I got my first cookbook in grade school, Peanuts Cook Book, cartoons by Charles Schulz with recipes by June Dutton. It was one of those Scholastic books that you order through the public school; so excited when the box of books finally arrived in the classroom and so impatient for the teacher to pass them out.
I found the book while cleaning out some old things at my parent’s house. Just flipping through it brought back all sorts of memories. Apparently, I liked to write my name in my book and circled the recipes that sounded good. I suspect I really got it for the cartoons – interspersed with the recipes are food or eating related Peanuts comic strips.
The only recipe I remember making is Security Cinnamon Toast, using either the toaster or the broiler. I’m pretty sure I went with the toaster method since I made it all by myself without any supervision – after making the toast, spread with butter right away and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Today, it’s whole grain toast and vegan butter, but still super easy and diy-kid-friendly.
For fun, I veganized Sally’s Scrambled Eggs with (or without) Stewed Tomatoes. It was not one of the circled recipes, I can’t imagine wanting to eat canned stewed tomatoes as a small child. With a kitchen counter overflowing with fresh tomatoes, there’s no need to reach for the canned stuff. And with tofu instead of eggs, there’s nothing left of the original recipe but the idea – stewed tomatoes actually goes really well with scrambled tofu.
Do you remember your very first cookbook? How about your first vegan cookbook? Mine was The American Vegetarian Cookbook from the Fit for Life Kitchen by Marilyn Diamond (vegetarian is in the title, but it’s also vegan). Though it has fallen along the wayside now that there’s a seemingly endless stream of new vegan cookbooks hitting the market. An embarrassment of riches of the best kind.
Scrambled Tofu with Stewed Tomatoes
Scrambled Tofu
There’s no shortage of scrambled tofu recipes in cookbooks or online, use your favorite or the basic recipe below.
1 package extra-firm tofu, well drained, pressed and crumbled (I used a tofu press)
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
Salt and pepper to taste
Black salt (Kala Namak) – optional
Heat a skillet to hot and add a little bit of oil, swirl to coat the pan. Add the tofu and then the spices, cook to your desired level of doneness. Sprinkle with black salt if using.
Stewed Tomatoes
1 1/2 cups garden fresh cherry tomatoes, diced
1 celery stalk, chopped
1/4 small white onion, chopped
1 tablespoon of butter
Sugar to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
In a skillet, heat the butter. Add the onion and celery, cook until translucent. Add the tomatoes, sugar, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat for about 10 minutes.
Top the scrambled tofu with the stewed tomatoes and serve immediately.
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How fun! You’ve plunged me back into junior school (thats what we call it in the UK). I loved cooking so much. I also loved watching Charlie Brown with my brother after school.
The tofu scramble looks lovely. Are we all over to yours for brunch then?!
I had a Snoopy cookbook from Scholastic too!!! I think I remember there being some recipes on how to add things to your dogs’ food too? Funny – I haven’t thought about that for a long time.
I look forward to trying your veganized version of the scrambled egg breakfast. Thx
Ah, this is so adorable! I’m pretty sure my first cookbook was also my first vegan cookbook(Vegan with a Vengeance, of course), because I was never interested in cooking or baking before becoming vegan. I was so picky about food as a kid, I probably wouldn’t have liked recipes combining more then three or four ingredients anyway. ;) I adore the idea of a Peanuts cookbook though… I did love Snoopy growing up, so I wish I could go back in time and introduce my younger self to the concept!
The cartoons look so cute! How cute that you wrote your name in that book, and I love food-related comic strips, they are so entertaining and animated. Mmmm, may I have some Security Cinnamon Toast? Funny, I only used the broiler to melt my cheeze, but never with cinnamon-sugar toast. Have you tried this brand, Red-Ape Cinnamon? It’s a pretty good cinnamon-sugar product. I love your plate, it reminds me of a lot of childhood dishes and frozen dinner meals.
What a fun idea! You made me think back to my first cookbook, which was something about the ABCs of baking. For each letter was a recipe for a baked good that started with that letter. I wish I could find that cookbook now!
My first cookbook was ALMOST this one–it was actually the Peanuts Lunch Box Cookbook. My mom had it in her classroom library when she taught second grade, so it has the library card and a bunch of date stamps and kids’ names. Same format, but 90% sandwiches. And a recipe for mayonnaise! I still have my copy too. :)
I can’t believe I had this very peanut’s cookbook by ordering it from my “weekly reader” too. I remember
Lucy’s Lemon Squares and other recipes too. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!!!
What a sweet, sweet post! I can’t remember my first cookbook, but I remember the ones my parents had – full of weird 70s delights – that I’d try and cook things from, and ones from our local supermarket that were so cheap. I always dreamed about cooking poached pears from one of them!
How cute! I love Peanuts comics! It is impressive that you still have it. It must have been fun to flip through. I like to visit second hand shops and check out old cookbooks and books. I can’t remember my first cookbook. It was probably something vegan as I didn’t cook very much pre-vegan. The scramble looks great. I love using black salt in scrambles.
this is so cute! and i really need to make that tofu scramble, yum!
Love the tofu scramble, that looks really good!! I don’t think I ever owned a first cookbook, I just always used my mums cookbooks. We did have a homemade cookbook with old fashioned style cooking that our neighborhood put together, with recipes from just about everyone in the village, it was really sweet.
When I saw the title I thought you had just published your first cookbook and I had missed the post! :) I think my first cookbook might have been my jr. high school home-ec book, which I think I still have. My first vegetarian book may have been the Vegetarian Epicure, and the first vegan one might have been The Farm Cookbook, which I got at a garage sale. I really don’t remember.
How cute. I LOVe Peanuts–I’ve been a Snoopy fan for as long as I can remember. :)
Too funny, I have that same book (and a Strawberry Shortcake cookbook too). My mom saved everything! I’ll have to look through mine and see if I wrote or circled anything. It’s somewhere amongst all the kids books on our bookshelves. Great post!