A Good Egg

Cover of The Good Egg cookbook, c. 1959 KHS

As I was looking through the Historical Society’s library researching old cookbooks written by Kenilworth residents for the Kenilworth Cookbook Club I came across; The Good Egg- 200 Recipes For Leftover Egg Whites or Egg Yolks.

The author is Loretta White. Her personal inscription in our book reads; “To my beloved hometown, Kenilworth where I lived from 1917 to 1938 and from 1943 to 1954.” The copyright is 1959 and it was published by Rand McNally & Company. According to an old newspaper article from the Naples Star (December 30, 1971) The Good Egg Cook Book was selected by LIFE magazine as one of the top ten cook books in 1962.

Our records tell us that Loretta first lived at 310 Richmond Road. Her parents were Thomas and Loretta White. From 1943 to 1954 she lived at 644 Abbotsford Road with her husband and son.

In the newspaper article Loretta reported that after “making beauty queen” at Northwestern University in the 30s she became a model for the John Powers Agency.

She married and eventually settled back again in Kenilworth. “There followed seven years of typical suburban living, driving my husband to the station, club meetings and then whoom!- the bomb fell. A famous movie star breezed in and out of town and with her blew my husband. Divorce followed and all I had in the world had gone except for my seven year old son, Peter.”

 

Loretta regrouped and worked in television in Chicago during the 50s, doing a daily half-hour cooking show with French chef Eddie Doucette. Following preparation of dishes there would be egg whites or egg yolks left over. Loretta began searching for dishes that included the leftovers. In the process she began writing the cookbook.

Her acting career later included numerous TV commercials, appearances on the Perry Como Show and Car 54, Where Are You. She appeared in the movie The Group, as Candice Bergen’s mother.

Getting back to The Good Egg Cook Book, hints were offered such as; “Do not keep beaten whites standing. Use them immediately or the foam will revert back to the original liquid state and the whites cannot be beaten again.”

I also spotted a recipe for using egg whites that sounds pretty special.

CINNAMON CANDY KISSES

4 egg whites                                       1 cup chopped nuts

pinch of salt                                        ½ cup cinnamon candies

1 cup sugar

Beat egg whites and salt until dry. Add sugar and nuts. Then cinnamon candies. Drop on a greased and floured cookie sheet. Bake in a slow oven (325 degrees) for 25 minutes. Makes 60 kisses.

Loretta ended the book with the following message; “The most chic thing a woman can be today is a good cook.” How times have changed, thank goodness!