Don’t ask my why, but I was recently looking for an antique pie bird vent on eBay. Not sure what got a hold of me, but during the search I found one that was part of a New Orleans estate.
I ended up clicking around the other items this seller had from the estate and found some great cookbooks. So I didn’t end up with the pie bird but I did get several of the estate’s cookbooks.
Hot Off the Press: Good Cooking from the Pages of The State Times-Morning Advocate (Pat Baldridge, Food Editor). This is from the local newspaper in Baton Rouge in 1977. It’s set up and printed landscape as a tip of the hat to the traditional reporter’s notebook, which allows for it to stand freely—without a stand.
La Mascarade de la Cuisine (Krewe de la Famille de Lac Charles). This is a first printing from December 1985. I love cookbooks from the krewes that participate in Mardi Gras. These are people who love a good time and good food. My hope is that all of these contain old family recipes that go deep into Louisiana history.
To a King’s Taste (National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Louisiana). Now this one is old! The copyright says 1952 and I don’t see any other dates! I think this might be first printing!!
Flipping through it, I see lots of recipes with accent marks. The first section is “Beverages.” The first two recipes on the first page are coffee and the following eleven pages are all alcoholic. How hilarious is that. I even found a recipe for “The Bolo.” It’s pineapple, sugar, whiskey and champagne which sounds delicious! And then you read this line: “A favorite drink before breakfast on Sunday morning.”
Seriously? Are you heading to church with a buzz? Or, is this to lighten the headache from the night before? LOL!!!
The Asphodel Plantation Cookbook (Marcelle Reese Couhig). Apparently, this is a book form of recipes that were sold as recipe cards in an earlier time (late 1960’s?). The recipe cards came in a wooden box. Now that’s a great way to sell the feeling of recipes from a by-gone era.
I’ve started looking and have seen a few of these boxes on eBay, but the cards are never included. The box is cool but where are the cards? Did Grandma sneak them into her own recipe card stash? I’ll keep searching but I think the box and recipe card combo sounds like an amazing thing to find!