, with its yummy Great Pumpkin Cookies

and the Betty Crocker Boys and Girls Cookbook

which had...isn't there a macaroni and cheese recipe that you put hot dog spots on?  I made that once. And this one is packed away somewhere.  I mostly remember the fancy cookies and desserts, none of which I ever made.

And there were a couple that were purchased for me. The Fun to Cook Book I remember as being cute, but it has disappeared into the mists of time and I have never replaced it.

The Nancy Drew Cookbook was purchased for me under the assumption that I would devour it as I did the original Nancy Drew series.  Nope.  But it has moved from home to home with me. One of the advantages of having it in hardcover?

That seems like a fair number of cookbooks for a kid. Surely I was cooking?  Nope.  Oh, I did on occasion -- rare occasion -- and I helped my mother in the kitchen sometimes, but mostly I was left to dream about the day when I would have my own kitchen and someone to cook for.... <cue soft focus, sappy music>  Sadly, that is at least partially true.  End part the first.