The Complete I Hate to Cook Book

by Hilary Knight (Illustrator), Peg Bracken

Anyone who has mixed feelings about being in the kitchen will appreciate this appealing and humorous collection of clever cooking shortcuts, time-saving tips, and more than 440 simple, easy-to-prepare recipes.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Humor, Adult, Culinary

278 pages, Hardcover

First published April 28, 1986

About the author

Hilary Knight writes, "I attribute any abilities I possess to the fact that both my parents are artists and writers. My father, Clayton Knight, is well-known for his aviation paintings and books. My mother, Katharine Sturges, has done fashion drawings, fabric designs as well as many children's books" (The Horn Book, 1968).

Born in Hempstead, Long Island, New York, in 1926. Childhood spent on Long Island and in New York City. Attended Art Students League, New York, where he studied under Reginald Marsh.

The Navy interrupted his studies from 1944 to 1946, but Mr. Knight went on painting -- ships. His own career began when several of his humorous drawings were published in "House and Garden" and "Mademoiselle." His famous illustrations for Eloise by Kay Thompson came out in 1955 followed by several sequels. He has illustrated more than fifty books for children, six of which he wrote himself.

Reviews

[Joanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first cookbook I ever read cover to cover. It is absolutely hilarious, full of advice like "if you happen to have an end of cheese in the fridge, toss that in." Full of anti-Martha tips and tidbits, this is the book that says it's ok if you don't really want to spend all afternoon in the kitchen. (Or if instead of cooking, you'd rather sit on the kitchen floor reading this book and laughing aloud.)

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually read the original 1960 edition of the I hate to cook book and thought it was absolutely hysterical. Completely bursting the bubble on the perception that all women love cooking, Peg's snarky comments and recipe instructions (like "light a cigarette and stare sullenly at the sink" while waiting for a roast to complete) will have you laughing all the way through. The only reason this book didn't get five stars is that shortcut recipes from the year 1960 have not aged well. I don't believe I saw a single recipe I was interested in cooking. No matter- this book is just a great piece of Americana and a fun read.

[Roniq · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this at the thrift store for .99 cents ions ago and I used it more when I ate more meat but I just can't part with this little treasure, it even smells old!!! Recipes include Hootenholler Whisky Cake, Pretty Tomato dressing, Let 'er Buck, Skid Road Stroganoff, and Elevator Lady Spice Cookies. I believe Peg Bracken the author passed away last year.
This book is filled with language like "When the kids raise cain about eating those carrots.......
I love the chapter headings in this book too.
Chapter 9 Desserts or People are too Fat Anyway,
Chapter 6 Company's coming or your Backs to the Wall. Also included are household hints like, You can get more juice from a lemon if you heat it in boiling water for 5 minutes first, Paint your garden tools bright pink, that way if your neighbor doesn't return them you know where they are.

[Mitch · Rating 5 out of 5]

So hilarious!! I laughed merely flipping through this book when I found it on a giveaway shelf. I took it and am so glad. I'm now reading it in earnest. I've only finished the Introduction to the Introduction and am now on page 2 of the actual Introduction, so far, and Ive been giggling the whole way! I'm not familiar with this writer, but I'm loving her style so far! I even like to cook (sometimes; and when I have time), but I can still completely relate to the sentiments she describes. This is as much a hilarious comedy book as a recipe book. It's great. I'm so glad I found it and took a look. It's a gem.

[Joyce McCombs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peg Bracken has been my writing muse for more than 30 years. Her prose is just as good as her recipes, and when I found an old paperback copy of the IHTCB, I grabbed it for a quarter and was immediately hooked. No big time prep here, no fancy ingredients, just straightforward, simple and tasty dishes anyone can make with one whisk tied behind her back. Read it for a laugh, make a dish for dinner, and get ready to smile. Don't miss the Hooten Holler Whisky Cake.. it's the best!

