The Complete I Hate To Cook Book

When my family moved to our second house, the previous owners left a stack of books behind. In the collection was The Complete I Hate To Cook Book by Peg Bracken. I was only 10 at the time, so I didn't have much interest in cooking or in cook books. Still, after browsing through it, I found the writing and illustrations witty and fun. I have never found another cook book quite like it. Sadly, all of Peg Bracken's books are now out of print, except for the 50th Anniversary edition of the I Hate To Cook Book.

As a teenager, I went through the whole book and bookmarked recipes that I thought would be within my abilities to try. I found some real beauties that I continue to use to this day and still get rave reviews. One of my all-time favorite recipes is the 6-Minute Cheesecake, which is both very simple and very creamy. Another favorite is the Maui Bread, a fantastic banana bread recipe I always turn to when I have overripe bananas.

Now that I'm even older, I decided to revisit the book. I still love the humor and the funny illustrations, but I found the recipes dated and much of it uses processed foods. The original book was published in the 50s, which would account for why the recipes are what they are. The author certainly didn't take into account how many calories, cholesterol, sodium or preservatives are in her recipes, but I'm sure they're probably pretty good when that's all you've got in the house and you really want to put something on the table.

After revisiting the book, I found some more recipes I'd like to try, some with alterations:
Hellzapoppin Cheese Rice
Curried Spread
Florida Dip
Your Basic Meat Mix or the 4-Way Meatloaf
Dr. Martin's Mix
Hurry Curry
Cheese and Wine Bake
Sole Survivor
Let 'Er Buck
The Neitzel Grinder
Danish Almond Sheet
Eddy's Oyster Loaves
Really Southern Corn Bread
Tomatoes Provencal
Armenian Sandwiches
Riviera Sole
Fake Hollandaise
Blender Hollandaise
Simple Beans
Sour Cream Cabbage
Guest Chokes
Tomartichokes
Shakel Egg Supper!

Any recipe that calls for soup mix, bouillon, condensed soup and processed cheese, I'll be making adjustments. 

Pasta Primavera is easy

I love pasta primavera. It's also pretty easy. I like to start the pasta cooking while I start cooking the veggies in my wok. I use whatever veggies I have on hand and add garlic. Once the pasta is mostly cooked, but still firm, I drain and dump it into the wok and toss with lots of grated parmesan, adding salt and pepper to taste. Serve after everything is cooked through. Easy, right?