The “Peanuts” gang’s brown bag lunches were often fodder for Schulz, so the “Peanuts Lunch Bag Cook Book” is devoted almost solely to sandwiches, salads and sweet treats that travel well. “All the characters hate (emphasis his) coconut because Schulz hated coconut.”īut mostly, the strips tell us the things Schulz was fond of, like English muffins spread with grape jelly, a common breakfast he enjoyed at the Warm Puppy Cafe at the Redwood Ice Arena or root beer, the favored pre-flight drink of Snoopy’s alt-ego, the Red Baron. “‘Peanuts’ reflects Charles Schulz absolutely in all aspects, including in food,” Schulz Museum curator Benjamin Clark wrote in an email.

One thing that’s not in any of the recipes? Coconut. The “Peanuts Cook Book” and “Peanuts Lunch Bag Cook Book” published in 19 respectively, contain comics from Schulz and recipes from June Dutton that often reflect the content of the strip on the opposite page. He used the “Peanuts” gang as his proxy to communicate both his likes and dislikes, and the cookbook he authorized provides a glimpse of foods and tastes of a bygone era. What, I wondered, would these cookbooks tell us about Schulz and his appetite? As it turns out, he had quite a lot to say about food. When I learned The Press Democrat was working on this special section to celebrate what would have been Charles Schulz’s 100th birthday, I immediately pulled out two vintage “Peanuts” cookbooks I picked up at a yard sale a few years ago.

Lighter Than Air by Rodney Charles