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Betty Crocker's Guide to Easy Entertaining
Rediscover the classic 1959 edition of "Betty Crocker's Guide to Easy Entertaining" The year was 1959. People watched "Leave It to Beaver" on TV and listened to Elvis on the radio. And when they entertained, they turned to this indispensable guide from Betty Crocker, which you may remember from your mom's or grandma's kitchen.
Now you too can rediscover Betty Crocker's secrets for great parties. This authentic reproduction of the 1959 book gives you a nostalgic snapshot of an earlier era--and a mother lode of party tips and recipes that have stood the test of time. Inside you'll find: Great ideas for a wide range of get-togethers, from dinners and buffets to barbecues, brunches, and potlucks89 time-tested recipes, 208 charming illustrations, and 11 nostalgic color photographsTried-and-true party favorites like Vichyssoise, Parmesan Oven-Fried Chicken, Herb Batter Bread, and Brownie Peppermint Pie
Now you too can rediscover Betty Crocker's secrets for great parties. This authentic reproduction of the 1959 book gives you a nostalgic snapshot of an earlier era--and a mother lode of party tips and recipes that have stood the test of time. Inside you'll find: Great ideas for a wide range of get-togethers, from dinners and buffets to barbecues, brunches, and potlucks89 time-tested recipes, 208 charming illustrations, and 11 nostalgic color photographsTried-and-true party favorites like Vichyssoise, Parmesan Oven-Fried Chicken, Herb Batter Bread, and Brownie Peppermint Pie
- GenresCookbooks
176 pages, Spiral-bound
First published January 1, 1959
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 6, 2025
Nothing makes my Taurus heart happy like a good ol' vintage book on entertaining.
I got this 1959 book from a little free library. Our queen Betty Crocker (I know she's a made up character) shares expertise on different types of dinners, lunches, teas, brunches, and more. I love learning about what was considered good manners back in the day. She gives great tips on hosting but also on how to be a thoughtful guest, all interspersed with lots of recipes. About a third of the recipes use Betty Crocker biscuit/cake mixes. Get that bag, Betty. The best part of the book is that every page has cute art on the pages that add so much charm to the reading experience.
There are a several drawings, however, that did not age too well. The worst of which is of two white men standing in a giant cauldron over a fire surrounded by a few stereotypically-drawn Indigenous Africans. One of them holding a giant spoon. This drawing introduced a section that talked about the importance of carefully planning the guest list. Yikes. There were a few other racially stereotypical drawings: a stereotypical Native American woman sending a smoke signal in the section about invitations, a couple of drawings of Chinese and Arab folks. These peoples or their cultures were not mentioned, their depictions were clearly were just to fill space on a page.
Speaking of offensive things, let's read a passage from page 48:
"Here is a recipe for a dip borrowed from Mexico. It is pronounced Gwah-ka-mo-lay and should be served with chips or crackers."
Not crackers and guac.
Naturally, the guacamole recipe suggests adding--I shit you not--"Roquefort cheese, curry powder, chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, or Tabasco sauce." What in the Rachel Ray pozole is going on??
For those of us that like vintage cookbooks, we already know how absolutely buck wild the 50s were in terms of food. This book is no different. We're talking recipes for avocado mousse (includes avocado, mayo, gelatin and olives, to name a few ingredients), celery root and grape salad (also has mayo in it), and chilled tomato and cucumber soup (no mayo, but is mostly buttermilk).
Luckily, it also has delicious-sounding recipes: apricot mousse supreme (no mayo in this one), herb loaf bread, berry basket cake, chocolate chiffon cake. A handful of recipes are depicted with colored photographs, but the rest are just given in very short paragraphs with no imagery.
Overall, this book was a delightful book to read, aside from a few offensive artistic choices. There are so many great tips here that I will refer back to for inspiration. The book could've been a lot better organized, with less unhinged recipes, but I had such a fun time reading it. I'll update my review when I try that avocado mousse recipe!
4.5 stars
I got this 1959 book from a little free library. Our queen Betty Crocker (I know she's a made up character) shares expertise on different types of dinners, lunches, teas, brunches, and more. I love learning about what was considered good manners back in the day. She gives great tips on hosting but also on how to be a thoughtful guest, all interspersed with lots of recipes. About a third of the recipes use Betty Crocker biscuit/cake mixes. Get that bag, Betty. The best part of the book is that every page has cute art on the pages that add so much charm to the reading experience.
