Nifty Betty Crocker Books

A short while ago, I shared my favorite vintage beauty manual as well as my favorite vintage cookbooks.  So, today I thought I would pass along some other great new (old) finds to you as well. My friend, Jess, told me about a neat, old cookbook she came across and recommended it to me: Betty Crocker's Party Book.  I immediately looked for one on eBay and found a neat duo up for auction:

Two of my recent discoveries!

Can you believe I only paid $.99 (plus about $4 shipping) for both!?  Also, they are first editions, and are in excellent condition.  I can't imagine why anyone would want to sell such treasures--and for so cheap!--unless they had multiple copies or something.  Needless to say, I'm glad there is someone out there who likes to practically give away great cookbooks--you know what they say: one man's trash is another man's treasure. (And am I glad this was somebody's trash! Haha!)  After my books finally arrived, (you know how slow that media mail can move sometimes!)  I sat down, immediately delved into them, and quickly discovered that I was not to be disappointed with my find!

Betty Crocker's Party Book is very interesting as it has lots of recipes (I believe over 500!) and it gives great advice on giving parties.  It has suggestions for children's parties, all with different themes and suggested menus according to age group, as well as holiday party menu suggestions and tips.  When I say holiday, I'm not just talking about the to-be-expected, typical Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter party (sure, those are all in there, too!), but it also includes suggestions for St. Patrick's Day, Independence Day, President's Day as well as some other less-celebrated holidays.  I don't have any children, nor do we give any parties, but I was thinking how nice it would be to have a special holiday-themed meal each month--just for fun! (I kept intending to go out to the grocery sometime this week in order to purchase corned beef as it is the suggested main course for the St. Patrick's Day party. However, I have--yet again--managed to effectively postpone this necessary but tedius task.)  Who knows--maybe we'll celebrate St. Patrick's Day a little late... 

Betty Crocker's Guide To Easy Entertaining was also a delightful read.  As I mentioned, I never really do any entertaining (if we do have a crowd here, it's always our family for a cookout or very informal gathering, and if I tried to turn that into a semi-formal affair, it would be just flat-out facetious).  Because of this, I knew when ordering that I probably wouldn't be using this book to the extent of its potential.  However, it too, has many good recipes (some of which are for coffee that I plan to post about at a later time...) and would truly be a very helpful resource in helping one in the planning of a successful gathering.  It contains many pertinent suggestions which could be of great use when trying to determine things such as: what to serve at a party, how to properly extend invitations, the best way to serve food according to the occasion and the space you have, etc.  I know that, sometimes, these vintage guides are somewhat out-dated when it comes to being practical for us "modern," sophisticated people nowdays, but much of the information from this guide is still very applicable.  (Now if only I could find a Betty Crocker's Guide to Housekeeping! Haha!!) Happy homemaking, ya'll!