Potato Paste/Peppermint Chocolates (1912)

 Candy-making Revolutionized: Confectionary from Vegetables

Readers may recognize this book as the origin of the disastrous potato fondant.  But my love for potatoes overcomes all, and I gave it another go!  

Potato Paste 

As the foundation for one sort of decorative confectionery, potato paste must be made. Steam or boil Irish potatoes, drain them, and force them through a fine sieve,—the finer the better. With one-half cupful of Irish potato, so prepared, mix one tablespoonful of corn starch. Gradually and carefully work in enough confectioner's sugar so that the mixture can be rolled.

A Cheeto, grapes, and a banana!

A banana tree!

A rose!

Peppermint Chocolates.—Potato paste—described on page 52—is the basis for them. Make a softer paste by using less sugar, work in peppermint to taste, form it into balls, flatten and dry for a couple of hours. Then dip them in chocolate as usual. After the finished candy has stood for a time long enough for the chocolate covering to have mellowed the center, the result will be a cream of excellent flavor and a texture unusually attractive because of its grain. The difference between this and the ordinary peppermint chocolate is so great that they really are not the same confection.

Verdict: I once again riced the potatoes to make them nice and smooth. I say I, but in fact I convinced my 12 year old to invite a friend over and do it for me. We made green peppermint, yellow banana, orange pineapple, purple raspberry, and pink almond. After some trial and error, I ended up with about 2 T of cornstarch and 2 T. of powdered sugar. If the mixture ends up wet, add cornstarch, not powdered sugar. The powdered sugar liquifies and makes it wetter and wetter the more you add, despite what the book says.  

I turned it over to my child sweatshop, and they swiftly made a variety of shapes. The leftovers were formed into patties and dunked in chocolate (also by the child sweatshop team).  

The flavor of the potato paste is… fine. I would much rather eat a cake covered with potato paste than fondant. I think it could really shine in a decorative capacity. I mean, are sprinkles delicious?  No. Are those weird crunchy candy letters for birthday cakes delicious?  Also no. But this tastes better than either of those!  

It is also a very good homemade Play-Doh recipe!  Lots of other ones are either inedible, difficult, or expensive. This one is dirt cheap, easy, and just good enough to nibble at, but (unlike the honey/peanut butter/dry milk recipe) not delicious enough to gorge on and low fat!  The powdered sugar being a structural liability rather than a necessity means you could use sugar substitute as well!  

 Verdict when covered in chocolate: Pretty nice!  The texture is weirdly satisfying and pleasant. The kiddos and husband came back for more.  

All in all, I will keep this recipe in my back pocket!  Especially if I have to entertain some kids who love potatoes. 

Potato Fondant (1912)

 Candy-Making Revolutionized: Confectionary Revolutionized (1912) by Mary Elizabeth Hall 

Vegetable candy, to my mind, is ideal confectionery. Of its purity, there can be no doubt. Moreover, it furnishes the valuable element of sugar so combined with nutritious vegetable bases that, because of the bulk, there is no temptation to overeat. This quality of the new confection would seem insurance against the evil effects of gluttony! Before an undue amount of sugar is consumed, the very mass of the vegetable base has satisfied the appetite.

 

Cooked Potato Fondant.—With one-half cupful of potato, prepared as for the uncooked fondant, very thoroughly mix two cupsful of sugar and thin with two-thirds of a cupful of milk. Place the mixture on an asbestos mat over the fire and cook until thick—to the sticking point. Pour the mass on a cold, damp marble and "cut in" like plain fondant. Knead small quantities at a time until the whole batch is smooth. Pack in tins lined with wax paper. The fondant can be used without additional sugar and does not stick to the hands. It is particularly useful as a covering.  […] Potato fondant shows particular superiority over the almond paste in the making of small objects and all fine and thin work.

Let me say first: I think this is the most mess I have ever made with the least number of ingredients.  Take a deep breath, and let’s dive into what happened here.  

    I put the potatoes through a potato ricer, in lieu of the fine sieve instructed.  This was the last enjoyable part of this process, because it was after this that things began to go wrong  

Having decided that “thick” and “to the sticking point” probably meant soft ball, upon consultation with other more normal fondant recipes, I foolishly chose a pot that I soon realized was comically small when it started to foam  

It’s fine, I have a nice heavy bottomed pot!  That will do to replace the ASBESTOS mat intended to regulate the heat. Wait why is it brown 

OH NO.  

