Mom's casserole cookbook
Better Homes and Gardens Casserole Cook Book was supposed to be included in my previous post. But then, it turned out that it was owned by LorelMa since the late 1960s! (I guess that this hardcover book gets its own post instead...)
On the front cover, this 160-page cookbook features a meatball and vegetable bake served on a wooden casserole. Because of its age, it already has a rather musty smell on its pages. It also has a deteriorating spine, as noticeable with small tapes surrounding that part.
While most of the cookbook contains grayscale images of assorted casserole dishes, it has colored pages for certain recipes like cheese soufflé and curried lamb. There is even a two-page section that is focused on different pasta types!
By the way, here is my personal favorite from the casserole cookbook (on pages 76-77):
KNOW YOUR NOODLES
Just look at a few of the more than 150 pasta shapes now existing. Macaroni, spaghetti, and noodles are names for individual families of pasta products. Essentially they are made the same, but are classified according to general types. LONG GOODS include spaghetti and long macaroni. SHORT GOODS include shapes such as elbows and shells. NOODLES, which contain eggs, are cut long or short into flat ribbons, shreds, or fine rods.
Let your imagination run the gamut. Pick a sauce and then try it on several pasta styles—each shape seems to have its own flavor. The difference in flavor is due to variations of thickness and texture, the amount of cooking, and the absorbing quality of each noodle.
As a guide to combining new shapes with new recipes, use subtle sauces with delicate pasta, thick robust sauces on rope or cord pasta, and thin sauces on thin tubular pasta—ones that can flow through the hollows. Some macaroni is big enough to stuff—such as manicotti. Use a well-flavored meat or cheese mixture for the filling and then a zesty sauce generously poured over the top. Make ordinary casseroles unusual with varieties of pasta.
Gosh... This is great for visual learners who are interested in cooking, making food illustrations, or even describing noodle dishes in a story.
While there is a digital copy on the Internet Archive, it goes up to the table of contents (which has a picture of someone dipping their piece of bread on a Swiss cheese fondue). Feel free to borrow the cookbook there if you want the full version. Alternatively, send me an email if you want to peek at the late 1960s casserole recipes there.
Reference:
Better Homes and Gardens casserole cook book. (1968). Meredith Press.