Cooking with the Home Front Housewife
One of a home front housewife's jobs was to pack lunches for her family. Her husband, if not at war, would need a lunch for work. Her children needed packed lunches for school. If she was part of the growing number of women working outside the home, she would need a lunch herself. Of course,…
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"
I went through my collection of vintage magazines and found several ads that were aimed at the home front housewife in charge of packing lunches during rationing. A few of these ads also included recipes, and I thought they might be a fun way to continue our discussion about packed lunches this month. Today I…
The home front housewife had many new challenges when World War II began. Shortages and rationing made cooking challenging due to having to learn new recipes with new ingredients and new ways of cooking. Those changes also led to changes in how packed lunches were planned and prepared. Leftovers from meals the night before were…
Read More "Victory Lunch Boxes: Introduction and Chili-Peanut Sandwich Filling"
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…
For the first Monday of August, we went with something light as the main dish. This menu is from Ruth Wakefield's Toll House Tried and True Recipes (1941). It was listed in the "inexpensive everyday meals" section. This recipe book deserves a post of its own, so I'll have that ready for you later this week. The…
Read More "First Monday Menu: Vegetable Chowder, Popovers, and Dutch Apple Cake with Lemon Sauce"
I know this isn't the first Monday of this month--it's not even a Monday!-- but what better way to kick off a blog than a fun menu from 1940? On the first Monday of every month, I'll be cooking an entire meal based on either a published menu or recipes from 1940-1945. This month it's…
