The Houston Junior League Cookbook

by Junior League of Houston, Inc The Junior League of Houston

The  Houston Junior League Cookbook  was reprinted by the Houston Junior League to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2018 and has sold more than 120,000 copies since its first publication three decades ago. The book includes more than 1,500 easy-to-follow, tried-and-true recipes. Sections include Gulf Coast cooking, Tex Mex, and wild game dishes. This pantry cookbook is one that no cook should be without.

Genres: Cookbooks

432 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1968

Reviews

[Debra]

This cookbook (remember it was published in 1968) could have been partially entitled “Recipes from a Can” or “Supreme Fandango” (more about that later).

I have a number (over thirty) of Junior League books from around the country from many different decades. It never occurred to me what a microcosm of culture they are. As I delved into my Harvest Gold book filled with retro drawings, I traveled into another dimension of cocktail parties, buffets, and teas.

To create most of the recipes included in the Houston Junior League Cook Book one would definitely need a can opener. From desserts to beverages, most recipes included a can or bottle or jar of a pre-made something or other. (This is not a comment on Houstonian housewives of this bygone era—Cream of Everything cans of soup were staples from the late 60s onward.)

Need a quick shrimp dip? Open a bottle of Thousand Island dressing (Brockles Special Dressing, to be exact). What about a swanky buffet item for a chaffing dish? Get that can opener going and crack some tins of consomme and peas.

Some of the titles were humorous (if less than inventive):

Orange Fandango (2 oz. gin, 3 T. orange juice, 1-2 t. sugar)

Simply the “Fandango,” a delicious concoction of ground beef, frozen spinach, cream of celery soup and mozzarella. Tasty? Not sure on this one. No offense to Mrs. Richard R. Nelson, Jr. (née Marjorie Shepherd).

“Yummy Yankee Pecan Pie” which only varied slightly from the “Southern Pecan Pie” on the same page, with the Yankee version including a bit of maple syrup.

That old standby, the “Crowning Glory Salad” with obligatory lime Jello, mayo, and cottage cheese. (Most all of the salads were either jelled or had inordinate amounts of mayonnaise—or both.

There were quite a few “supreme” dishes as well.

Not surprising, the seafood section was probably the most straight forward with simple, fresh ingredients.

The book boasts an entire section on Mexican food but I question it’s authenticity. For instance, there’s the “Re-Refritos” recipe—two cans Rosarita refried beans, 1/2 cup butter and salt and pepper.

My favorite section was “Sauces” with recipes for BBQ sauces, mustards, remoulades, relishes, pickles, and jellies (sealed with paraffin). The “Breads” and “Cookies” sections were also quite good.

I had an entertaining afternoon perusing through these musty pages of vintage recipes .

[Autumn]

The best thing in this amazing book is that they let the chairman of the cookbook committee misspell Caesar salad in print.