What You Didn't Know About Marilyn Monroe's Cookbooks

Marilyn Monroe has, nearly 60 years after her tragic death, transcended icon status to the point where she seems like more of a mythical figure than an actual person. Is it possible that this American Aphrodite once actually walked this earth doing ordinary people stuff?

Monroe lived long before the age of selfies and Instagram, so her day-to-day existence retains a bit of mystery rather than being documented in exhaustive detail a la the Kardashian clan. An upcoming auction to be held by NYC's Siegel Auction Galleries does, however, offer us a rare behind-the-scenes peek into a very personal aspect of Marilyn's life. About to come on the auction block are two cookbooks — "The New Fanny Farmer Boston Cooking-School Cook Book" and "The New Joy of Cooking" — that were known to have belonged to the queen of the blonde bombshells. In fact, the New York Post reveals that these hardbacks, both published in the 1950s, are the only cookbooks she's known to have ever owned, as back in the day, the screen goddess did not have much time left over for the domestic pursuits. It's not the cookbooks themselves that are the real draw here, though. Rather, the personal notes of Monroe's that they contain are expected to boost the books' sales price up to $75,000.

While the thought of owning Marilyn Monroe's cookbooks is intriguing, what makes these ones extra-special is the fact that they also contain certain memorabilia left between their pages. According to the New York Post, these include a business card for a Beverly Hills deli; a lasagna recipe clipped from a newspaper; a shopping list reading: eggs, milk, cornflakes, Jell-O, cream, bread, coffee, butter, and soda; and Monroe's personal diet plan.

So what, exactly, do you eat if you are the world's most beautiful woman? For her 8 a.m. breakfast each day, Monroe would have OJ or stewed prunes (even a goddess likes to keep things regular), cooked cereal, buttered white toast, and milk or "weak cocoa." Lunch at 1 p.m. consisted of an egg, some cottage cheese, or perhaps a potato or some noodles, as well as bread or toast, with Jell-O or cooked fruit for dessert. At 6:30 p.m., she would dine upon lean beef, chicken, fish, sweetbreads, or chicken livers accompanied by potatoes (not fried!), along with additional veggies, bread, and a baked apple or some pudding for dessert. 

Her diet also allowed for a snack of milk and crackers in the morning and afternoon, as well as an 11 p.m. nightcap of eggnog. (Whether or not this was spiked, the notes did not reveal.) Very interesting! Guess there's no need to fear carbs, after all, if you can eat all the bread and crackers and still look like Marilyn Monroe.