Procrastinate until fondant has cooled too much. Use hands to smoosh handfuls of earwax-substitute into the mixer. 

Whip until the mixer makes angry sounds and it smells like overheated machinery. Perfect. Just like it said, it doesn’t adhere to the fingers at all  

Verdict: *weeping*. My kitchen is full of sticky things. Some of the sticky things include me and my children. And the floor. I have a pan with sugar cement in the bottom, and the fondant in the mixer bowl has also, weirdly, hardened into concrete. Pray that hot water and time will solve these problems, or CALAMITY. 

—Interlude—

 

My 10 year old checks on the status of the bread pudding. There was a lot of stale bread, and we can’t waste wheat in wartime!  The Kaiser high-fives his friends whenever an American wastes food.  

Berry Roll (1916)

 The Myrtle Reed Cookbook (1916) 

BAKED BERRY ROLL

Sift two cupfuls of flour with two teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Work into it a tablespoonful of butter and mix to soft dough with a cupful of milk. Roll into an oblong, cover with berries, sprinkle with sugar, roll up, fasten the edges and bake or steam, basting with syrup to which a little butter has been added. Serve hot with any preferred sauce.

Upon noticing my strawberry patch blooming, I thought it might be a good time to burn through some of the frozen strawberries in my freezer from 2021.  Then I noticed I was somehow out of white sugar?? How does that happen?!  

It was at this point that I noticed faults in the containment pastry, and spent about 30 seconds patching

Patching efforts were insufficient. Also I forgot to baste with buttery syrup. 

———

Quick run-down on Myrtle Reed: she was a romance author and poet, who died tragically from suicide in 1911. She once wrote, “The only way to test a man is to marry him. If you live, it’s a mushroom. If you die, it’s a toadstool.”  Her estate was divided between eight charities she had been patron of during her life. During her funeral, her flat was robbed of everything valuable. Her cookbooks were published after her death. The one linked above is written in a  dryly humorous style that makes me think she must have been fun.  

Verdict: This is indeed a simple and quick dessert!  It took me about 10 minutes to put it together, and about 30 minutes at 350 F.  It’s kind of dry, but that makes it soak up sauce better.  Melted ice cream, in this case!  It’s pretty much biscuit with berries and sauce inside.  Husband, two girls, and I all liked it, and felt that it would be a welcome, if stodgy, addition to a meal. Youngest Child hid under the table and gnawed on the heel slice like a squirrel. 

Apple Custard (1916)

 Myrtle Reed Cookbook (1916)

In the last few years, I worked for a while for Extension Services, providing information on how to feed yourself and your family a nutritious diet on a limited income. One thing I was always on the lookout for was recipes that used stale bread, as our local food bank always gets SO MUCH day- old bread!  This recipe is a great match for SNAP-Ed, as is cheap and contains fruit, dairy, protein, and could use whole grains if you used whole grain bread. It is even low fat and low sugar!  

———

APPLE CUSTARD

Sweeten four cupfuls of stewed and mashed apples with half a cupful of sugar, two tablespoonfuls of butter, and the juice and grated rind of a lemon. Add half a cupful of water, two eggs well beaten, and two cupfuls of bread crumbs mixed with one tablespoonful of flour. Add a cup of milk, heat well, turn into a buttered baking-dish, and bake for forty minutes in a moderate oven. Serve with Hard Sauce or with sugar and cream.

Modernized Apple Custard

4 C. Unsweetened applesauce 

1/2 C. sugar 

2 T. melted butter 

1/4 C. Lemon juice OR grated rind and juice of 1 lemon 

1/2 C. water 

2 eggs 

2 C. Breadcrumbs, preferably from stale bread 

1 T. Flour 

1 C. Milk 

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Mix together all ingredients, and pour into greased baking dish. Bake 40 min., or until just set. Serve with sugar and cream, or just straight up. 

—————

Verdict: Both I and the kids thought that at first glance, it looked like cat sick. Husband hasn’t come home yet, so we will have to see what he thinks later. One must acknowledge this, that it is just not photogenic. What it is, though, is a refreshing, cool, appley delight!  I liked it, the kids liked it.  It is good without cream and sugar, but that does make it better. It’s just a nice, simple, light dessert. I bet that babies and toddlers would adore it, which sounds like a criticism, but it isn’t.  If you added vanilla and spices and things it would be fine, but I don’t think it really needs it. The flavor is just “apple.”  And that is enough. 

