Peg Bracken > Quotes

“Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas.”
― Peg Bracken

“How to Comfort Yourself When You Have Acted Like a Jackass
Everyone does this occasionally, and you shouldn't feel too upset about it unless it happens quite often, such as three times a day, in which case you must simply get used to it. Remember, other people like you as well or better for it, because it makes them feel so superior; so you've spread a little sunshine. And at the very least, you've served as a bad example.
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― Peg Bracken, The I Hate to Housekeep Book

“Facts must be faced. Vegetables simply don't taste as good as most other things do.”
― Peg Bracken, The Compleat I Hate to Cook Book

“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”
― Peg Bracken, The I Hate to Cook Book

“Every idea is my last. I feel sure of it. So, I try to do the best with each as it comes and that's where my responsibility ends. But I just don't wait for ideas. I look for them. Constantly. And if I don't use the ideas that I find, they're going to quit showing up.”
― Peg Bracken

“4½ ounces cream cheese ½ cup butter 1 cup flour jelly or preserves Sugar Belle melts her butter, blends it with the cheese, and stirs in the flour to make a nice smooth dough. Then she puts it in the freezing compartment for about an hour, until it’s firm. Next, she nips little pieces off, about the size of golf balls, rolls them out, trims them into squares, and puts a teaspoon of jelly on each. (If you wonder why Sugar Belle doesn’t just roll the whole thing out and cut it into squares, it is because the dough is hard to handle that way.) Then she folds them into triangles, seals the edges with a floured fork, and bakes them on a greased cooky sheet at 450º until they’re brown, which is from ten to fifteen minutes. And when she puts a big plateful of these in front of her husband, you just ought to see his face light up!”
― Peg Bracken, The I Hate to Cook Book: 50th Anniversary Edition

“But what bothers me, when I let it, is the way our new kitchen conforms so completely to the tenor of the times—our modern propensity, I mean, for cleaving to the sin and escaping the penalty. Go ahead, drive like a mania, we’ll protect you with air bags. Go on, drink your sweet soda, we took out the sugar. Type sloppy, IBM will correct you; be rude, we’ll excuse you for your insecurities; be spendthrift, there’s always a credit card . . . all these things being wholly at odds with the moral climate I grew up in, where if you sinned, you suffered, and the retributions was approximately immediate. Drive crazy, you got hurt. Be a pig, you got sick. Type sloppy, you typed it over. Be rude, you got smacked. Be extravagant you went broke.”
― Peg Bracken, A Window over the Sink: A Memoir

“CLAM WHIFFLE      3–4 servings (A whiffle is a soufflé that any fool can make. This is a dandy recipe for those days when you’ve just had your teeth pulled. It has a nice delicate flavor, too, and it doesn’t call for anything you’re not apt to have around, except the clams. You can even skip the green pepper.) 12 soda crackers (the ordinary 2-inch by 2-inch kind) 1 cup milk ¼ cup melted butter 6.5-ounce can minced clams, drained 2 tablespoons chopped onion 1 tablespoon chopped green pepper ¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce dash of salt, pepper 2 eggs, beaten together Soak the crumbled crackers in the milk for a few minutes. Then add everything else, eggs last. Pour it all into a greased casserole, and bake it in a 350˚ oven for forty-five minutes, uncovered.”
― Peg Bracken, The I Hate to Cook Book: 50th Anniversary Edition