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Common Sense with Leftover Food ~ apparently not a new idea!


I’ve recently started saving images of old cookbooks, as I find them, on Pinterest.



I am interested in them but not that interested! 

As with most cookbooks they tend to have the same recipes repeated over and over again (see here for more on this strange cookbook similarity) but, as you can imagine, I was intrigued to discover this.

recipes for leftovers, ideas for leftover food

I see that, like some cookbook writers today, the authors have cheekily added blank pages for the reader to add “My Own Receipts” thus making the book look more temptingly thick and full!

Other than that I am in complete agreement with the writers, Helen Carroll Clarke and Phoebe Deyo Rulon, from the start  …

make the most of leftovers

image for pinterest on leftovers cookbooks



Although I must say that, with my modern ideas, I am of the opinion that blokes may also benefit from advice on making the most of leftovers!

Some of the recipes are quite interesting;  one of the first in the book is called Fire Island Stew although it is simply a dish of macaroni and leftover roast beef in a tomato sauce.  In 1911, however, this may have been quite adventurous.
                                                                                                               
Mock Chicken Salad is strange as it’s actually a pork salad!, and this is a little odd too, whether it uses tinned baked beans or homemade ...

leftover baked beans, bean salad

Obviously, due to differences of time (The Cook Book of Leftovers was published in 1911) and place (this is an American book) we are dealing with different ingredients, cooking methods and food storage.

Fundamentally, however, our ideas and principles are much the same. Probably that is because using leftover food to create delicious new dishes is bleeding obvious!

There is much I agree with and I find myself nodding sagely as I read the book.  This recipe for leftover cooked sweet potatoes …
leftover cooked sweet potatoes

... is a little like my recipe, in Creative Ways to Use Up Leftovers for leftover raw sweet potatoes.

Filipino sweet potato recipe, kamote cue

We are also similar with regard to pastry scraps and leftover cheese …


The Cook Book of Left-Overs ...


leftover pastry scraps, cheese straws recipe

Creative Ways to Use Up Leftovers ...


lpastry scraps, leftover pastry, cheese straws recipe

Read more about The Cook Book of Leftovers here and read more about my book Creative Ways to Use Up Leftovers here. 

leftovers cookbooks, recipes for leftovers

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