The priceless ingredient of any recipe is a good cook! Helen Corbitt, 1957

{HISTORY}

Helen Corbitt was a bit of an anomaly in the Southern kitchen landscape. For starters, she grew up in the Northeast and worked her way South according to various life experiences when it came to college and career. Jobs in the culinary world built a wide berth for Helen who worked as a dietician in hospital kitchens, as a college professor teaching restaurant management,  as a private caterer, as a newspaper columnist, and finally in her longest-running post as the Director of Restaurants for Neiman Marcus departments stores.

Based in Dallas, Texas it was during the Neiman Marcus years (1955-1975) that Helen wrote this cookbook, Helen Corbitt's Cookbook, which she published in 1957. As an advocate for fresh food and a fun cooking experience, Helen was a pioneer in bringing the fresh food movement to the Lone Star state. In an area of the country previously known mostly for its meat and potatoes, Helen added a more delicate, natural, colorful and multi-cultural sensibility to food and food presentation for all Texans. A notion that this Southern state never knew it was lacking until Helen came along!

At the time of this cookbook's publication, Helen was fully aware of the convenience foods that were working their way into the marketplace and the sense of drudgery that many home cooks felt when it came to preparing meals every day, every week, every year for family and friends. Helen was ready to offer a new excitement with her cookbook.  Spouting the attributes of cooking with whole ingredients and European flair, her cookbook was peppered with enthusiasm and interesting ingredient combinations to keep things joyful and engaging in the kitchen. For she fully understood that there was much more to cooking and entertaining than simply preparing a meal and placing it on the table. While taking serious notice of people's food preferences and habits for most of her adult life, she understood how to charm the appetite out of eaters and how to turn a simple meal into a memorable dining experience from start to finish. Referred to as the Julia Child of Texas, Helen was wholeheartedly welcomed into her adopted Southern state and became not only a legend in its restaurant scene but also a beloved presence in home kitchens too. 

This cookbook features over 350 pages of recipes that have been collected from the time Helen left Skidmore College in the late 1920s through her menagerie of food-based jobs into the 1950s.  Chock-full of international dishes, classic American staples and regional Southern cuisine all prepared in unique ways, many of the recipes also come with stories about ingredients, techniques, or real-life experiences shared by Helen to augment the dish. All in all, it's an engaging cookbook written by a woman in love with food, life, and people. 

{SPECIAL FEATURES}

- 27th printing

- Contains 388 pages including a detailed index

- Illustrated throughout  with whimsical line drawings by Joe Allen Hong

- Interesting recipes include Creamed Beets, Sea Food Pilaf, Creme Brulee, Burnt Almond Sponge Cake, Lemon Velvet Ice Cream, Brandy SnapCookies, Sea Foam Icing, Rum Buns, Asparagus Fromage, Honey Ketchup, Canadian Cheese Soup, and Pickled Black-Eyed Peas

 {CONDITION}

In lovely vintage condition. Clean and bright throughout. Two pages are dog-eared, which we always love to see, as generally, that means they were favorite recipes of a previous owner. In this case, those pages mark recipes for  Basic Cream Sauce and Hominy and Mushroom Casserole.

{SIZE}

Measures 8.5" inches (length) x 5.75" inches (width) x 1.25" inches (thickness) and weighs 1.5lbs