The Happy Cooker presented by Entre Nous (1974)
This book is a little mysterious. A slightly risque title and they welcome us into their kitchens and promise a “prospectus of honored recipes” but I can’t get a real grasp on who “they” are. It appears to be a ground called Entre Nous but where, I don’t know. Google turns up a few and we are almost 50 years out from 1974 so I have no way to narrow it down further. I got it on eBay from a seller in Tennessee but I don’t think that means anything. You can order more books using a coupon that lists the address of Mrs. Darrel R. Gresham of Peoria, Ill as the contact. Maybe they are from there? Sometimes those addresses are a publishing house and sometimes they are the organization.
There are some recipes for “BBQs“ which are what some places in the Midwest call sloppy joes. I remember a girlfriend of my uncle’s bringing them to potlucks when I was very little and being surprised it was a sloppy joe! She was from West Virginia.
Lots of recipes–often three or more per page. All with named contributors. Illustrations (stock? they are all signed with the same name as the cover) on the section dividers.
This is one of the few books where I’ve seen several recipes for sandwiches. Sandwich fillings aren’t uncommon but there are recipes here that include the right bread and assembly instructions.
Solid appetizer and drinks chapter–it does seem geared toward entertaining.
Good number of cookies and other desserts.
Some recipes I’ve not seen in other books like Phyllis Bush’s Potee Valaisanne, Virginia Dagley’s Panjagels and Judy Bower’s Gedempte Flaish.
I adapted and updated Betty McKay’s recipe for Apple-Cream Coffee Cake from this book.