One of the things I like about the Betty Crocker book for kids, is that it engaged boys as well as girls. That didn’t seem weird to me back then (I was raised pretty much without the “boys do this, girls do that” stuff); but looking back, it seems kind of revolutionary for a book to have involved boys in cooking in 1957 (which was the original publication date.)
Our home-made family cookbook is FULL of recipes from my husband’s mom, despite the fact that he has become a much more experimental eater and cook since boyhood. Nobody ever cooks like ‘Mom’; and people want what they are used to and remember as satisfying!
-JT
I had to laugh because my husband has always said that he didn't know what good cooking was until he met me....and he'd say that in front of his own mom!
I started learning my way around the kitchen in the early 50s, before kindergarten. At 11, due to my parents being overdue from a fishing trip, I had a full Swiss steak dinner ready to serve when they got home.
We all had to learn a modicum of 'girl stuff' such as cooking, cleaning, basic sewing, laundry, etc. Our sister had to learn certain 'boy skills', too, to insure she could also survive when a man wasn't near at hand at need. They're gifts that are undervalued at the time, but appreciated later. It was a revelation in barracks how few could actually replace a missing uniform button.
Dad worked several stints in the Pacific Islands, North Africa, Panama, and the Middle East, so had very eclectic tastes in food, which we also picked up early, as he introduced them to us at home.
There are some 'foods' I draw the line at, but not much I'm not willing to try at least once; the spousal unit is almost the same, but slightly pickier.