{"id":84341,"date":"2022-05-03T12:13:54","date_gmt":"2022-05-03T16:13:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=84341"},"modified":"2022-05-03T12:14:33","modified_gmt":"2022-05-03T16:14:33","slug":"recipes-for-national-hamburger-month-may","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/recipes-for-national-hamburger-month-may.html","title":{"rendered":"Recipes for National Hamburger Month (May)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/em><\/strong> In this article \u2013 to help celebrate May being National Hamburger Month \u2013 Gena Philibert-Ortega searches old newspapers to find a variety of recipes using ground beef. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Yes, it\u2019s true that most food has its own day \u2013 or, in some cases, a whole month \u2013 dedicated to it. Even lowly hamburger (ground beef) has a month honoring it. Much maligned but probably one of the more familiar recipe ingredients, my family ate a lot of it when I was growing up.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: meatballs being cooked. Credit: Fruggo; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

365 Ways to Cook Hamburger<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Hamburger was the meat featured in weekly meat loaf, burgers, spaghetti, goulash, casseroles, and soups. It was inexpensive, and since my dad didn\u2019t like chicken, it was the natural choice for dinner. Our family probably ate 20 or so recipes that incorporated the familiar meat, but according to the best-selling 1960 cookbook by Doyne Nickerson, there are actually 365 Ways to Cook Hamburger<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: title page from 365 Ways to Cook Hamburger. Credit: Gena Philibert-Ortega.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Genealogists will appreciate that the author Doyne Nickerson dedicated his hamburger tome to his mother-in-law, Delphine Franklin, \u201cwhose files turned up several interesting recipes she prepared during World War I.\u201d Though her thrifty recipes may have provided some inspiration, Nickerson also drew from his own experiences as an \u201cauthor, actor, a hydroponic gardener, an advertising writer, a painter, and during the depression a young man who ate hamburger three times a day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Boston Herald (Boston, Massachusetts), 2 November 1972, page 33<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There\u2019s no doubt what types of recipes 365 Ways to Cook Hamburger<\/em> contains. While it would be something that would appeal to a wide audience, it did have some stiff competition for readers who had other cookbook choices \u2013 including one that would become legend. Quite simply, a cookbook devoted to hamburger isn\u2019t in the same league as Julia Child\u2019s Mastering the Art of French Cooking<\/em>. (As one newspaper article wrote: \u201cGourmet cooking is a continuing art, and one would be naive to suppose that this book could be approached with the same 30-minute-preparation-attitude as \u2018365 Ways to Cook Hamburger.\u2019)<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, 365 Ways to Cook Hamburger<\/em> is a cookbook that was popular for nearly two decades because it provided families with low cost, easy-to-prepare recipes. It was a cookbook known by everyone, from those who needed its low-cost recipes to others who probably didn\u2019t \u2013 including Julie Nixon, the daughter of then President-elect Richard Nixon, who received it as a gift for her wedding to David Eisenhower.<\/p>\n

Recipes<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some food writers used Nickerson\u2019s book as a punchline in introducing their own recipes for ground beef. This 1976 food column by Carmen Jones has her admitting that she laughs whenever she sees 365 Ways to Eat Hamburger<\/em> and questions who would want to eat ground beef every day, but she then provides her own ground beef recipes for her readers.<\/p>\n

\"Hamburger<\/a>
Corpus Christi Times (Corpus Christi, Texas), 25 February 1976, page 29<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Beef<\/a>
Corpus Christi Times (Corpus Christi, Texas), 25 February 1976, page 29<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Many of the recipes found in 365 Ways to Cook Hamburger<\/em> have endured over time and changes in taste, such as Tamale Pie or Meat Balls Bourguignonne, as well as recipes for favorites like hamburgers and meatballs.<\/p>\n

\"Meat<\/a>
Boston Herald (Boston, Massachusetts), 2 November 1972, page 33<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Ground<\/a>
Boston Herald (Boston, Massachusetts), 2 November 1972, page 33<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Saving Money Never Goes Out of Style<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to make fun of a 60-year-old cookbook dedicated to hamburger, but home cooks always need good ideas for the endless question of \u201cwhat\u2019s for dinner?\u201d Nickerson continued to answer that question with a 1983 version of his best-selling cookbook, titled The New 365 Ways to Cook Hamburger and Other Ground Meat<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Ten years later, another chef would come up with a similarly titled book, and that would be joined by numerous other \u201c365 Ways\u201d books by a variety or authors looking to educate readers on how to cook everything from chicken to seafood and everything in between. Yes, it\u2019s easy to poke fun at the idea of a cookbook dedicated to cheap ground beef recipes, but in the end, preparing economical meals is something most people are interested in no matter what the time period.<\/p>\n

Note:<\/em><\/strong> An online collection of newspapers, such as GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a>, is a great way to learn about the lives of your ancestors, including the foods they ate and the recipes they used.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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