Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook

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Summary: An enjoyable trip down memory lane
Review: This cookbook is a trip into the past. Great recipes for out-of-favor foods are here. My grandmother wanted a recipe for Grape Pie which she had been looking for for years. It's here. The only risk with this cookbook is that if you want to give it as a gift, the recipient may have already received four copies! (This happened to 2 of my great aunts who are known for their cooking and baking!)

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Summary: the best cookbook ever
Review: This is the book I learned to cook with. My mother passed on her original copy--frayed and held together with duct tape--to me several years ago, and it is the book I use most. It tells you how to make EVERYTHING!! If you are, or long to be, someone who cooks from scratch, I highly recommend this book. I routinely give a copy as a bridal shower present. (Even if you don't like to cook that much, the nostalgia is priceless.)

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Summary: My Textbook for 45 years!
Review: In 1956,my senior yr. in High School, all the "girls" in our High School were summoned to the Home Ec department for a special test. As I remember it, it was mostly multiple choice and one essay was requested. A few weeks later, it was announced that I was the "Betty Crocker Homemaker of Tomorrow" of our high school; I was given a Trifari pin and a Betty Crocker Picture Cook Book and an article appeared in the local newspaper announcing all the above. That book was the First Edition (Ninth Printing) and to this day, 45 years later, is the basic textbook of my kitchen. I've turned to the The Bread Stuffing Recipe on Page 362 every Thanksgiving and Christmas for the 37 years of our marriage. Wives of my husband's AF friends told me when we married that if I could read, I could cook. I grabbed that book I had won in 1956 and READ! This year, both my daughters-in- law put the Betty Crocker Cookbook (the new hardcover 9th Edition) on their Amazon Wish Lists. It was my pleasure to hand each her new Betty Crocker Cookbook as one of my gifts on Christmas Day. Mine is well-worn, the cover is tattered and some of the pages bear smudges from many, many years of special dinners, cookies for the kids, spaghetti for the family. I love it and will continue to use it!

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Summary: Buyer beware!
Review: Better check this one out before you buy it! I thought my mom had the first edition, so I was enthusiastic about getting a copy of the cookbook I grew up using the most. Then I saw this "1st edition facsimile" in a bookstore. I am SO glad I didn't buy this before I saw it. First, I realized from inspecting this that my mom's copy was probably a second edition of the book, with a lot more pictures, step-by-step instructions, and recipes. Second, this "facsimile" is cheaply reproduced in a three ring notebook on paper that is as flimsy as most modern magazines. I'd predict, after only a few weeks of use, that the pages and hole punches will be torn from just light use. You really should check this out before buying it!

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Summary: the best cook book out there
Review: I was given this cook book as a new bride in the 50's . it has totally fallen apart I have used it so much. I have bought the new one because I could not read some of the pages. It is the best cook book out there. Wonderful receipts are in it. I used to make cakes from scratch from this book. It is great for a new bride that loves to cook. It is a treasure to own.

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Summary: Best baking recipes ever written for the home baker
Review: Although I will probably never serve flaming cabbage (guests broil cocktail weanies over a sterno can hidden in a hollowed out head of cabbage, p. 50), I will be pulling out this book for any baking I do for the rest of my life. If all you buy this book for is the sections on baked goods, it is well worth the investment. I suspect these recipes were tested many times over before they made cookbook status. The main courses are very basic American-style dishes with little seasoning or flair, but most of them are extremely economical to make. Not for feminists, this tome is replete with quotes that indicate in no uncertain terms that the wife's place is in the kitchen.

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Summary: Ideal to use abroad
Review: I do travel the States a lot (I am from Germany), and I've often been looking for a cookbook, which would give me some of the recipes for foods I enjoyed in the States. Unfortunately, modern (standard) foods tend to be so much different in either country, that good results are often hard to achieve with more modern American cookbooks. But, the type of ingredients listed in the original edition are much easier to comply with here.I can strongly recommend this "old" edition to anyone, attempting American cooking in countries, where food standards have a taken a course different from the States in the last 50 years.

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Summary: Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook: The Original 1950 Classic
Review: I was also thrilled to see the original B.C. cookbook back in print. I bought myself one as a Christmas present last year. It is the most valuable cookbook I own except for the 1969 edition I received from my mother as a Christmas present in 1976 when I had my first apartment. This book sets the standard and is filled with practical, reliable tips which have stood the test of time. Betty's standard pastry pie crust recipe, the ultimate, has never failed me, and I will always remember the molasses crinkles my older sisters or mom baked on cold fall days. My mom was a talented home ec. teacher, and I don't think I ever saw her use another cookbook. She recently passed away and I treasure the connections to my childhood this book has given me.

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Summary: Great blast from the past
Review: No nonsense home style cooking. This book is wonderful as a guide for home style cooking. Ever wanted to make just every day home style cooking? Here you go. Recipes are simple to follow, easy to read, and guess what, they do not require anything fancy. I love to turn to this cookbook when I really think I have nothing to cool. This book shows you how to turn out exciting meals from the pantry. This also has some great serving ideas and more. I also enjoyed the book as recipes and cookbooks do change over the years. This had a great deal of recipes that I have never seen, and they were pretty tasty. This is the book to pick up if you want a little change, but not too much in your every day meals.

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Summary: Kind of disappointed....
Review: Having searched old book stores for years for another copy of the ORIGINAL, I was thrilled to see that Betty Crocker was being "reprinted". Mine, you see, has been the most well used book in our home for 40 years of marriage. I didn't want to throw it out for sentimental reasons, however, a lot of pages were missing or stuck together. I also wanted to give one to each of my children. It looks like the same book but those die hard BC cooks will notice right away that this is an edited version and not a reprint of the original! Gone is "Pink Bunny" (I only made it once and have never heard the end of it!) "Black Midnight" (the ONLY chocolate cake you'll ever need! and other favorites. Some recipes were updated for 90's nutrition which took away the 1950's authenticity. Yes I was kind of disappointed but I still feel it should be on every kitchen shelf as it is a most valuable reference tool and all the basics you'll ever need to know about are in this one volume.