Found Recipes: Beloved Vintage Recipes Worth Sharing by Betty Crocker

 

Reviewed by Kristin

Opening this book was like opening a box of recipes from my grandma. These “vintage” recipes run from the 1920s to the 1990s, with strong representation from the mid-century when pre-packaged mixes became more popular for those homemakers who needed to whip up a quick dessert. This book doesn’t lean heavily on mixes, but Bisquick and cake mixes are included as time savers through the decades.

Betty Crocker has an enormous database of their recipes (almost 96,000!) but some of them had fallen through the cracks and had been lost. Over 500 Betty Crocker themed cooking magazines were published between 1972-2014, (see page 62) and as some of these have been rediscovered, the company decided to create this Found Recipes cookbook/history. In some cases, customers shared their memories of long ago meals where no recipe could be found, and Betty Crocker recreated them for a nostalgic taste of the past. Quotes from happy customers are included alongside bits of history and inside looks into the test kitchens.

A few recipes that caught my eye, along with the dates originally created (when available) and page numbers…yes, my tastes lean toward the sweets!

“Oven-Baked Chicken and Biscuits” – 1956 – page 71

“Chocolate Cookie Muffins” – page 117

“Luscious Lemon Loaf” – page 125

“Magic Cinnamon Balloon Buns” – 1969 – page 145

“Cardamom Cookies” – page 177

Those are just a few that sound like they would be fun to make with the five-year-old in my life. Maybe I’ll have to pull out a few of my grandma’s vintage recipe clippings as well, whether they came from Betty Crocker or elsewhere.

The Dead of Winter: Beware the Krampus and Other Wicked Christmas Creatures by Sarah Clegg

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

While we tend to think of Christmas as all joy and light, there’s also a long tradition of Yuletide creatures and mayhem.  While one of the best known is arguably the Krampus, he certainly isn’t the only one.  There are Christmas witches, ghosts, and monsters in the mix.  Sarah Clegg sets out to examine personally some of the rituals, superstitions, and folklore surrounding the season in this informative and fun book.

Since Christmas takes place in the darkest part of the year, the time when nights are longer than the days, it’s not surprising that there are a lot of things that go bump in the dark.  Clegg starts out with a superstition, that if you follow certain rules and go out before dawn on Christmas Eve you will see the funerals of all those who will die in the coming year.  She does a good job of evoking her cold trek, with only moonlight to show her the way. I was cold just reading about it.

From there, she moves into some of the lesser known-customs of times long ago, when the world could be topsy-turvy at this time of year.  The servants would play the master, there was a Lord of Misrule, drunkenness and over-indulgences were the themes of the day.  It’s no wonder that there were those who wanted Christmas celebrations banned.

One of the overriding themes with the Christmas monsters is one that will sound rather familiar:  they target those who have misbehaved throughout the year.  Unlike modern Santa, these creatures didn’t give a lump of coal instead of presents, but would remove internal organs and replace them with straw.  Unless, of course, the naughty were just eaten, as the Yule Cat was prone to do.  By the way, the legend says that the Yule Cat eats those who don’t receive new clothes for Christmas which seems puzzling until you know that new clothes are given to good children and adults.  Misbehavers receive none, and so are fair game.

It’s also a good way to make sure clothes are appropriately appreciated as gifts. Those socks from Grandma?  Lifesaver!

Clegg’s tone is light and as noted before, she makes this a personal journey.  She participates in a Krampus Run, goes to a wassailing, sees a Mari Lwyd in action, and attends a Carnival ball in Venice. She definitely has a sense of humor as evidenced by the footnotes—do read the footnotes!—but she obviously enjoys the myths and legends behind the stories.  Krampuses, Perchtens, Perchta, St. Lucy/Lucia (whom I would never have thought of as a dark creature), Gryla, they’re all here for your holiday . . . um, amusement?

I admit I got a bit bogged down in the dates, which I felt the author relishes.  Most of the creatures are associated with a specific date, but that date can vary by culture. Not only that, but we have to go back and forth between the Gregorian and Julian calendars.  Since I confuse easily, all the significance went over my head in most cases.

If you want to take a look at some of the darker legends around the holiday, this is a book for you!

Nevermore: Shantaram, Library of Lost Dollhouses, The Women

Nevermore 10-21-25

Reported by Rita

 

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

Based on his own extraordinary life, Gregory David Roberts' Shantaram is a mesmerizing novel about a man on the run who becomes entangled within the underworld of 1980s Bombay--the basis for the Apple + TV series starring Charlie Hunnam. It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured. An escaped convict with a false passport, Lin flees maximum security prison in Australia for the teeming streets of Bombay, where he can disappear.

I really liked the first half and learned a lot. I didn't care for the second half. - MH 5 stars

 

The Library of Lost Dollhouses by Elise Hooper

When a young librarian discovers historic dollhouses in a hidden room, she embarks on an unexpected journey that reveals surprising secrets about the lost miniatures.

