The Gay Cookbook
This book is in a Controlled Release!
2 journalers for this copy...
Got this for free at The Book Thing in Baltimore, Maryland. It looks like a hoot and was written back in 1965 (it's a bit of a blast from the past). But I'm not much of a cook so maybe it can find a home with someone who'll like it for more than just the humor.
The complete compendium of campy cuisine and menus for men... or what have you.
The complete compendium of campy cuisine and menus for men... or what have you.
Adding to my LGBT Bookbox. Enjoy!
I'm claiming this one from the bookbox, as it looks very amusing indeed. (I'll have to scan in the cover illustration, which is cutely campy.)Since one good cookbook deserves another, I'll be replacing this one in the bookbox with The Men of Fire Island Present: Hot Cookin'!
OK, when a book starts out with this line on its copyright page - "All rights reserved, Mary" - you know you're in for a very swishy ride!
From cracks like "they sorta lack glamor, and the hell with 'em" (explaining why he's leaving out recipes for potato salad and macaroni salad) to helpful hints in the middle of a recipe ("No lumps there, Griselda!"), it's very, very campy, but I found it readable even with all the interjections and asides, and some of the recipes looked very good indeed. [There was a bit of inflation-shock, though; I think the book was published in '65, and whenever the author cites prices for foodstuffs there's a moment when my eyes glaze over, as I can't quite believe that prime beef cost a dollar a pound within living memory! And some of the nutritional information seems a bit out of date as well, though for the most part I think our hero was doing pretty well.]
Other bits:
(about parsnips): "...they are a potency-pepper-upper, or as golfers put it so nicely, 'They put more iron in your drive.' Ya get the idea? No? Hell, turn this book in for Little Women - you're reading the wrong material."
(Tequila): "...it's a fine (soul scorching) drink straight, or with that crazy lemon or lime and salt routine. We know some mad, mad people who drink straight tequila with chilled champagne for a chaser; hangovers are in Technicolor, and with a wide-wide screen."
Definitely irreverent and very chatty, but the cooking instructions seem quite thorough, and could give someone a decent start in the kitchen. [And a simply outrageous vocabulary, darling!]
From cracks like "they sorta lack glamor, and the hell with 'em" (explaining why he's leaving out recipes for potato salad and macaroni salad) to helpful hints in the middle of a recipe ("No lumps there, Griselda!"), it's very, very campy, but I found it readable even with all the interjections and asides, and some of the recipes looked very good indeed. [There was a bit of inflation-shock, though; I think the book was published in '65, and whenever the author cites prices for foodstuffs there's a moment when my eyes glaze over, as I can't quite believe that prime beef cost a dollar a pound within living memory! And some of the nutritional information seems a bit out of date as well, though for the most part I think our hero was doing pretty well.]
Other bits:
(about parsnips): "...they are a potency-pepper-upper, or as golfers put it so nicely, 'They put more iron in your drive.' Ya get the idea? No? Hell, turn this book in for Little Women - you're reading the wrong material."
(Tequila): "...it's a fine (soul scorching) drink straight, or with that crazy lemon or lime and salt routine. We know some mad, mad people who drink straight tequila with chilled champagne for a chaser; hangovers are in Technicolor, and with a wide-wide screen."
Definitely irreverent and very chatty, but the cooking instructions seem quite thorough, and could give someone a decent start in the kitchen. [And a simply outrageous vocabulary, darling!]
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
I gave this book to my friend Mike in New York, as I thought he'd get a kick out of it. [He doesn't participate in BookCrossing and probably won't journal, but he's helped "enable" me on many occasions.]
I gave this book to my friend Mike in New York, as I thought he'd get a kick out of it. [He doesn't participate in BookCrossing and probably won't journal, but he's helped "enable" me on many occasions.]
