Cookbook Wednesday And a Celebration!

I have quite a few specialty cookbooks, but my favorites are always the general cookbooks.  You know the ones: with chapters on this and that, and a little of everything between two covers.  And this is one of the best known general cookbooks:

 Yes, I call it the "Red Plaid Cookbook".  I bought one for my eldest daughter a couple of years back when she wanted One Good, All Purpose Cookbook.  My grandmother also had one, but I have no clue what my idiot mother did with it.  I bought mine in 1990, after I'd been in this house about a year.

I like the fact that it's got conversions, equivalents, and substitutions, along with everyday tips, inside the covers.  You can tell from the wear on mine that it's been in and out of the bookshelf more than once or twice.

And the celebration part?  Well, it was my dearly beloved's birthday yesterday, so I made him a lemon sponge cake, (mostly) using the recipe shown above.  Mark and I "sang" to him (trust me, it's not something you want to hear; we are not a tuneful family), and he blew out his one candle. Yes, one candle.  When Mark asked if Dad was 27 or 28 (because the running joke is that Mom admits only to being over 21, and Dad is just a few years older), my dearly responded that he is 1, because this is his first birthday since his surgery.

So, Happy Cookbook Wednesday, and I wish we could share our cake with all of you!