The Bottom Line
This is a useful cookbook, seeded with helpful entertaining tips for any woman starting an independent life. If you can get past the "dated" feel of the material, you'll discover the flavor of dating as it existed during the days of "That Girl".
Pros
- Good basic guide to cooking and entertaining.
- Charming approach to living life well as a single girl.
- An amusing look back into how far we've come in our culinary expectations.
Cons
- Feminists might argue with the underlying premise of this book to set up bachelor bait.
Description
- A cookbook with dozens of recipes.
- Entertaining advice for most occasions that a young woman might have to manage.
- A guide for young women on scheming their way through domestic life to accomplish personal goals.
Guide Review - Saucepans & the Single Girl
Funny, thought-provoking and practical, "Saucepans & the Single Girl" still holds relevance for today's women just starting to make a home for themselves. Originally published in 1965, this book was all about living the swell life on a small budget. It includes tips on stocking the pantry, meals to cook for many social scenarios, and tips on entertaining stylishly on a low budget. The original authors have updated the book for 2006, but instead of simply rewriting the original text, this book amends it in footnotes and asides. It's these new commentaries that make the book so amusing for today's reader. Just as we might look at a photo album of ourselves 40 years ago and wonder what we were thinking with a certain hairstyle, this book is chock full of commentary that wonders how the authors could have written what they did at the time. After much chuckling, you'll realize how much the world has changed in 40 years. You'll aso realize how some realities are timeless, such as the financial pressures facing someone who is just starting out. And as much as the realities are the same today for a single girl stepping out into the world, this book is as useful a primer as it was four decades ago. The only thing one might hope has changed in that time is the blatant scheming to catch a man that is the underlying current running through this book. However, I suspect that this reality holds the same timelessness as the need for easy menus to toss together after a long day of work.
