Remember when can openers were dangerous? The cover of my mother's favorite cookbook reminded me how scary these ancient objects used to be.
My mother treasured Poppy Cannon's Can Opener Cookbook, which was first published in 1951. Mom bragged that she could "have dinner on the table in less than ten minutes." No wonder, with dishes like this one.
Poppy Cannon, incidentally, was a fascinating character. I'm amazed that nobody's done a movie about her life. Born Lillian Gruskin in South Africa, she was constantly reinventing herself. She had a long affair with Walter White, head of the NAACP, and when they finally married the interracial union was considered so scandalous he tried to resign from his job.