There are a several drawings, however, that did not age too well. The worst of which is of two white men standing in a giant cauldron over a fire surrounded by a few stereotypically-drawn Indigenous Africans. One of them holding a giant spoon. This drawing introduced a section that talked about the importance of carefully planning the guest list. Yikes. There were a few other racially stereotypical drawings: a stereotypical Native American woman sending a smoke signal in the section about invitations, a couple of drawings of Chinese and Arab folks. These peoples or their cultures were not mentioned, their depictions were clearly were just to fill space on a page.
Speaking of offensive things, let's read a passage from page 48:
"Here is a recipe for a dip borrowed from Mexico. It is pronounced Gwah-ka-mo-lay and should be served with chips or crackers."
Not crackers and guac.
Naturally, the guacamole recipe suggests adding--I shit you not--"Roquefort cheese, curry powder, chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, or Tabasco sauce." What in the Rachel Ray pozole is going on??
For those of us that like vintage cookbooks, we already know how absolutely buck wild the 50s were in terms of food. This book is no different. We're talking recipes for avocado mousse (includes avocado, mayo, gelatin and olives, to name a few ingredients), celery root and grape salad (also has mayo in it), and chilled tomato and cucumber soup (no mayo, but is mostly buttermilk).
Luckily, it also has delicious-sounding recipes: apricot mousse supreme (no mayo in this one), herb loaf bread, berry basket cake, chocolate chiffon cake. A handful of recipes are depicted with colored photographs, but the rest are just given in very short paragraphs with no imagery.
Overall, this book was a delightful book to read, aside from a few offensive artistic choices. There are so many great tips here that I will refer back to for inspiration. The book could've been a lot better organized, with less unhinged recipes, but I had such a fun time reading it. I'll update my review when I try that avocado mousse recipe!
4.5 stars
September 11, 2016
The overall thesis, that hospitality is "being disposed to entertain with generous kindness," still holds, and a number of the suggestions for being a good guest and a good hostess are nifty. That being said, this book is really, really of its time.
A lot of the recipes involve canned vegetables and canned cream-of-whatever soup. There are also a number of recipes involving gelatin, such as molded salads and dessert molds. I know that these were fashionable at the time (because canned goods were modern and sciency!), but they are so foreign to my food culture and cooking training as to border on horrifying. (I don't want to yuck anyone's yum, so to speak, but I personally had a visceral "NOPE!" reaction to a lot of the recipes. Though, to be fair, my willingness to serve guests grilled chicken, plain rice, and steamed kale would probably earn me a reputation as some kind of health nut harridan in the 1950s.) There is also a dearth of any foods that would be considered ethnic by the standards of that time -- the only recognizably Italian dish is a half-assed lasagne and she includes a pronunciation guide for guacamole. I was genuinely surprised that she mentioned mangoes.
There is little concern for what foods are healthy, no mention of vegetarianism/veganism, and while concern for guests food allergies and restrictions is mentioned in passing, it is apparently good manners for anyone on a diet so restricted that a separate meal would have to be made for them to pass up invitations instead of requiring more work of their host. This is DEFINITELY counter to what I was taught, which is that there are plenty of delicious recipes for any restriction, so you (a) make a bunch of sides that are restriction-friendly even if your main isn't, (b) make a restriction-friendly base that people can add toppings to, or (c) everyone just eats a restriction-friendly meal.
The general advice is also extremely heteronormative. For one thing, the guide is clearly written exclusively for women (because why would men pay attention to the preparations of entertaining a guest in their house?) While she mentions that women work as well as men in several households, she insists that social invitations should still always be given from woman to woman, even if they do not know each other. (Betty Crocker clearly needs to be introduced to the concept of emotional labor.) It honestly makes me curious as to what the proper thing was to do when inviting a same-sex couple -- does the invitation go to the one who is home more often, to the one who tends to handle the social things, or to the one the party planner is closest to?
Although it makes a point of accounting for different income levels, some advice on holding a potluck might have been welcome. There are also a number of illustrations which, while far from the worst, would definitely be considered racist by today's standards, e.g. a group of stereotypical Africans surrounding two white men standing in a giant cooking pot (p 10, "planning the guest list").
ETA: Just noticed that there are no recipes involving alcohol. Weird.
A lot of the recipes involve canned vegetables and canned cream-of-whatever soup. There are also a number of recipes involving gelatin, such as molded salads and dessert molds. I know that these were fashionable at the time (because canned goods were modern and sciency!), but they are so foreign to my food culture and cooking training as to border on horrifying. (I don't want to yuck anyone's yum, so to speak, but I personally had a visceral "NOPE!" reaction to a lot of the recipes. Though, to be fair, my willingness to serve guests grilled chicken, plain rice, and steamed kale would probably earn me a reputation as some kind of health nut harridan in the 1950s.) There is also a dearth of any foods that would be considered ethnic by the standards of that time -- the only recognizably Italian dish is a half-assed lasagne and she includes a pronunciation guide for guacamole. I was genuinely surprised that she mentioned mangoes.
