Cooking with the Home Front Housewife
My birthday was this week. What better way to celebrate than to bake a WWII era cake? I've had the Pillsbury's Diamond Anniversary Recipes cookbook for a while and haven't had a chance to make anything from it. This seemed like a good time to do so. The Cookbook was published in celebration of Pillsbury's 75th anniversary…
Today's menu comes from the March 24, 1944 issue of The Family Circle. In 1944, the magazine was still a weekly publication distributed at grocery stores across the United States. Each issue included lots of advertisements for products commonly found at the local supermarket, some short fiction, Hollywood news, and lots of recipes. I pulled a menu…
Read More "First Monday Menu: Stuffed Hot Dogs and Gingerbread"
This recipe is next in the "Baking without...Sugar" series. It's difficult to make sweet desserts and treats without sugar, but home front housewives did their best using the resources they had at hand. These spicy raisin cookies are from a December 1944 Woman's Day Kitchen recipe. The recipe would have cost 27 cents and it…
Sugar was first rationed in 1942. It was the first consumer commodity rationed but was soon to be followed by items like meat, coffee, and processed foods. Beginning on May 5, 1942, each person could receive a half pound of sugar a week. A pound of granulated sugar contains roughly 2 cups. In 1942, this was…
One of the challenges during the war years was creating menus that were varied, healthy, and appealing. As time went on, more and more commonly eaten foods either became scarce or were subject to rationing. Women's magazines, newspapers, and cookbooks frequently contained articles or chapters with information and tips for meal planning with changing food…
Here they are! This is the original recipe for chocolate chip cookies. You can find the history of this recipe in my last blog post: Ruth Wakefield’s Toll House Tried and True Recipes. I'm pretty sure this is the chocolate chip cookie recipe I grew up with. These cookies are the perfect blend of cookie, chocolate,…
Read More "The Original Chocolate Chip Cookie: Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookies"
Ruth Wakefield's Toll House Tried and True Recipes is a fairly recent addition to my vintage cookbook collection. I have the 1941 edition. I used an included menu as this month's First Monday Menu. After researching a bit, I thought the cookbook and its author deserved its own post. Ruth Graves Wakefield (1903-1977) was an American chef,…
Read More "Ruth Wakefield’s Toll House Tried and True Recipes"
