Modern twist revives Betty Crocker classics

Fresh ingredients make old favourites more palatable to contemporary tastes

A cookbook that takes readers down memory lane to recipes popular long- ago remembers the legendary cook Betty Crocker. Betty Crocker Lost Recipes: Beloved Vintage Recipes for Today’s Kitchens ( Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/ Raincoast, 2017), is a good read as well as being a collection of more than 120 easy recipes.

How about a cheese ball or hot crab dip with drinks? Or meat loaf, chicken Tetrazzini, pigs in blankets, or a cheese sandwich loaf made with four colours of fillings, no food colouring required? Waldorf salad, Welsh rarebit, baked Alaska made cupcake style, and desserts you set alight at the table? The recipes have been modernized with more fresh ingredients than were customary years ago. Pocket histories of each recipe make interesting reading. How we cooked over the past 10 decades makes an informative introduction. The modern touch for this recipe is panko crumbs. Cranberry sauce and noodles are accompaniments.