There is little concern for what foods are healthy, no mention of vegetarianism/veganism, and while concern for guests food allergies and restrictions is mentioned in passing, it is apparently good manners for anyone on a diet so restricted that a separate meal would have to be made for them to pass up invitations instead of requiring more work of their host. This is DEFINITELY counter to what I was taught, which is that there are plenty of delicious recipes for any restriction, so you (a) make a bunch of sides that are restriction-friendly even if your main isn't, (b) make a restriction-friendly base that people can add toppings to, or (c) everyone just eats a restriction-friendly meal.
The general advice is also extremely heteronormative. For one thing, the guide is clearly written exclusively for women (because why would men pay attention to the preparations of entertaining a guest in their house?) While she mentions that women work as well as men in several households, she insists that social invitations should still always be given from woman to woman, even if they do not know each other. (Betty Crocker clearly needs to be introduced to the concept of emotional labor.) It honestly makes me curious as to what the proper thing was to do when inviting a same-sex couple -- does the invitation go to the one who is home more often, to the one who tends to handle the social things, or to the one the party planner is closest to?
Although it makes a point of accounting for different income levels, some advice on holding a potluck might have been welcome. There are also a number of illustrations which, while far from the worst, would definitely be considered racist by today's standards, e.g. a group of stereotypical Africans surrounding two white men standing in a giant cooking pot (p 10, "planning the guest list").
ETA: Just noticed that there are no recipes involving alcohol. Weird.
February 12, 2009
I'm really intrigued by old cookbooks (well, any cookbook for that matter) to see what they cooked like way back when they had to use a hearth and no fridge, or when convenience foods were invented. That kind of stuff. So when I saw this, I had to get my hands on it! It's originally published in 1959, and it shows.
My two favorite lines: "Invitations to a party big and formal enough to be termed a 'luncheon' are best phrased 'come to lunch,' since many people feel that 'come to luncheon' sounds slightly affected or pretentious." and "Here is a recipe for a dip borrowed from Mexico. It is pronounced Gwah-ka-mo-lay and should be served with chips or crackers." Had a good laugh over those.
My two favorite lines: "Invitations to a party big and formal enough to be termed a 'luncheon' are best phrased 'come to lunch,' since many people feel that 'come to luncheon' sounds slightly affected or pretentious." and "Here is a recipe for a dip borrowed from Mexico. It is pronounced Gwah-ka-mo-lay and should be served with chips or crackers." Had a good laugh over those.
May 28, 2018
When I was young I would sometimes read my mother's original copy of this cookbook. It wasn't so much to cook from it but to read about all the details of putting together dinner parties. I actually thought Betty Crocker was a real person and that I was reading her thoughts and advice. Years later I was delighted to see this facsimile edition on the shelves.
As others have said--it is a product of it's time. But there are still helpful tips that work today, like what to consider for guests with food allergies, and recommending not giving fresh-cut flowers as a gift to the hostess because she would then have to search for a vase to display it and it might not even match her decor.
As others have said--it is a product of it's time. But there are still helpful tips that work today, like what to consider for guests with food allergies, and recommending not giving fresh-cut flowers as a gift to the hostess because she would then have to search for a vase to display it and it might not even match her decor.
November 22, 2023
I think it is a wonderful representation of Betty Crockers ideals of entertaining or what entertaining should be. I have always loved how to read texts on the subject.
The recipes reflect on the changing times, canned foods, frozen foods and food readily available to families of the times. Making yummy food, your guests with love and on a budget.
Lots of the recipes are Americanized; as in we aren’t talking about traditional Italian, Mexican or Asian dishes. They are fitting to Americans and their palate’s of the times. It is quite a spectacular book!
The recipes reflect on the changing times, canned foods, frozen foods and food readily available to families of the times. Making yummy food, your guests with love and on a budget.
Lots of the recipes are Americanized; as in we aren’t talking about traditional Italian, Mexican or Asian dishes. They are fitting to Americans and their palate’s of the times. It is quite a spectacular book!
June 17, 2023
Picked up at library book sale for $1. What a delightful read! Illustrations are charming and the content describes a way of life in the 1960s.
January 2, 2024
I loved this blast from the past. If you take all the advice with a grain of salt it’s hilarious and you might get one or two good recipes from here. This is meant to be serious but the idea of it all in 2024 makes it all the more funny comparatively.
April 3, 2016
Truly a great period piece.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews