Secondhand Sunday: The Mondale Family Cookbook 1984

Joan Mondale holding the cookbook

I went to the thrift store with my daughter. We found some great things. One of my finds was The Mondale Family Cookbook. It was published in 1984.
Inside there are black and white photos of the Mondale family and friends. 10 of the recipes are Walter Mondale’s. There are recipes that were Joan’s, Ted’s, Eleanor’s and William’s, too. The rest of the cookbook is filled with recipes from family and friends. The cookbook was paid for by the Democratic National Committee and some copies were distributed as gifts for those who helped the campaign. (campaign workers and donors of $25 or more.)
And others were sold for $25.

Another photo of Joan Mondale holding the cookbook.

Here’s an excerpt of an article in the NYT by Nancy Jenkins in 1984 that mentions the cookbook.

Political Cookbooks

What do Leonard Bernstein, Polly Bergen and W. Averell Harriman have in common? All are Democrats and all are cooks – or at least they have all contributed recipes to the Woman’s National Democratic Club election-year publication, ”How to Cook Reagan’s Goose.”

According to Page Huidekoper Wilson, co-editor with Margo Davis, the book is a serious compilation and includes recipes for hallah from Representative Richard L. Ottinger of New York and ”breadline pudding” from Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts. The pudding, he notes, ”has always been a favorite of my mother and the whole Kennedy family.”

The book can be ordered for $9.50 from the Woman’s National Democratic Club, 1526 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20036. Residents of the capital should add 48 cents for the local sales tax.

”How to Cook Reagan’s Goose” is not the only culinary fat in the fire, so to speak, from the Democrats. Over at Walter F. Mondale’s national headquarters, they’re offering ”The Mondale Family Cookbook,” a collection of favorite recipes of the Mondales and their friends, illustrated with informal snapshots of the family at work and at play. The book was originally intended as a keepsake for those who worked on the Americans for Mondale fund-raisers earlier this year.

The cookbook can be purchased by sending a check for $25 to the Mondale for President Primary Fund, P.O. Box 32317, Washington, D.C. 20007.

Confronted with this onslaught, the Republicans apparently have yet to field their own culinary candidate. A call to the Republican National Committee in Washington was referred to the National Federation of Republican Women’s headquarters, also in the capital. When questioned about the possibility of a Republican counter challenge, a staff worker there said: ”I don’t know of any such thing. Everybody here’s gone to Dallas.”

In Dallas, Kathy Hunter, a spokesman for the Republican women’s group, also seemed a little bemused by the cookbook confrontation. However, she mentioned favorably the ”Texas Republican Women’s Club Cook Book,” which she said might conceivably go on sale nationally at some future date.

Cover of The Mondale Family Cookbook

Family Tree

Here’s three recipes from the cookbook. One is for Hamburger Stroganoff. Just imagining the Mondale’s sitting around the table, enjoying a savory Hamburger Stroganoff. Hey, I ate that in the 80s, too! The next two recipes are for Scandinavian Nut Cake and 7-Layer Bars.