The Cookbook

(Image description: a two-page spread of a small square paperback book: on the left is the recipe, printed in black on pale peach and bordered in neon coral-pink; at right, on the same neon coral-pink, is the four-panel Peanuts cartoon that inspired it.)

Recipe:

SNOOPY’S STEAK TARTAR

(For DOGS only and maybe cats)

1 lb. ground pet meat
1 raw egg
dash of salt

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and mix thoroughly. Don’t count on leftovers.

Comic:

Panel 1: Charlie Brown (bringing a full dog dish to a smiling Snoopy): “Guess what, Snoopy…”
Panel 2: Charlie Brown (setting the dish on the ground before Snoopy): “I did something that will help make your fur shiny…”
Panel 3: Charlie Brown (turning and walking away): “I mixed a raw egg in with your dog food”
Panel 4: Snoopy (turning from the bowl to grimace in sudden queasy disgust): “I feel sick!”

Never having kept a carnivorous mammalian pet, I never had occasion to prepare this—but the recipe raises some questions in retrospect. Charles Schulz and recipe author June Dutton were both children of the 1920’s; I’ve read accounts of “liver for the cat”(1) being lagniappe that butchers would throw in free or cheaply, but was raw meat designated for pet consumption still a thing when the cookbook was written some decades later? I (born 1961) don’t recall having seen anything of the sort until the raw feeding vogue for pets got underway circa ~2000.

And—since a dish involving raw meat and egg won’t keep—is a pound an appropriate portion size for a single small beagle? (I have a pretty good idea of the beagle’s opinion.)

(1) Often a face-saving excuse for impoverished humans.

From The Irish Emigrant, 25 February 2000.

In which Cormac MacConnell rhapsodizes about The Feed of Bacon and Cabbage with the sort of rapturous passion a romance novelist lavishes upon the love interest.

( Continue. )

Source: https://archive.ph/gY3X6; https://web.archive.org/web/20021225010144/http://old.emigrant.ie/cormac/1feb25.htm (it may be necessary to scroll down.)

ETA 17 March 2026: An ocean and 27 degrees’ latitude away from Ireland’s kitchens, at an Irish-pub-themed party bar run by first-generation Irish immigrants, I recently got to try The Feed™ as a Saint Patrick’s Day special; their interpretation cooked the cabbage brown, included carrots, and coated the pork in a white cream sauce:

PIRATE'S PIE:

2 6 1/2-oz. cans tuna, chunk style

3 eggs

4-oz. can sliced mushrooms

1 tbsp. chopped parsley

1 medium tomato cut in 1/4 in. slices

4 slices American cheese

1 envelope instant mashed potato mix (or 2 cups mashed potatoes)

"Beat eggs slightly and add to separated chunks of tuna. Add mushrooms, parsley. Place mix in bottom of well-greased 9" pie tin. Top with tomato slices and 3 of cheese slices. Prepare mashed potato mix (using 1/2 cup less liquid than package directions call for.) Spoon potatoes over cheese. Cut remaining cheese slice (diagonally in half) and top mashed potatoes with slices. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until potatoes are lightly browned and cheese melts. Cut into wedges and serve hot. Serves 6 generously."

This is a snapshot of The Cookery Of My People: Mom was an upper-Midwestern Atomic Age bride who worked outside the home, and so a lot of her recipes came off the Campbell Soup wrapper and the Minute Rice package. (That said, I don't recall her having made this specific tuna casserole, which seems to be a streamlined shepherd's pie with tuna swapped for the meat; the pirate theme just happened to pique my interest.)

Boomer-era Fun Fact: tuna pies, tuna burgers, and tuna salad used to be the catch of the day at Disneyland's Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship--which became Captain Hook's Galley when the sponsor withdrew in 1969: https://www.yesterland.com/pirateship.html)

(Note to the mods: a gluten-free tag might be useful, and this recipe qualifies.)

(Source: Steven Universe #1, by Kali Ciesemier.)




(Transcript, for those not in a position to read the comic panel:

STEVEN: I can't decide! Do I want a bagel or a hot dog?
...Or both? Together?!

AN EVERYTHING BAGEL DOG!

To combine the power of BAGELS & HOTDOGS you need:

A bun
A dog
Cream cheese
1-2 thinly sliced scallions (careful!)
Garlic powder
Poppy seeds
Dried minced onion
Sesame seeds
Salt

1) HOT THE DOG! (heat according to package directions)
2) Toast the bun & schmear it with cream cheese--let it get MELTY
3) Add a pinch of each topping to taste!
4) ENJOY your decision (Steven further ponders, "...Should I add hot sauce to this?")

(Difficulty rating: 1 on a scale of 4; bear in mind that children are the primary target demographic.)

(Variant: some readers have complained that the recipe includes no actual bagel. The solution is simplicity itself: cut your hot dog in two crosswise and lay the halves in the shape of an equals sign atop an Everything Bagel as your bun.)