Update: Husband thought it tasted like “slightly thicker applesauce.”  Make it for yourself and decide who is right!  (me)

Banana Cream (1916)

 

The Myrtle Reed Cookbook [1916]

BANANA CREAM

Peel five bananas and rub through a sieve with five tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar and a tablespoonful of lemon-juice. Add half a package of gelatine which has been soaked and dissolved in a little milk, and when cool, but not set, fold in a cupful of cream whipped solid. Mould, chill, and serve with whipped cream

—————

I used a blender instead of a sieve, and about half a cup of milk total (cold to bloom the gelatin, hot to melt it).  

Verdict: pretty good!  I really thought the banana was going to go all brown and ick, but it stayed a nice, pleasing banana color. I used half a tablespoon of kosher gelatin, but it came out veeeeery soft and mousse-ish. Ideal for chilling and serving in individual dishes, but if I were to mold it again, I would bump it up to a full tablespoon. The banana and powdered sugar and unsweetened whipped cream was just the right amount of sweetness. 

I found a good source of discount red-band bananas, so expect many banana recipes to come!  

Bonus recipe:

COCOA

Directions are given on the package the cocoa comes in. If not, buy another kind.

Update: Donut the cat was a big fan. Yes I know cream isn’t actually good for cats, we shoo’d her off. 

Roast Beef Pie (1917)

 A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband (1917)

A GUEST TO A DINNER OF LEFT-OVERS

"AHA, I've found you out!" Bettina heard a laughing voice shout as she hurried up the steps.

"Why, Jack, when did you come to town?"

"This afternoon. Went to Bob's office the very first thing, and he insisted on bringing me home with him to dinner. I told him it might 'put you out,' but he spent the time it took to come home assuring me that you were always waiting for company—kept a light ever burning in the window for them and all that. He said that I'd see,—that you'd be on the doorstep waiting for us!"

"And after all that—you weren't here!" said Bob reproachfully.

"I'm just as sorry as I can be not to live up to Bob's picture of me," said Bettina. "I generally am waiting for Bob,—almost on the doorstep if not quite. But this afternoon I've been to a shower for Alice,—do you remember Alice, Jack?"

"Very well. The gay dark-eyed one. You don't mean to say that she's found a man who's lively enough to suit her?"

"Well, she seems to be suited, all right. But I must fly into an apron if you boys are to get any dinner within a half-hour. Jack, you'll have to pardon me if after all of Bob's eloquence I give you a meal of left-overs——"

"Don't apologize to a bachelor, Bettina. He probably won't know left-overs from the real thing," said Bob.

"Bachelors are said to be the most critical of all," she answered. "But I'll do my little best to please."

That night Bettina served:

[223]

Roast Beef Pie
Bread                                                                      Butter
Sliced Tomatoes with Salad Dressing
Marble Cake                              Coffee

BETTINA'S RECIPES

(All measurements are level)

Roast Beef Pie  (Three portions) 

2 C-chopped cold roast beef 

1 C-gravy 

1 C-cold diced potatoes (cooked)

2 T-chopped onion

1 C-flour

2 t-baking powder

2 t-lard

¹/₈ t-salt

6 T-milk

Mix the beef, gravy, potato and onion. Place in a shallow buttered baking dish. Make a biscuit dough by cutting the lard into the flour, which has been sifted with the baking powder, and salt, and gradually adding the milk. Pat the dough into shape and arrange carefully on top of the meat. Make holes in the top to allow the steam to escape. Bake in a moderate oven twenty minutes.

———-

Yesterday, I threw some stew beef, onions, carrots, and potatoes in the slow cooker with some water and powdered gravy mix. Bettina informed me that this should be a pot pie, so that is what I did!  

I made the biscuit top as Bettina instructed 

Verdict:  All enjoyed!  I heated up the leftover stew first, so the chill wouldn’t make the underside of the topping all soggy and slimy. In full disclosure, I did have to sub butter for the lard, as that is what I had. Bettina would understand. My husband and two kids marveled at my skills, and it did actually take under half an hour to make and bake!  The crust was lovely and biscuity, and dressed up the leftover stew a lot. 

