If author Peg Bracken had been born 30 years later, she might have been a blogger. I remember the laughs my mom, a rural stay-at-home mother of five, got from her books. I think Peg was a bit of a sly feminist before her time.
From the LA Times obit:
Her instructions for stroganoff, for instance, said to cook the noodles in water flavored with a bouillon cube; brown the garlic, onion and crumbled beef; add flour, salt, paprika and mushrooms; then "let it cook five minutes while you light a cigarette and stare sullenly at the sink." She called this recipe "Skid Road Stroganoff."
Her books included “The I Hate to Cook Book,” "The I Hate to Housekeep Book" (1962), "Appendix to the I Hate to Cook Book" (1966), "The I Hate to Cook Almanack" (1980) and "The Compleat I Hate to Cook Book" (1988).
Peg, wherever you are, I hope you have your feet up and your “big dishwater hands around a dry martini instead of a wet flounder."
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2 comments:
I just read the obit in the NY Times and I was quite sad to hear that she died. Worse, her legacy - "The I Hate to Cook Book" - is out of print. My boss gave me that book over 10 years ago when I was a college student interning in Illinois state government. I loved it, but after reading about Peg and now knowing it is out of print, I'll cherish it even more. Peg is a feminist role model for sure.
I remember her books, too! Now I wish I'd hung onto them.
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