MY FIRST COOKBOOK & "Toad in the Hole" Recipe

 One of the prized possessions of my childhood was my very first cookbook, "Let's Cook With Gail".  There is a bookplate inside the front cover wherein I wrote my name, pre-cursive, in pencil; and since we learned cursive in the second grade, I would have been six or seven when I got this treasured cookbook.

The recipe book was first issued in 1952 by The Farmer, Saint Paul, Minnesota.  The red booklet above was issued at that time.  The beige book with red binding was issued in 1954.  The 1954 version is my first cookbook.

 The Farmer was a newspaper focused on agriculture which began in the late 1800's and has continued following many mergers over the years, to the point that it is no longer recognized by the name.   In 1952, The Farmer began a monthly series of cooking lessons "for boys and girls."  Children received the "Let's Cook With Gail" booklet, and were instructed to cut out the lessons in the newspaper and paste them into their booklet.  Gail was an actual person - the eleven-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Palmby, who lived on a general farm in Blue Earth County, Minnesota.

Most of the recipes in the booklet are basic and suitable for all ages.  For fun, I decided to make one of the recipes, "Toad in the Hole."  

Here's the final result.

I liked it!!!