Podcast
Transcript of the Podcast:
Intro
Hello everyone! Welcome or welcome back to my food for thought podcast where I talk about anything and everything food related. I am your host Arianna and without further or due, let’s jump right in to today’s topic. Our star of the day is very intriguing as we are talking about the one and only, Margo Oliver. Oliver was a legend in the cooking world and someone who many have looked up to for cooking advice and recipes for over 50 years. This woman had an incredible career in the cooking industry and eventually, earned herself a spot in the Hall of Fame of the Ontario Home Economists in Business.
Background
Alright I am getting a bit ahead of myself here, let’s take it back a couple decades. We don’t know Margo’s exact birth date but we do know she was born in 1923 which would make her 100 years old today! Unfortunately, she did pass away in 2010 at the age of 87 but, she did live an incredible life and left behind an amazing legacy. So, who is Margo Oliver? Well, she was a very private woman, so much is not known about her personal life but, we do know that she went to the University of Manitoba for none other than home economics. She even took a graduate year at the University of Minneapolis for home economics, so safe to say she was very well versed in the world of cooking. After studying, she went straight into work. Oliver stayed in Minneapolis with the first job of her career beginning at none other than the General Mills food company. More specifically, she worked in the Betty Crocker home services department. After the company expanded into Canada, Oliver was chosen as this country’s first Betty Crocker representative. For the four years that she was Betty Crocker, she travelled and appeared on many radio and TV shows, and spoke to many groups giving cooking demonstrations. After her time with General Mills, it was time to move on and sort of spread her wings in the cooking world. In 1959, she joined the Weekend Magazine company as a food editor. For 23 years, Oliver wrote columns for the company as well as several cookbooks that we will get into a bit later. At the company, Oliver had her very own professional test kitchen made, where she would create and test every single recipe from her columns and cookbooks. Over those 23 years, Oliver had created over, get this, 10,000 recipes and over 10 cookbooks which is absolutely insane to think about. In 1982, she finally decided it was time to retire with her husband. They lived out the rest of their days in a beautiful town called Fergus in Ontario.
Dive Into Her Cookbooks
As I mentioned earlier, Margo Oliver had an extensive list of cookbooks under belt. With over 10 completed books it’s safe to say that Oliver also had an amazing list of recipes. The variety in her work appealed to so many people from all walks of like. There’s a common theme through all of her cookbooks, and that’s simplicity. Not in the sense of easy meals but in readability. Oliver makes it extremely easy to follow along with even her most complicated dishes. One of her cookbooks called “Cooking for Today” had her more elaborate meals in it. The recipes were more time consuming and even pricier but, even with that, anyone could follow along. The whole point of the book was to support those who love cooking but also ‘convert’ those who don’t love it as much once they actually try the recipes. Some of you may not know this, but I’m a university student myself. This means that cooking amazing meals every night is not exactly my priority. For those like me who are in need of quick and easy meals, Margo actually has a cookbook for people just like us called “Good Food for One”.
She really wanted to help with getting meals prepped and planned ahead of time and just give us really easy options that still taste great. I have actually used a recipe from this book and it was so quick but tasted great which is not something I’m used to. In my opinion, one of her best ideas was her cookbook for seniors. As Oliver got older, she found it to be harder and more time consuming to prepare meals every single day. So, in a girl boss fashion, she decided to create a book for all those people who were used to cooking large meals for their family to now living alone or with their partner. She created this book in the 80s, which was a time when older men were used to their wives prepping their meals every day. With that in mind, she wanted to include a lot of basic information for those new to the cooking world. This meant that the book was not only great for seniors, but it was incredible for anyone new to cooking. The book had pages and pages on the very basic essentials to cooking. It included things like what equipment you should have, essential food items, how to measure ingredients, the most common spices used in cooking, and even a dictionary of all sorts of food terms. This book really had it all. She even included a little system to tell you how hard or easy the meal is to make, and even if it’s cheaper or more expensive if you wanted to explore more options. Her biggest hope for the book was to make cooking interesting and fun, even if you aren’t AN experienced cook at all. She really did think of everything which is probably why it’s my favourite, if this was the only cookbook you ever used, you would have great meals for a very long time.
Icon of the Housewives
Margo’s career was in the peak times of the housewife and domesticity culture. Women were expected to be the homemakers and caretakers while the men were off at work. This way of life can put a lot pressure on women to be good at cooking since that was one of their main jobs but, as we know, not everyone is born to be a cook. As I mentioned, Margo was a real expert at simplifying her recipes in a way that anyone could follow along. For the women who were housewives in these times, but may not have that knack for cooking, Margo made a safe space for them to explore and enhance their abilities without feeling judged or overwhelmed. She understood that not everyone is as passionate or even good at cooking as she might have been, which makes her a real icon for all those women using her recipes. She very much had the approach of if “if I can do it, so can you” which is so inspiring. Not only was she motivation for women who stayed at home, but she was also an icon for women who wanted to work. Margo had her own career, and her own money in times where that was very rarely seen.
For a woman to be so established and independent in the height of domesticity really showed that Margo was fearless. She knew she was a great cook, so why not turn that into something profitable, which is exactly what Margo was able to do. She had a very successful career when all the odds were against her. It’s also hilariously ironic that she made a career in an area that is the exact opposite of what a career is supposed to be. The men were supposed to work, make the money, and come home to a domesticated wife. But no, Margo turned it into something that she can benefit from and also that other women can benefit from. It was a win-win all around for women.
Final Thoughts
I told you all this would be a very intriguing episode. As I said, Margo Oliver was really one of those people that took what she was good at, and made it into something positive and helpful for anyone and everyone. It’s so nice to have the pleasure of learning about people like her because she is a big inspiration for not only me, but for anyone who can be sort of, intimated by the world of food. She was a great woman with a great a career and I hope you all enjoyed learning all things, Margo Oliver.
Any who, I hope you all enjoyed today’s episode and I will see you all next time. Pasta-la-vista everyone!
References
https://peoplepill.com/i/margo-oliver
https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/11694631
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Margo_Oliver
Margo Oliver’s “Cooking for Today”. Today Magazine Inc. 1982.
Margo Oliver’s “Cookbook for Seniors”. Canadian Catalogue in Publication Data 1989.
Margo Oliver’s “Good Food for One”. International Self-Counsel Press Ltd. 1990.
Margo Oliver’s ‘’Weekend Magazine Cook Book”. The Montreal Standard 1967.
Margo Oliver’s “Stew & Casserole Cookbook”. Op
