Need a Laugh? I Hate to Cook Cook Book

Ruth Eleanor "Peg" Bracken (February 25, 1918 – October 20, 2007) was a popular American author of humorous books on cooking, housekeeping, etiquette, and travel. I would like to say she was a "local" to my area as she was born in Idaho and died in Oregon. 

During the 1950s and 1960s, the era of the perfect housewife, Bracken's writing reassured women that they did not have to be perfect to have a happy, well-managed home. Her best-known book is The I Hate to Cook Book and written appropriately in 1960. 

In my quest to cut down on meat, I find this recipe appealing as if I am going to eat any meat I look to more lean ground meat and little to no meat on the bone and shaped like - - well, a slice of a body part. Therefore I find her recipe for Skid Road Stroganoff - perfection. Yeah, the "snob" in me when it comes to meat, like Elvis has left the auditorium. 

Canned soup was a staple in the kitchen cupboards when I was growing up, so today I still keep the emergency can of condensed mushroom soup and a can of condensed cream of chicken soup as a backup. You never know when you'll suddenly have a laissez-faire moment (French: I don't give a damn) to not make a cream sauce when it's easier to open a can... 

The best part of this recipe is the instructions. "... let it cook five minutes while you light a cigarette and stare sullenly at the sink." 

Does this mean I will have to add a pack of cigarettes to my grocery list? 

My wine recommendation? To pair with the soup and cigarette I would go with a bottle of Barefoot brand merlot.