The Adventures of Ken and McKenna: Reminiscing: The Ground Meat Cookbook

As promised, I am bringing some "intriguing ground meat recipes" to you, my gentle readers.

I'm not sure that "intriguing" is a word that I would use to describe food, but maybe it had a different connotation in 1955?

Whoever put this cookbook together either had zero knowledge of how actual animals live or had a strange sense of humor. Check out the cow having a photo shoot right at the beginning of this book:

As I glanced at this page, the word "oozing" jumped out at me. Yes, there are times when this word is appropriately used to describe food, but I don't care for ground meat that "oozes." "Quiz an American on his food preferences and you will uncover a devotee of hamburger, a lover of succulent ground meat oozing in a bun." Whoever wrote this has a way with words, that's for sure.

If you aren't "intrigued" by the meatball Rockettes at the top of this page, then perhaps you will be interested in one of the many "intriguing" recipes below. [BTW, I'm going to start using the word "intriguing" like Dave Barry uses the word "dynamic."]

"Little Sausage Balls" and "Liver Dumplings" here I come...

For Leah:

Also for Leah, "Pork 'n' Apple Balls with Noodles" (two of your favorite words) and for everyone else who has been searching for years for an intriguing recipe for "Heart Patties with Gravy," look no further.

So here's an example of the disturbing illustrations in this book. This page is all about lamb recipes, so the illustration includes lambs. I get it so far. Why is one of the lambs wearing underpants and why is one holding a parasol? I sort of get the impression that they are going for a circus theme here, but besides the one with the ring, how are the other two related to anything that you see in the circus?

Also, "Frosted Lamb Loaf?"

I wonder how many recipes for "jellied loaves" there are from this period? None of them look good and none of them sound good. Why would you waste good veal on some horrible gelatin creation?

Also, I could not help but gape in horror at the photo of the ham loaf served with coffee...

Again, with the strange illustrations. This page includes recipes for "Liver Loaf," "Ham Ring," and "Ham Mousse." Aren't those mice? How do they have anything to do with the food on this page? Are they the only creatures who will eat this stuff?

There are no words... This reminds me of the caperberry gravy that Bridget Jones made for her birthday dinner.

This may be the most disturbing of all of the illustrations. A horse, a cow, and a pig standing in front of an oven, enjoying the scent of ground meat cooking? Horses and pigs have been known to eat meat, I'll give them that. Cows do not eat meat. Cows, therefore, do not not eat ground beef. Why, then, is this cow depicted with its eyes closed in bliss while it's friend sizzles away in the oven? And how insensitive are the horse and the pig in this situation?