HISTORY: Preserved

Recently, I've had a few requests for peeks inside some of my ration cookbooks I've been showing on Instagram. It's been a long time since I've done a "From the Archives" post, so I thought I'd try and slip one in before I go into hibernation for NaNoWriMo tomorrow. (Don't worry, I'll still be posting for my Autumn Wartime series!) I thought I'd start out with one of my most recent acquisitions - a thrilling find of the American Women's Voluntary Services Cook Book, ca 1942. The AWVS was a women's organization formed during WWII and was modeled after the British counterpart - the WVS. I was excited to find this book, because I've done some research on the organization and find them fascinating. I was especially interested in seeing what their cookbook looked like! Let's take a look inside. These forewords are always interesting to read in wartime cookbooks. They're usually chock full of patriotic sentiment that enc

This week's post for Autumn Wartime Recipes & Food is for Apple Griddle Cakes from Thrifty Cooking for Wartime, ca. 1942. Last weekend I wanted to make some pancakes, so I usually turn to my ration cookbooks to try a new recipe each time. I came upon this one that used grated apples (see the first image near the bottom). We just got some yummy Cameo orchard apples, so it was the perfect, happy blend of food fate! And, they sure were delicious. The batter was thicker than I normally make it, though I did substitute a bit of whole wheat flour. The apple isn't particularly strong, but I even put some applesauce on top - extra apple and extra good! This recipe is a great one. And just check out all those variations! That's what this cookbook is all about - basic recipes with thrifty changes depending on what you have on hand. It's what makes this wartime cookbook one of my all time favorites!

This week's post is a fun article from the October 1942 Farm Journal. I like all the little mentions of food spoken of in this article - pumpkin pie, picking apples, planting nut trees, racing Jack Frost for the green tomatoes. Ah, the glories of Autumn and the Harvest! In the season-less feel of our modern grocery stores, it's easy to be insulated from the ebb and flow of seasonal eating. While it's nice to be able to get strawberries or grapes whenever you want, there's something special about looking forward to the different seasons for berries, rhubarb, watermelon, pumpkin, or oranges. We reminisce about the flavors, anticipate them. The best part is the sharing and the gorging of that thing when the wonderful time arrives. Like eggnog. And cranberry sauce. And pumpkin pie. In my opinion, Autumn eating is by far the best! Farm Journal and Farmer's Wife October 1942 Love this happy drawing of a manure spreader! :-D

This week's recipe for the series is Cranberry Sponge Pudding from the 1936 edition of Rumford Complete Cookbook. It sounds very British using the words "sponge" and "pudding", but with the American twist of the cranberries. It also sounds absolutely delicious! Who wouldn't want cake smothered in cranberry sauce and warm custard?? I know I would. This one is going in the holiday to-bake recipe pile. Which gets bigger every year. I didn't get to do much holiday baking because of a crazy and agonizing last few months of pregnancy, so I'm determined to make up for it this year! And you all know how much I love vintage cranberry recipes ... 😁 Speaking of cranberry recipes. I've been trying to keep my kids stocked with homemade vintage cookies when I can. So, about a month ago I dared to try a recipe from my 1941 Cape Cod Cranberry Cook Book for Gingerbread Cookies with cubes of cranberry pressed into the middle. And you know what? They

I'm a bit late, but this week's post for Autumn Wartime Recipes & Food is a Campbell's Soup ad I found in October 1942 issue of Woman's Home Companion. "Soup Mixing" was a thing back then, and you could create all kinds of new concoctions that way! And isn't it interesting that you can be patriotic while eating this soup? 😄 Soup is perfect autumn weather food, of course, and I'd love to have some. If only the cool weather would return! It's been in the 80s for us. Boo!

We just started our homeschool year not too long ago, and we had a really great field trip opportunity come to us. We were going to be able to visit a museum in Kansas from the comfort of our living room! My son is in a 4H Robotics Club and did some research on the DoubleRobot - a Segway combined with an iPad to create a telecommuting robot with all sorts of cool applications. Besides visiting your job or school through this robot, there are some museums that are using these robots for remote visitors!  Unfortunately, there aren't very many museums in the U.S. using this technology, but one who is, is the Kansas Oil Museum. As soon as we found out, my son was jumping at the chance for a tour! They usually have public school groups taking advantage of their robot tour, but they were very willing and open to having a couple homeschool families do the tour.  I got together with a friend and her kids that were interested and tried out the tour just this past week! To be b