I've been using Cookbook Wednesday as an excuse to write about cookbooks that are a little newer than the ones I usually feature, and today is no exception. I picked up today's cookbook (cooking magazine, actually, but don't tell anyone! I'm really stretching the rules...) because this one approaches cooking primarily as an arts and crafts project. Whether something is actually edible seems incidental. How it looks is what really counts... and even the look is questionable! Just as long as the recipe was painstaking and time-consuming, it would work. So I present Best Recipes: Holiday Food Fun from September 22, 1992.
The cover itself should give you an idea what I mean: jack-o-lantern cheeseball, angels with sugar cone gowns, pretzel wings, and Nilla halos. And what about that Christmas tree covered with Easter bunnies and boxing gloves?
Yeah, this one:
Apparently my instinct for figuring out what these are is more than a little off. The tree actually sports...
...Kittens and Mittens! (From the three little kittens who lost their mittens nursery rhyme, I assume.)
The kittens just look like Easter bunnies because the ribbon going through the holes in their heads makes their ears look way long.
And the mittens look like boxing gloves because... they look like boxing gloves? I'm not sure why the artist couldn't make these more mitten-y. Maybe she figured they were way out of scale with the kittens anyway and just didn't even bother to try.
And what insanity do you see next to the bunny and boxing gloves tree?
Yes, it is a turkey wearing a bow tie up by its ass. Is the stuffing supposed to be its hairdo? And what is the bizarre vest ensemble made of, anyway?
If you guessed Tuxedo Turkey was wearing a vest made out of refrigerated pie crust and paste food colors, congratulations! You understand this cookbook.
But the magazine isn't all tuxedoed turkeys and boxing bunnies. It has some more common winter treats, like snowman cupcakes.
Hairy, yellowish snowman cupcakes. Wearing Devo-esque hats. Are they not men?
A big thanks to Louise from Months of Edible Celebrations for Cookbook Wednesday and a chance to share the holiday insanity!
That's a winner in your quest for strange rumors from the dark past.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't get much stranger than this!
DeleteI am rolling on the floor just looking at this book, Poppy! Oh my word, those "kittens" really do look like bunnies and that Tux ey Turkey is such a hoot!!! I love that the price sticker is still on the book too. (I'm a goo be gone nut when it comes to price stickers. It works like a charm:)
ReplyDeleteIt's posts like this one that make me so happy that we are sharing on Cookbook Wednesdays. And if this book stretches the rules, then stretch away!!!
Thank you so much for joining in on the fun, Poppy. I'm going to miss Cookbook Wednesdays and shares like this one!!!
The price sticker is accurate too! I really did pay a quarter for this treasure. Sometimes I like to keep the price just so I can remember the deal, and this is one book that would be a deal at just about any price.
DeleteThank you again for organizing Cookbook Wednesdays and giving me an excuse to post finds like this.
I have a cookbook-magazine like that! Your description of the turkey is just hilarious. Enjoy the idea of putting Easter Bunnies on your Christmas tree.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I thought the turkey was weird enough when I first glanced at it, and then it dawned on me that the vest was not only weird, but also upside down... Couldn't resist!
DeleteEaster Bunny horning in on Santa's turf!
ReplyDeleteAlso I would eat the living hell out of those Snowmen suckers but I would replace the cupcakes w/ macaroons
Cookies would probably be more structurally sound than cupcakes!
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