Interesting and mysterious. It's a nice escape from reality. - WJ 4 stars

 

The Women by Kristin Hannah

In 1965, nursing student Frankie McGrath joins the Army Nurse Corps in Vietnam, facing life-and-death situations and deep friendships, before confronting challenges of returning to a divided America.

I liked the story. It was interesting and well researched. I thought it felt a little preachy at the end. - VC 4 stars 

 

Other Books Mentioned

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Al Capone Does My Shirts (Tales from Alcatraz, #1) by Gennifer Choldenko

The Crystal Cave (Arthurian Saga, #1) by Mary Stewart

How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States by Daniel Immerwahr

The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye (Millennium, #5) by David Lagercrantz

The Girl Who Lived Twice (Millennium, #6) by David Lagercrantz

The White Dawn: An Eskimo Saga by James A. Houston

The Last Gentleman Adventurer: Coming of Age in the Arctic by Edward Beauclerk Maurice

The Snake Scientist by Sy Montgomery

The Octopus Scientists: Exploring the Mind of a Mollusk by Sy Montgomery

Inside Animal Minds: The New Science of Animal Intelligence by Virginia Morell, Mary Roach, Peter Miller

Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry

Staff Christmas Picks

 

Everyone has their own favorite Christmas tales.  Here are some of the ones we think make the holidays bright!

Kristin:

Sandra Boynton is one of my favorite authors and humorists. Her children’s books are full of expressive animal characters that never fail to make me smile. Check out A Dance with Santa Claus, Snow, Snow, Snow!: A Christmastime Song, Merry Christmas, Little Pookie, Christmas Parade, Cows and Holly, Christmastime, Bob and 6 More Christmas Stories,  and my ultimate favorite: Moo, Baa, Fa La La La La!

Tonia:

I enjoyed One Day in December by Josie Silver, and I’m usually not a romance fan, but this book was unexpectedly good.

Jeanne:

My list usually is heavy on children’s books just because there’s a sense of wonder and excitement there. . . and sometimes trepidation.  Merry Christmas, Thomas by A. Vesey is one I love and not just because Thomas is a cat, though that helps. Thomas finds some presents Santa left early and he can’t resist taking a peek.  Will Santa visit Thomas even though he must be at the top of the naughty list? Having once been a child who peeked and then regretted it, I can totally identify with Thomas!

The Cajun Night Before Christmas by Trosclair is another gem. Written in dialect, it begs to be read aloud.  Also, Santa has alligators instead of reindeer.

I would list A Christmas Carol but honestly at Christmas time I’m too busy to re-read it.  I do recommend the annotated version, though. I puzzled over Scrooge’s reference to a “lumber-room” until I found out that was an old term for a storage room.  I had visions of stacks of wood!

Finally there are some great short stories and novellas out there.  One of my favorite stories is “All Seated, On the Ground” by Connie Willis in which aliens land on Earth and do nothing.  They just sit silently and glare.  Desperate to communicate, some members of a commission take them around town while Christmas festivities are going on and they do indeed find something that elicits the aliens’ interest.

Laura:

I love the Christmas Joanne Fluke books. I like to try out at least one new recipe every Christmas and her books are full of recipes, as well as mystery! I have tried several of her recipes and none have ever disappointed. Her Christmas books include Sugar Cookie Murder, Plum Pudding Murder, Christmas Caramel Murder, and Christmas Cupcake Murder. I recommend them all!

Short and Seasonal!

 

With all the bustle of the holidays, it’s easy to get burned out.  Reading can give one a chance to rest and recharge before tackling that “to do” list.  Here are some short books with seasonal themes that just might hit the spot:

Christmas Letters by Lee Smith is a novella built around one of my favorite Christmas traditions, the Christmas letter.  Those once a year, newsy letters that help people keep in touch with those far away. Smith’s novella tracks the lives of three generations of women through their correspondence, sharing joys, sorrows, fears, and recipes.  The letters begin in 1944 when Birdie writes home to West Virginia about her new life in North Carolina.  Readers follow her through the years until the torch is passed to her daughter and then granddaughter.  It’s a tale beautifully told.

Another Appalachian treat is Nora Bonesteel’s Christmas Past by Sharyn McCrumb.  Nora who has some psychic gifts is called to a home by its new residents who are disturbed some strange events, leading them to wonder if the house is haunted.  Meanwhile, Sheriff Spencer Arrowood is called upon to arrest an elderly man who lives up in a hollow, an unpleasant task made more unpleasant by a threatened storm.  Having two of McCrumb’s most popular characters appear in their own tales makes for a very festive treat.

