Cook like a Kid

Inspired by a tweet from Mental Floss (an American magazine presenting facts and trivia in a clever, fun way, and a popular blog and website) about my favorite cookbook, ā€œBetty Crocker’s Cook Book for Boys and Girlsā€ — 9 Delightful Recipes From the 1950s You Should Make with Your Kids Today – I pulled my cookbook from the kitchen shelf and gathered up the ingredients to make ā€œAmerican Pizza.ā€

In our house (not my Granny’s!) homemade biscuits were made from Bisquick, but I didn’t have the only ingredient for the crust, so I ran to the store. Growing up in Iowa, my family made lots of homemade pizza; there were no local pizza restaurants that I can recall. (When we moved to Evansville in 1970, my father realized his dream of opening pizza restaurants with his friends.)

I remember making the ā€œAmerican Pizzaā€ for my parents. Along with picking a stem of rhubarb and smushing it in sugar in a cup (sort of like muddling), eating this pizza is one of my strongest childhood food memories.

TheĀ Mental Floss postĀ also highlights a breakfast I make for my husband still today (my boys like their eggs scrambled) — eggs in a frame. As a child, I loved making, and eating, this breakfast treat. The toast hole always is eaten first, and I add a dash of hot sauce.

I believe I’ve made most of the nine favorites Mental Floss suggests. The 1957 edition of the cookbook (the copy I have, though I wasn’t born until 1964), featured a panel of 12 boys and girls to test the recipes. I remember reading the children’s comments printed in the book and wishing I could test the recipes.

Linda said, ā€œOur mother marked what we made excellent, good, fair, or poor.ā€

Chris said, ā€œIf we didn’t like it, Betty Crocker didn’t put it in this book.ā€

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