Those Dubious "Collections" Cookbooks

     Page One Hundred Twenty-Eight.
     I went to a flea market a couple of days ago and picked up a few cookbooks - always a nice find. Among my purchased selection is a local school's collection of donated recipes. I'm sure you know the books I'm talking about. Those are the ones where the school sends out a notice and asks the parents to submit their favorite recipes. (This happens at some larger workplaces, also.) Then, the entire collection is sent to the publisher, printed nicely, bound in a ring binder and sold for $11.95 with all the proceeds going to some worthy cause, often the PTA. Nice as this concept is, many of the recipes sent in are untested, poorly written, have questionable ingredients and sound gruesome. For that reason, I usually avoid them. But not always.
     I go out of my way to look for cookbooks assembled by any Junior League. Also, I'll purchase cookbooks assembled from any group or private school I know to be snooty and snobby. The reason is this: any old, rich lady who admits to knowing how to cook, cooks really well. Trust me on this. I've known a lot of old, rich, snooty ladies over the years and they really do know what they're doing in the kitchen. Being a good cook was a sign of good breeding back in the day. Nowadays, princesses and princesses in training don't have to know how to cook, but their grandmothers absolutely did. (Please forgive my sexism here. Of course, men can cook. Look at me. But let's be honest... for that generation, it was typically the women.)
     So, among the books I purchased the other day is a collection of recipes from one of Cleveland's ultra-exclusive private schools. Just listen to this recipe:
                                                                    Escargot Butter Sauce
1 cup shallots
1/2 Tbl minced garlic
2 oz parsley
10 oz butter
2 Tbl., or as needed, very fine Brandy (Armagnac preferable) 
1 can escargot (from the Burgandy region if possible)
salt/pepper
     Saute shallots and garlic in butter. Add brandy, escargot and parsley plus salt/pepper to taste. Pour over 1 pound of hot, fresh fettuccine.
     That sounds too good! And there's no way you'd find a recipe for Escargot Butter Sauce in a typical public elementary school PTA cookbook. Just ain't gonna happen. You only gotta love them old, rich ladies.
     And for the record, I see myself making this one day.I think I'll blog about more recipes from this cookbook in the future.