[Lilah · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are two ways you can read this book: 1) from a Feminine Mystique/Women's Room/Mad Men slice of 50's/early 60's kitchen-prison liberation, or 2) an actual cookbook.

1) This was written in 1960, before Betty Friedan's "problem with no name." And its full of subterfuge for the woman who doesn't want to waste her entire afternoon on a meal that's going to be devoured in 15 minutes. The recipes are presented along with some tips and tricks of social engineering - there's a lot of reading-between-the-lines enjoyment in the glossy images of the giant cookbooks, and how people really behaved. Things must have been soulsuckingly bad if aspic was a regular feature of their cuisine.

2) The star comes off here because I'm vegetarian and besides some intriguingly retro canape recipes, didn't find much that was meatless. (But then, those were the times.) However - this does refute a lot of the sheer nonsense in the realm of cookery with a lot of good down-to-earth info. It takes a lot of the stress out of feeding the family/entertaining guests/etc. by telling you what you don't have to worry over, which must have been a godsend in an era of endless household advice and the constant pressure that no matter how hard you work, something you do can always be done better (and in lieu of a good-paying job, too). Cheats, substitutes, disguises, budget-mindedness, multitasking, all shared in a dry, witty voice that is making me want to find out if she's written anything else.

While this doesn't completely rip down the Cult of Domesticity - these aren't all 5-minute recipes, and there's not much mention of sharing cooking duties with other family members - it does reveal how silly things could get in conforming to the social ideals of the time. Proof that smarm is timeless.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dying to read this but it's hard to find--I think it may be out of print. The author just died recently, and the NY Times obituary made me fall in love with her. One of the recipes called for "staring sullenly at the sink while smoking a cigarette." Apparently my grandmother loved her cookbooks--I do remember LOTS of gooey casseroles made with canned cream of mushroom soup...But it's her writing I want to enjoy, not so much the food. Although I do enjoy a casserole from time to time...

[MissJessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The earlier edition of this book got me through the first couple years of marriage without poisoning my husband or guests. These are non gourmet meals for sure, but will feed a couple or a crowd with pleasing food that doesn't kill them.
I enjoyed using this book very much.

Then, he took over the cooking.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a re-release of an old cookbook that my mom had from the 1970s. The author is very witty, so it's fun to read. A favorite recipe from this book was the chocolate cake that you mix entirely in the baking pan - no bowls needed.

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was from my grandmother's collection and I found myself laughing at the notes, but also the snark in these pages. Not as much a cookbook, but a tool guide on how to make simple food that tastes good when you hate cooking!

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, easy recipes. Not just for those who hate to cook - because I love to! The author/cook writes funny commentary inbetween each recipe too. Things like - fast, easy, and easy to double in the event of a larger war. This for a recipe called, "Aunt Henry's (Aunt? Henry?) Eggless Raisinful War Cake." Made it and loved it! With chapters like "Can't We Take Them Out to Dinner? No - Not Always," and, "Stealing from Knowledgeable People - I Seen Her When She Done It But I Never Let On," you can't not have fun at least reading the book. Ladies this was cooking the the 1960's, when girls got married at 20 and didn't know how to cook away from home yet.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be clear, I do not hate to cook. In fact, I really enjoy cooking and consider it one of the fun/creative/rewarding things in my life. Nevertheless, I read this combination recipe/humor book with great pleasure. It is funny to realize how much food fashion changes with the decades (this cookbook is filled with mid-century recipes involving onion soup mix and cans of cream of mushroom soup), but chuckling at 1960s eating habits is not nearly as funny as Bracken's fabulous prose. The copy I have from the library has quite a number of pages RIPPED OUT (who would do such a thing?!) so I feel a bit cheated to have missed out on some of the humor.

