Weird Eats

10 Junk Food Cookbooks

Who ever said cookbooks had to be all fancy and high-falutin'? Here's a list of works that are the perfect antidote to that sort of thing.

The Magic of Peanut Butter: 100 New & Favorite Recipes - by Skippy
The Magic of Jelly: 100 New & Favorite Recipes - by Welch's
The Marshmallow Fluff Cookbook - by Justin Schwartz
The Twinkies Cookbook - by Hostess
Brownie Mix Bliss - by Camilla V. Saulsbury
Cake Mix Cookies - by Camilla V. Saulsbury
Cookie Dough Delights - by Camilla V. Saulsbury
Complete Cake Mix Magic - by Jill Snider
Cake Mix Magic 2: 125 More Easy Desserts ... Good as Homemade - by Jill Snider
Spam: The Cookbook - by Linda Eggers

Are You Gonna Eat That?: A Guide To Yukky Cookery

Are You Gonna Eat That?: A Guide To Yukky Cookery
by William I. Lengeman III

Food preferences are a subjective thing, if I may begin by stating the blatantly obvious. We all like what we like, and while many of us would gag at the prospect of wolfing down lamb's brains or badger, there are probably those who might be equally repulsed by Pringles or peanut butter.

If you've busted the bindings on your Joy of Cooking or Fannie Farmer Cookbook and you're ready for something more adventurous, these books may broaden your culinary horizons. Even if you never prepare a recipe that utilizes treasures like herring semen, they make for some thrillingly vicarious armchair cuisine.

Book Review - In Bad Taste?

In Bad Taste?: The Science and Adventures Behind Food Delicacies
by Massimo Francesco Marcone
Reviewed by William I. Lengeman III

Nowadays some of our most high-profile guides to the world of offbeat foods just happen to be chefs. Take Anthony Bourdain, for example, or Andrew Zimmern, host of the Travel Channel's Bizarre Foods With Andrew Zimmern. Dr. Massimo Marcone's background, as he puts it, is a little different. Marcone refers to himself as a "food scientist, adventurer, and urban myth buster."

Serving Time - Prison Cookbook

To call Serving Time a prison cookbook might be a little misleading, as it suggests that perhaps prisoners were involved in the making of the cookbook. In fact, the volume of more than 500 recipes is the work of staff members at Wisconsin's Racine Correctional Institution and Sturtevant Transitional Facility.

For more information on the cookbook, check out this article from the Racine Journal Times. If you're looking to actually buy the book, that might be a little trickier. It doesn't appear to be listed at the major online booksellers.

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Mr. Porky & Miss Piggy

If pork rinds and the like are your kind of thing, Cooking with Mr. Porky should have you squealing with delight. According to a press release, the cookbook "includes 50 tempting recipes to try at home where the main ingredient is the beer swillers’ favourite, pork scratchings."

All In The Family & Bewitched Cookbooks

The Official Bewitched Cookbook: Magic in the Kitchen
by Kasey Rogers and Mark Wood

Edith Bunker's All In The Family Cookbook
by Edith Bunker

This is not a book review. I wasn't able to lay my hands on a copy of The Official Bewitched Cookbook (1995) or Edith Bunker's All In The Family Cookbook (1971). I just thought it was interesting that they even exist.

It's especially interesting to note that used copies of the Bewitched cookbook are selling at Amazon, starting at $126.10. Which pretty much ensures that I will never have a copy - not that I was really looking for one.

Kasey Rogers, author of the book, played Louise Tate on the show. If memory serves me correctly, that would have made her character Darren's boss's wife. Good grief.

No way to tell what the recipes in this one are like without having a copy on hand, but what's interesting is that a few Amazon reviewers actually gave it a five-star review.

Used copies of the All In The Family cookbook are quite a bit more affordable, but not enough to make me rush out and order one. If you'd like to, there's probably no need to hurry. There are currently eight copies left at Amazon and surely more available elsewhere on the Web.

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New Food Books

Here are a few Weird Eats-friendly books that are due on the shelves soon or recently released. Stay tuned for a review of In Bad Taste? It's coming up in the next week or two, right here at Weird Eats.

In Bad Taste?: The Science and Adventures Behind Food Delicacies
by Massimo Francesco Marcone
Key Porter Books (May 28, 2007)

Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2: More Amazing Clones of Famous Dishes from America's Favorite Restaurant Chains
by Todd Wilbur
Plume (December 26, 2006)

The Mini Ketchup Cookbook
by Cameron Pearl
Running Press Book Publishers (November 30, 2006)

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