The Ford Treasury of Favorite Recipes, 1955

Full title: The Ford Treasury of Favorite Recipes from Famous Eating Places

If you've perused the pages of my cookbook you've noticed I'm crazy about cookbook illustration. The Ford Treasury series delivers BIG with gorgeous line art and paintings for each "famous eating place" recipe. Union Oyster House! Antoine's! The Brown Derby! Some of the best recipes and art from this terrific book are below.

The dust jacket folds out into a huge USA map that's perfect "to decorate your kitchen or game room." Now that's value.

As mentioned.

An inviting cover one can even spot in the dark.

A few of the enchanting line drawings.

I had my 30th birthday dinner at Tavern-on-the-Green.

Crab Meat Virginia? Yes please.

Raving about the bisque! And is that a Long Island duck??

A mural within a mural.

Mid-century amoeba shape alert. And three words: Tomato. Soup. Dressing.

Union Oyster is the USA's oldest continuously operating dining establishment.

These tasty beans hardly sound "half way".

Perhaps the two most "strange and wonderful" pages in the book.

Antoine's à la gelee! And I never met a sea-food cocktail sauce I didn't like.

I'm a Texan originally from Houston. The Shamrock was a big deal in the 50's and 60's and was gone by the 80's. Granger's didn't last much past this book. It burned in 1958. Glad we can still make their tartar sauce, it sounds terrific.

The Royale—er, the De Luxe with cheese, please.

Crabmet Monza! Quiche Lorraine! I would imagine a "regulation-size pie tin" to be 9 inches in diameter and 1-1/4 inches deep, but would have to test the recipe to be sure. Quiche anyone?

Can I just say I live for split pea soup? "Pea Soup Andersen's" is an icon, and still in operation today.

Roquefort Cheese Spread? Yes please!