Cookbooks have come a long way... They're shiny, sleek, minimalist and some even tell a whole, captivating story between the recipes and food pics. Talking of modern food pics, those often come with their own glam team in the background, styled and photographed to perfection. Even something as simple as a cheese sandwich might look as if it's spent over three hours in hair and make-up.
It's a far cry from the food pics in the cookbooks our parents and grandparents once perused. Grainy, ambitious, structurally unsound, and bizarrely hilarious. Back then, vegetables appeared in neon hues that nature never intended, and Jell-O reigned supreme. Moms would get lost in creativity, attempting eggplant penguins, nappa cabbage angels or bridal meat dolls. Why be basic when you can create chaotic, culinary art?
If today's recipes bore you, or you're just looking for a good belly-laugh, head over to and Instagram account called Cursed Cookbooks. It's a gallery of gastronomical offbeat delights. More than 56,000 people gather in this corner kitchen of the internet to laugh and cry about the absurdities of vintage cookbooks. Bored Panda has put together a compilation of the page's best posts for you to feast your eyes on while you contemplate what to cook for dinner tonight.
