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McCall's was one of the magazines my mother bought when I was a child.

Alas, because McCall's is defunct, most of its recipes are hard to find online or in print. But I prepared a recipe from a library copy of the magazine, before McCall's ceased publication, and it's a favorite of the folks at church.

hello fellow brat.  We sure were well-travelled bunch.  I found one recipe online very similar to the one she taught me.  This was in time where it was hard to find herbs, vegetables, and spices.  Her recipe is much heavier on oregano, uses whole 14 oz can tomato sauce, and few good dashes of Worcestersher sauce (now I know she was trying  to boost the umami) with one lb ground beef with all the same ingredients in this recipe  and usually cooked down to the consistency of sloppy joe mixture.  The chicken stock was that ready to  use chicken bouillon cubes that she added small amount of water. 

The corn tortillas were fried crisp flat like tostada (maybe she was trying to make it easier for me as a teen.). Then mixture was spooned on crisp tortillas with shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, sliced onions, cheese, salsa fresca and sour cream.

My only "Mexican" food encounter until then was occasional taco bells outside the base gate in the US. It is super easy recipe to make and I don't measure for this.  

here is one very close to it:https://carnaldish.com/r...made-tex-mex-beef-tacos/

If you can locate McCalls white plastic bound book with separated tabs per section, I highly recommend it.  It has step by step instructions ie a precursor to Cooks Illustrated. And their cards they used to publish is treasure trove of unusual recipes. 

Thank you, Rinshin!

I like the nostalgia factor of this recipe. Will be making and enjoying!

And thank you also for the sweet nostalgia factor of your stories about your neighbors and moves and the changes and diverse cultures we were exposed to, within the cohesive structure of military family life.

There is one McCall's Cooking School book listed on EYB, unindexed. Looks like a book. I have 3 volumes of the white plastic binders.

I first bought McCall's Cooking School as special issue magazines at a newstand in the mid-seventies. Can't recall how or when they switched to binders, but I cut apart my booklets and incorporated the recipes into the binders decades ago. Most were already in there, but some were not. They are all reliable versions of culinary classics.

Yes, my white plastic book is a binder format.  I did not realize there were more than one.  Maybe because where I am located now, but I also love older Sunset publications on various  food topics.  My office was next to the now sold and developed Sunset headquarters ground in Menlo Park with their beautiful and peaceful garden full of flowers, unusual trees and plants, test garden, buildings, and kitchen.  We enjoyed our walks during our lunch time and often we would get a whiff of  incredible food the kitchen staff were testing or creating. 

Thank you, Rinshin. Very much enjoyed making and eating your classic style tacos.

So glad you liked it.  

Bought a big McCall's cookbook at a church sale the year before the pandemic hit. It's not indexed either.

The recipe that is a big hit at church is for plum cake.

Is it the McCall's Cooking School?  How many pages are in your book?  

This is The New McCall's Cookbook. 1973, 624 pages.

I'd post a link if I could.

The plum cake recipe was from an issue of McCall's that I borrowed from the public library, probably in the 1990's. I Xeroxed the recipe pages.

Thanks bittrette.  I have one white binder Mcall's Cooking School and it has some really easy recipes for today's living where we try not to eat out unless traveling. My favorite eggplant parmesan recipe comes from it. So easy and it s the one I turn to after trying various more complicated recipes.  Sometimes, less is better. 

Just ended up buying 3 white binder Mcall's Cooking School from Ebay. I don't know the volume binder for the one I already have.   If you like this extra binder one, I can ask my husband to ship to you for free. 

Sure, why not?

What I thought was a  complete volume, mine is not even complete 1 voume. Just parts.   I just  received very, very heavy 3 binders full of recipes from an ebay seller.  Most are different from what I had so will not be parting with my original binder to you. Sorry. 

You may already have all these recipes in the huge book you purchased.

My Mom didn't like cooking and was not very good at it.  When I was twelve she gave me the new chore of cooking dinner for the family once a week.  I only knew how to cook spaghetti and tuna fish casserole.  She said that she would buy whatever I wanted as long as I put it on the grocery list.  I taught myself to cook from the 1970's version of the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.  The first recipe I made was chicken noodle soup.  When I graduated from college and had my first real job I got a subscription to Bon Appetit and was off to the races.

That's OK, Rinshin.

My mother had taught me to cook from.a young age as well. She started me in the kitchen teaching me how to make the Christmas cookies we enjoyed so much each year. Growing up, I had no idea that we were poor but looking back at my young years I realize it now. By the age of 5 I was able to cook in the kitchen on my own without my mother fearing that I would chop off my hand or half of my arm. I didn't really use recipes in my cooking because I had watched my mom cook enough, I could cook her way. I did always enjoy reading a recipe though, so my mom would buy cookbooks for me to enjoy, I rarely cook from one though. 

I did have reason to look at a recipe book when I was in early 20's. It was Thanksgiving and  my mom kept dropping the pan that contained the turkey when she tried to put it in the oven. That year I learned a few new skills, such as turkey diving...it's when you slide on the floor to try to catch the pan that has the turkey in it before it hits the floor.  I seriously would have cried if the uncooked turkey landed on the floor.  I also learned that I was going to have to do the rest of the cooking because one of my moms conditions now prevented her from holding up the weight of  the turkey. Side dishes and desserts now became my new issues, and I handled it like a pro thanks to Betty crocker and libby, my new recipe best friends. Since then I have learned to even eyeball those recipes. I don't disagree that baking is a science but there is still a certain amount of room that allows for eyeballing the ingredients.  

My mother ordered the original 1950 Betty Crocker cookbook, with Betty Crocker coupons, but I don't know that she ever cooked from it. She did have a few recipes - pot roast, salmon loaf, veal stew - but mostly she followed the path of least resistance - emptying a can of vegetables into a saucepan and turning on the heat.

She taught me to make scrambled eggs and French toast, but mostly I'm a self-taught cook.

So many mags--so little time. Fine Cooking stopped, so I am collecting all I can find and am inputting them into my Mastercook recipe software. (I have a few dozen.) 

Cooking Light used to have a great open forum where recipes of any kind were shared. (Any cource and not always lite.) A few years ago, Time Life took down all their forums like CL and So Liv, etc. We were all pretty miserable. Those forums were such great places to share or find recipes.

As a result of the closures, a couple of us quickly got together and created a forum where we could conitinue on -- add new recipes yet also share from the old. (Great Food Forum is name of it at Pro-Boards forums.) Food chat and misc is welcome there, too. Many of the members have shared their favorites over the years. It's a good place to come looking for ideas OR what you crave.

My folks died when I was a teen and all recipes went with them. All my favorite foods.  As a result, I've been chasing and saving and sharing recipes and cookbooks all my life. I have amassed thousands of recipes and cookbooks and mags. HOARDER HERE.

I would love to find a cake my mom used to send me to school lunch with, back in the 50's.  I called it 'Honeycomb Cake' -- however I don't know what the real name was.  I *believe* holes were poked into the top and the icing poured over it.  I remember it as the color of light brown sugar.  Anybody have any ideas what that could have been?  I don't think it had anything JELLO-ish in it or about it. Thanks.

Brenda, that sounds like it might be Brown Butter Cake. My mom used to make it from a recipe in the Lily Wallace cookbook -- the green covered edition with a stereotypical aproned housewife on the cover. The icing was a simple powdered sugar and water glaze, flavored with vanilla or lemon juice or sometimes a couple tablespoons of coffee. That book was big on variations and it might have also been one of those that she made.

What years Brenda?  Do you recall any particular taste?