Bride’s Cake (1917)

 A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband, 1917

This amusingly titled book is written in the form of a novel about a newly married woman named Bettina, who has recipes for every occasion!  

Bride's Cake (Thirty pieces)

1½ C-sugar

½ C-butter

2½ C-flour

¹/₈ t-salt

²/₃ C-milk

3 t-baking powder

¼ t-cream of tartar

½ t-almond extract

1 t-vanilla

4 egg-whites

Cream the butter, add the sugar and continue creaming the mixture. Mix and sift three times the flour, salt, baking powder and cream of tartar. Add these dry ingredients alternately with the milk to the first mixture. Add the almond and vanilla extracts. Beat two minutes. Cut and fold in the egg-whites which have been stiffly beaten. Pour the cake batter into a large, round loaf cake pan, having a hole in the center. Bake forty-five minutes in a moderate oven. When the cake is removed from the oven, allow it to stand in a warm place for five minutes, then with a spatula and a sharp knife, carefully loosen the cake from the sides, and turn out onto a cake cooler. When cool, cover with White Mountain Cream Icing.

Suggestions for Serving the Bride's Cake

The Bride's Cake may be baked in this form and placed in the center of the table for the central decoration. A tall, slender vase, filled with the flowers used in decorating, may be placed in the hole in the cake. Place the cake upon a pasteboard box four inches high and one inch wider than the cake.[120] This gives space to decorate around the cake. The cake and box may be placed on a reflector, which gives a very pretty effect. If cake boxes containing wedding cakes are distributed among the guests as favors, use the one in the round pan for central decoration and bake others in square pan. Square pieces may then be cut, wrapped in waxed paper, and placed in the boxes.

When Alice cut the bride's cake, the thimble fell to Ruth, which occasioned much merriment, while the dime was discovered by Harry in his own piece. The ring went to Mary, who emphatically denied that the omen spoke truly. But[268] when Mary also caught Alice's bouquet of lilies-of-the-valley, the young people refused to listen to her protests.

"Dear Alice," said Bettina, as she helped the bride into her traveling suit, "may your whole life be as beautiful as your wedding!"

——

Verdict:  I was looking for a way to use up egg whites after my daughter made ice cream, and this used just the right amount!  It’s lovely. Not super light and fluffy, a nice old-fashioned dense cake with a crispy sugary shell. I wouldn’t be ashamed to serve it for a wedding. Based on my Bundt pan though, it serves more like 15 portions rather than 30. Thanks, Bettina!  

Bean Croquettes, Pickles, and A Dainty Dessert

Armour's Monthly Cookbook [1913]



Baked Beans- A National Dish

To many people baked beans means just one thing—baked beans, served hot or cold. To the woman, however, who is really interested in furnishing variety in diet, and this in a very economical way, baked beans offers boundless possibilities. First of all, she lays in a stock of Veribest Baked Beans—Veribest, because she knows that in this particular brand the beans are even more thoroughly cooked than she herself could do them. There are two kinds of Veribest Baked Beans, plain, and with tomato sauce, and with both the mellow richness of the bean is preserved with all its natural flavor, making it a most toothsome dish as well as nutritious and economical. Having a good stock to draw from the economical housewife proceeds to serve baked beans to her family every day for a week, varying the dish each day.

Following this paragraph is a helpful guide for serving beans once a day for a week. Hoorayyy!

Monday: "New England Supper", beans and brown bread.
Tuesday: bean croquettes
Wednesday: mashed bean sandwiches
Thursday: bean, celery, and mayonnaise salad
Friday: beans in beet shells
Saturday: some kind of soup made by mixing pureed beans with milk. And a couple spices.
Sunday: bean loaf

That is variety in diet indeed. Since I am not totally lacking in compassion, I did not subject Husband to the entire week. Instead, you only get one. As you will see, this was entirely for the best given the tragic results that followed.

Tuesday, for lunch.—Bean Croquettes. Drain Veribest Pork and Beans (without tomato sauce), and pass them through a colander. Measure and allow one teaspoon of dry bread crumbs to each cup of beans. Season with cayenne pepper and a little minced parsley. For a pint of the mixture, beat one egg. Save enough of the egg to dip the croquettes in, and add the remainder to the beans. Mix and form into small croquettes, or balls, then roll in fine bread crumbs. Dip them in egg and again in the crumbs, and fry in deep boiling Simon Pure Leaf Lard. Border with slices of dill pickles or sweet green peppers.