[LM · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Hamodia (Jewish newspaper) printed a
simple chocolate cake recipe from here (no mixing bowl required!) so I requested it at the
library and was quite tickled to learn it was illustrated by the same gentleman, Hilary Knight, who did
Eloise! There weren't many things I would make in here. The ingredients were severely
dated and much of it was even fussier than I ever get. Still I loved the writing and the
image she portrayed of a woman far too interested in other things to want to cook. I have
day dreams about writing the modern equivalent and it not be a microwave cook book.

[Cissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun book to read, although as something of a "foodie" her reliance on "cream of X soup" means that many of the recipes are not what I'd choose to make these days! Still- they do look reasonably tasty and pretty easy, and if one does not have a snobbish refusal of cream of X soup, I can see it being a very useful resource. I would have adored it 15 years ago, when I was actively mothering, for example.

And it is lots of fun to read!

[Christiane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually read the 1960 I Hate to Cook Book with the awesome Hilary Knight illustrations! The recipes may not have aged well but her commentary is still hysterically funny. For example: "Facts must be faced. Vegetables simply don't taste as good as most other things do." I love that she was defiant and unapologetic about not liking or wanting to cook at a time when many women were still feeling judged by their ability to cook, clean, and “keep house”.

[Jodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

fabulous easy recipes ... my favorite is for dinner rolls ... yeah it tells ya to go to the store buy a package of rolls and re-heat them ... that's my kind of cooking. plus i think it's hillarious that anytime a recipe calls for alcohol the author includes a swig for your as part of the recipe ... HAHA!!!

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this when it was released originally in 1960, and enjoyed it very much. Bracken's sense of humor is excellent and the recipes work out nicely, too. Great little book for the beginning cook, too.

[Johnny G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peg is funny, but I wouldn't want to eat anything she concocts!

[寿理 宮本 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started flipping through this—and I'm not entirely sure why, since I'm still chugging through Hollow City at a less-than-productive rate—and the first noteworthy thing to mention is this lament:

But perhaps the most depressing thing about those big fat cookbooks is that you have to have one. Maybe your mother-in-law fives you a bushel of peppers or a pumpkin, and you must make piccalilli or a pumpkin pie. Well, there's nothing to do but look it up in your big fat cookbook, that's all.

Good news from the future! You can ditch the cookbook (if you want) and just LOOK THINGS UP ONLINE. Luckily for Bracken, she has already gotten pretty much all the royalties she's going to get from this, so making a(nother!) new one won't matter.

The humour in this is nice, though! I understand why they might have requested an update to the original... Hmm, I notice there's a SECOND updated edition (50th anniversary), though. Can't imagine that one is doing as well as this one did (25th anniversary).

(update)
The mnemonic for making a list without making a list also feels somewhat dated... at the very least, EVERYONE IN THE FUTURE who would be reading this book has a smartphone, or at least a device that can make notes, and what I do is write an e-mail draft (no addressee, so no accidental sending) containing anything I need. Heck, I wrote a book through e-mail drafts (not that I've done anything with said book).

What I'm saying is I would forget the mnemonic, or certainly I would forget to update what I was trying to remember when I forgot to make a list in the first place, so I might as well just use LITERALLY what's on hand. I mean, it's why I'm so militant about Goodreads—where my ACTUAL list failed me, since I forgot to update it afterwards, my Goodreads review history tells me whether I in fact DID already read a certain book I was just about to buy but couldn't remember because that happens with any series with long updates between new volumes.

Also, chapter 2 is where the recipes FINALLY start, after getting a bit windy about how to Talk the Talk (which I couldn't imagine wanting to bother doing when one hates to cook in the first place, but I suppose this book is mostly about faking it until you make it).

(update)
The "trick your sexist, traditional gender role-enforcing husband by complaining about how the reheated store-bought bread rolls didn't come out as good this time, and odds are he'll insist they're fibe and totally buy the scam" is funny, but I also feel like it hurts what should be transparency between so-called soulmates, that one should feel one has to lie to one's spouse to keep the peace or whatever. If my spouse complained about my rolls specifically not being homemade, we would have a divorce already (besides that I can't eat rolls anymore... or, at least, nothing other than the roll for the rest of the day).