If you fancy very old-fashioned tales, then look no farther than The Quiet Little Woman:  A Christmas Story by Louisa May Alcott, which is actually a collection of three stories written by Alcott in the 1870s for three little girls who were fans of her writing.  In the title story, Patty is a quiet, shy, industrious orphan girl who longs to be chosen by a family as the other girls and boys have been.  “Tilly’s Christmas” and “Rosa’s Tale” round out the collection.

Connie Willis is known for her science fiction and fantasy stories with a focus on the human aspect rather than technology. In Take a Look at the Five and Ten, a young woman is bracing herself for another boring holiday with her extended (very extended) family.  This is sure to include Grandma Elving, who only seems to talk about working at a dime store in the 1950s in excruciating detail over and over and over, not to mention pretty, popular, and self-centered Sloane who will be showing off her latest trophy boyfriend, Lassiter.  As it turns out, Lassiter is very interested in Grandma Elving’s story. 

On the other hand, if it’s a dark thriller you fancy, try The Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson. As it opens, our narrator is cleaning her apartment when she comes across a diary written by an American college student named Ashley.  Ashley is going to spend time at the country estate of her British friend Emma, and is wondering if her story is going to be a romance or a murder mystery.

Of course, there are a number of authors who put out short holiday books for the enjoyment of their readers.  Check out books by authors such as Richard Paul Evans, Anne Perry, Donna VanLiere, or check out some of our short story collections!

Nevermore: The Count of Monte Cristo, No Ordinary Bird

 Reported by Rita

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantes is confined to the grim fortress of If. There he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo and becomes determined not only to escape but to unearth the treasure and use it to plot the destruction of the three men responsible for his incarceration. A huge popular success when it was first serialized in the 1840s, Dumas was inspired by a real-life case of wrongful imprisonment when writing his epic tale of suffering and retribution.

Very interesting. I enjoyed the action. - VC 5 stars

 

No Ordinary Bird: Drug Smuggling, a Plane Crash, and a Daughter's Quest for the Truth by Artis Henderson

An exhilarating memoir by a daughter uncovering the secret of her father's rags-to-riches story, from poor farm boy to international drug smuggler, and the many mysteries surrounding his sudden death by plane crash.

Intriguing, informative, and the writing is good. -KM 5 stars

 

Other Books Mentioned

 

A Grim Reaper's Guide to Catching a Killer (S.C.Y.T.H.E. Mystery, #1) by Maxie Dara

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

Mailman: My Wild Ride Delivering the Mail in Appalachia and Finally Finding Home by Stephen Starring Grant

The Crystal Cave (Arthurian Saga, #1) by Mary Stewart

 

 

New Books

 

Welcome to Glorious Tuga by Francesca Segal

The Silver State: A Novel by Gabriel Urza

One of Us by Dan Chaon

What We Can Know by Ian McEwan

We The People: A History of the U.S. Constitution by Jill Lepore

The Twelve Jays of Christmas by Donna Andrews

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

Decorative blacksmith Meg Lanslow’s Christmas plans have had a bit of a twist—Meg’s ankle, to be specific.  She sent husband Michael and the boys off to their planned ski vacation before the holidays, leaving Meg to rest up.  (Insert laughter here.) Meg is one of those ultra-organized people who has pages of “to-do” lists and makes sure every event runs smoothly—or as smoothly as it can, given the eccentric nature of their extended family.

Take this Christmas, for example.  Even before all the family arrives, Meg discovers there are wombats in the basement, an experiment being conducted by her zoologist grandfather and her nephew to document their biofluorescence. Yep, apparently they glow in the dark.

And that’s not the least of it.  Meg has an irritable and demanding artist in residence who is painting jays and mockingbirds for a book and who has allowed the birds to escape into the house where they seem to view people as delightful targets, moving statues if you will.  Fortunately, Meg has laid in a supply of hats for people to wear.

With the artists’ ex-wives staking out the house, a reporter trying to get a scoop, Meg’s brother and his fiancée trying to have a low key wedding at New Year’s and Meg’s mother plotting an extravaganza, a murder seems almost incidental.

While this may seem over the top and overwhelming, Donna Andrews juggles all the plot elements with the ease and assuredness of a master performer.  There are plenty of laugh out loud moments, but she never loses sight of the serious aspects of the story. She also handles all the characters with ease, so even if this is your first Meg Lanslow mystery you won’t have trouble keeping up.  I had read and enjoyed the first two or three a couple of years back, but had no problem even though there are a lot of new to me characters.  Most of all, Meg herself is a wonderful character.  I love that she’s not a wishy-washy heroine who gets bullied into doing things.  When her family tries to take advantage, she pushes back and offers other solutions.  Most of all I love that there is a warmth and love to the stories even under trying circumstances. 

If you’re looking for a light book to make the holidays bright, pick up one of the yearly Christmas themed books in the series. I’m very glad I did!