Although a meal satisfies your hunger you should have dessert, because the educated palate craves that particular spice as a proper finish. Scientists tell us that a dinner digests better because of a tasty dessert, which, they say, gives the final stimulus necessary to dispose of the food previously received.

A Dainty Dessert
Lemon and grape juice frappé is another cool dessert that is also light. To make it, boil a pint of water with two cupfuls of granulated sugar for ten minutes and cool it. Then add a little cinnamon and half a cupful of lemon juice, and lastly a quart of Armour's grape juice. Freeze and serve in cups, with a little of the grape juice.


Verdict:

Bean Croquettes: These were so frustrating to make! I must not have drained the beans very well, because they were still pretty liquid. I tried making a patty and dipping it out of the dribbly mixture, but it did not work well. I added a ton more bread crumbs, and then it worked better, but it was still annoyingly messy. I will confess I used olive oil instead of lard. I ended up with ten or twelve.

I ate a couple. They were fine, just kind of bland. The pickle is absolutely necessary, though. It complements the bean croquettes to an extent I did not think possible. Husband thought they were reasonably tasty with ketchup, mustard, and pickles, and ate the rest of the batch like they were chicken nuggets.

Ten minutes after dinner, he threw them up. He did say that they were just as good coming up as going down though so... no. No. That... does not make it any better. On the plus side, this is a landmark first in Time Travel Kitchen history! Hooray! I guess!

A Dainty Dessert: Tasty! We both liked it very much, but felt it would be better and easier in a popsicle application. The cinnamon was quite nice.

Rejected: Many people find it difficult to take raw eggs when recommended by their doctor. This difficulty is removed by breaking the egg into a glass of Armour's Grape Juice. The egg is swallowed easily and in addition to the nourishment obtained there is the tonic value of the rich fruit from which the grape juice is taken.

1914: Opera singers cook too!

Original at Shorpy.com

This is Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano Margarete Ober, with a rib roast. I like rib roast, especially if it has got Yorkshire pudding with it. Her apron looks super effective.

1911: 143 Hudson Street

Original at Shorpy.com

New York, December 1911. 143 Hudson Street, ground floor. Mrs. Salvia; Joe, 10 years old; Josephine, 14 years old; Camille, 7 years old. Picking nuts in a dirty tenement home. The bag of cracked nuts (on chair) had been standing open all day waiting for the children to get home from school. The mangy cat (under table) roamed about over everything. Baby is sleeping in the dark inner bedroom (three yrs. old).

Geeeez. Judgemental, much? Perhaps the author's purebred cat spends its days sitting primly on a satin pillow, and his baby sleeps in a brightly lit window.

To me, they just look like a happy family.

***

Next time: Traveling back farther than ever before!

WWI Rationing: Curried Rice with Corn and Cheese in Brown Sauce, Rye Rolls, and Wheatless, Eggless, Butterless, Milkless, Sugarless Cake

They said it'd be over by Christmas of 1914, and now, four years later, we can finally start looking forward with a peaceful Christmas. One of the Jensen boys was so pleased on Armistice day, he drove the car right through the town's celebratory bonfire! He was set to ship out on November 12.



However, rationing is still in force. If we all pitch in and conserve meat, milk, butter, fat, eggs, and sugar, we can send more relief overseas.

With that in mind, let's look back through Foods That Will Win the War and How to Cook Them [1918].

To provide adequate supplies for the coming year is of absolutely vital importance to the conduct of the war, and without a very conscientious elimination of waste and very strict economy in our food consumption, we cannot hope to fulfill this primary duty.
WOODROW WILSON.



One pot meals need only fruit or simple dessert, and bread and butter to complete a well-balanced menu.

CURRIED RICE WITH CORN AND CHEESE IN BROWN SAUCE
½ cup rice
1 cup cheese
1 cup corn
1½ cup milk
¼ cup fat
¼ cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon cayenne
Melt fat until brown. Add flour and seasonings. Heat until brown. Add milk gradually. When at boiling point add other ingredients. Place in baking dish and bake 45 minutes.