I don't know. This is funny, but in a severely dated way, like how old 1950s "comedy" shows are funny in the sexist, even racist way they are.

Also, I still don't really have it in me to read a cookbook, no matter how funny, since I barely read the recipes—they're parts that say, "skip me and go to the talky part."

Recommended for anyone who actually likes traditional gender roles (or rolls, haha). More contemporary families might have a time of it.

[Michelle Adamo #EmptyNestReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since the 1960’s Peg Bracken’s cookbook has been the go-to resource for many who would rather not have to cook. When this tongue-in-cheek cookbook (with serious recipes) was published reluctant cooks everywhere cheered - including my mother!

With an intro that reads "Some women, it is said, like to cook. This book is not for them.” I knew that my mother and the author were sympatico. My mother was a social worker, a volunteer, a reader, an actress and a golfer. She was not a cook, nor did she aspire to be. She would fall under the category of those who “find other things more interesting and less fattening”. Yet, I can still hear her laughter coming from the kitchen as she leafed through Bracken’s book in an attempt to come up with something to make for dinner. “Dinner will be ready, dear, as soon as I decide what we’re having.” I am thrilled to have gotten my hands on a copy - this apple did not fall far from the tree.

As Bracken says “my standard position in regard to cooking is still "on the sofa with my feet up.” Many of her recipes' directions still make me laugh. StayaBed Stew advises “This is for those days when you’re en negligee, en bed, with a murder story and a box of chocolates, or possibly a good case of the flu." Skid Road Stroganoff recommends boiling the water for the noodles, adding the ingredients into a second pan “while you light a cigarette and stare sullenly at the sink.” Yes, it may be dated, you can substitute 'open a beer' or 'pour a glass of wine', it works the same. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I unearthed this book in our pantry when I was a teenager and immediately started using the Irish soda bread recipe. Sadly, I didn't swipe it when I moved out, so I spent years looking for a copy. When I found it at a thrift store, I had to have it. I think Peg Bracken was the first person to proclaim that women do not have a gland in their bodies that drives them to want to spend all their waking hours planning and cooking meals. The recipes are simple and usually require few ingredients. Even if you no longer eat meat at every dinner or consider cream of mushroom soup a great shortcut to sauces, the author's humor about the many occasions where females are expected to provide food still strikes a chord, as does advice like shelving a good recipe for a few weeks so your family doesn't get tired of it.

[Boom Baumgartner]

Amusing on so many levels. Very clever, and biting commentary on the woes of having to cook when you don't like to (society, woof, amirite?). Amusing in that many of the recipes still actually include cooking at a level that I don't think is baseline anymore. But also, amusing in what was expected of women in the 60s and 70s. Each recipe tells a story in itself about the history of food and taste, and I should say I wouldn't like to have eaten during that time. I will try some recipes eventually and see how I like them.

I bought this book with the intention of reappropriating the Hilary Knight illustrations (big fan of his style) to become artwork in the kitchen, but the book came in far too good of condition for me to feel like I could do that guilt-free. Then, I started reading it, and enjoyed a lot of the pithy remarks about the transactional society and what makes an ideal woman.

That being said, it is very much a privileged white woman's book... She thinks having a hobo party for kids is a grand idea because it gets them excited about carrying their own food so you don't have to, for example. Yikes.

[Nadia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book by complete chance, looking on the Internet Archive for old recipes. Instead, I found a hilarious and quick witted book that made me immediately fall in love with its author. This book is a must read for anyone who hates to cook

[Angela]

I love Peg Braken, but the cook book is just a little too practical for my needs. I shall be passing this book on.

