Oh Betty, do not forsake us in our time of need

Since I'm the original owner of the book my daughter Little Bird referred to in her Retro Recipes Challenge post I thought it necessary to show the book as she described.

I didn't receive this as a wedding present but as a bonus for sending in box tops from cake mixes and bisquick and the like. Married in 1970 I was eager to become a woman in her own right when I redeemed the coupons for this book and a book on entertaining. The latter has gone missing and a good thing, it would have pushed our feathery little feminist over the edge. We have come a long way and thanks to some of the women in our lives for breaking ground. Maybe not loud but definitely proud quietly making inroads in stereotypes.

Cookbooks in our house become a repository for all things. As I paged through this one I found recipes, now yellowed, torn from magazines or newspapers. One doesn't have a date but the reverse has broccoli for 49 cents a pound. Some recipes I remember but some I can't think why I saved. A few from the pages of Bon Appetit in the late seventies complete very dated photos. Did we really dress that way? A recite for a long gone appliance, a photo of a friend, and my favorite, a recipe written on the back cover in my mother's hand for some "hot" cookies made with pepper cheese and dry mustard.


What is necessary, ever so often, is to look back to that mother, aunt, or cookbook that might have influenced your life and celebrate just how far we've come, then roll up your sleeves and push the envelope just a little farther. Someone in the future is depending on you.

Lorna Eley's Hot Cookies
2 cups hot pepper cheese shredded, room temperature
1/2 Oleo (butter)
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1 teaspoon dry mustard
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 cups flour

Mix with hands, thoroughly
Make into a log and refridgerate until firm
Cut as thin as possible and bake until very lightly brown 350 oven. 10-12 min.