[Heatherterrybell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hilarious

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Witty paragraphs and explanations but most recipes sounded disgusting as well as impractical (I don't care if people come over after a movie, I'm not baking them anything that requires any work).
-----------------------
Sweep Steak 4-6 servings
(so-called because a couple of seasons ago this recipe swept the country.)
2-3 lbs round steak or pot roast
package of onion soup mix
Put the meat on a sheet of aluminum foil big enough to wrap it in. Sprinkle the onion-soup mix on top of it, fold the foil, airtight, around it, put it in a baking pan, and bake it at 300 degrees F for 3 hours or 200 degrees F for 9 hours, it really doesn't matter. You can open it up, if you like, an hour or so before it's done, and surround it with potatoes and carrots.

Stayabed Stew 5-6 servings
(this is for those days when you're en negligee, en bed, with a murder story and a box of chocolates, or possibly a good case of flu.)
Mix these things up in a casserole dish that has a tight lid.
2 lbs. stewing beef, cubed
1 can of peas (or you can leave that out)
1/2 c sliced carrots
2 chopped onions
12 tsp salt, dash of pepper
1 can cream of tomato soup thinned with 12 can water (or celery or mushroom soup thinned likewise)
1 big raw potato, sliced
piece of bay leaf
Put the lid on and pt the casserole in a 275 degree F oven. Now go back to bed. It will cook happily all by itself and be done in 5 hours.

Company Carrots 3-4 servings
Cut a reasonable number of carrots into strips so you have 2 cupfuls say. Cook them till they're tender and drain them. Then mix these things together in a heavy pan:
3 Tbs butter
2 Tbs sugar
1/2 tsp paprika
juice of half a lemon
Add carrots and saute them about 10 minutes, stirring so that all the strips get well acquainted with the sauce.

[Debra Daniels-Zeller · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my mother's favorite cookbook and after Mom passed away it sat unopened on my bookshelf. I've read it, tryng to unlock my mom's inner cook only to discover, she didn't have one. She hated cooking and I hated her cooking--bland boring, same old thing every night. "We don't fill up on bread. . ." Maybe it's best not to dredge those memories up. This book is definitely for women who don't like to cook and my mom fit that category. Most of the recipes include meat and at least one can or package of processed food--nothing that inspires me to cook because this is a book for women who hate to cook, and sadly those women end up eating crappy food. Peg Bracken is often funny and I laughed at her chapter "The Leftover" or why every family needs a dog. I did find one standout recipe--an oatmeal cookie that is simply perfect. But is it worth sifting through so many pointless recipes to get one good one? I like my cookbooks to be more useful than this. I keep this only to remind me how my mother didn't like to cook. I wouldn't buy this book at a used booksale today for a dollar, even though it is a classic.

[Laura Ellis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book that I think every kitchen needs. Bracken is humorous and talented in the way she wrote and the recipes she devised. The recipes contain common ingredients that most will have in their kitchen and if not, they are easy to go to the local grocery and buy. The book contains recipes for all occassions and a good variety so that you will not get bored eating the same things over and over. I commute an hour to and from work each day and it seems that when I get home, I spend my time cooking dinner, I eat, and then it is time for bed. I can't wait to try all these recipes to make my day a little easier and so that I will have more time after work for things I enjoy. I would love to get your comments on what you thought about this book and the recipes you have tried from it.

[Nat · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. This really is as much a cookbook as it is a story about women who don't like to cook. As such, it's wonderful to sit down with and read in one to. Admittedly, to a modern, non-American palate, some of the recipes seem mildly terrifying. But they are a fascinating look into women's lives of the time - especially as I found this book through Laura Shapiros "Something from the Oven".
The writing style of the text and the recipes is very amusing and the little story snippets are wonderful. I would definitely recommend this - just maybe not strictly as a cookbook.

[Abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is more of a Novel to read, than a cookbook. It does contain recipes, true. It does contain items of "I hate cooking" trivia, and it does contain amusing anecdotes. But ... I would hesitate to actually call it a cookbook.

Plus, even though I've read it, I am an acceptable cook, and I haven't tried any of the recipes.