But I hear you thinking, wait! This rice and corn in sauce needs something. Hey, I know! Sauce!



It is claimed that the most serious food shortage in Germany is fat; that the civilian population is dying in large numbers because of the lack of it, and that Von Hindenburg's men will lose out on the basis of fat, rather than on the basis of munitions or military organization. Worst of all is the effect of fat shortage on the children of the nation. Leaders of thought all over Europe assert that even if Germany wins, Germany has lost, because it has sapped the strength of its coming generation.

[Liebe Deutschen,

Ich habe Deutschland sehr gern.

Mit besten Grüßen,
Jana]

BROWN SAUCE
¼ cup fat
⅓ cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon of cayenne
1½ cups brown stock, or
1½ cups water and 2 bouillon cubes
½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Melt fat until brown. Add flour. Heat until brown. Add liquid gradually, letting come to boiling point each time before adding more liquid. When all is added, 1 teaspoon kitchen bouquet may be added if darker color is desired.




Waste in your kitchen means starvation in some other kitchen across the sea. Our Allies are asking for 450,000,000 bushels of wheat, and we are told that even then theirs will be a privation loaf. Crop shortage and unusual demand has left Canada and the United States, which are the largest sources of wheat, with but 300,000,000 bushels available for export. The deficit must be met by reducing consumption on this side the Atlantic. This can be done by eliminating waste and by making use of cereals and flours other than wheat in bread-making.

RYE ROLLS
4 cups rye flour
1½ teaspoons salt
6 teaspoons baking powder
1½ cups milk
2 tablespoons fat
1 cup chopped nuts
Mix dry ingredients thoroughly. Add milk, nuts and melted shortening. Knead. Shape into rolls. Put into greased pans. Let stand one-half hour. Bake in moderate oven 30 minutes.



One ounce of sugar less per person, per day, is all our Government asks of us to meet the world sugar shortage. One ounce of sugar equals two scant level tablespoonfuls and represents a saving that every man, woman and child should be able to make. Giving up soft drinks and the frosting on our cakes, the use of sugarless desserts and confections, careful measuring and thorough stirring of that which we place in our cups of tea and coffee, and the use of syrup, molasses or honey on our pancakes and fritters will more than effect this saving.

WHEATLESS, EGGLESS, BUTTERLESS, MILKLESS, SUGARLESS CAKE
1 cup corn syrup
2 cups water
2 cups raisins
2 tablespoons fat
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1½ cups fine cornmeal, 2 cups rye flour; or, 3½ cups whole wheat flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder, or, ½ teaspoon soda

Cook corn syrup, water, raisins, fat, salt and spices slowly 15 minutes. When cool, add flour, soda or baking powder, thoroughly blended. Bake in slow oven 1 hour. The longer this cake is kept, the better the texture and flavor. This recipe is sufficient to fill one medium-sized bread pan.


Verdict:

Curried Rice with Corn and Cheese... : First off, the name is a misnomer. I want you to scroll back and see if you can find the curry. I'll wait. ..... Did you find it? No, you didn't. The seasoning in this dish is salt and the tiniest, teeniest breath of cayenne pepper. That said, it's... good! I am a big fan of cheese sauce with things in it. The bottom got all crispy and delicious. It does not need the brown sauce. At all. If you're of the meat-free persuasion, you should give this a try. It is easy and super de duper cheap. You might want to omit the salt, cut down on the fat, and see about adding some herbs, though.

... in Brown Sauce: It's beef gravy! Really, really thick beef gravy with WAYYY more fat than needed. I used olive oil, as I didn't feel up to putting that much lard in... anything. I still have no idea why they would feel that rice and corn in cheese sauce required more sauce.

Rye Rolls: I used light rye flour. Light rye flour : dark rye flour :: white flour : whole wheat flour. These were very grim. Raw flour got stuck in the crevices of the pecans. They tasted of nothing. Absolutely nothing. Husband, however, found out that if one eats a bite with a bite of CRwCaC in BS, the dry tastelessness soaks up the excess sauce. I found that they go down well alongside their own volume in apricot jam. Husband's method is undoubtedly the most historically accurate.

Wheatless, Eggless, Butterless, Milkless, Sugarless Cake: The thing that immediately struck me about this cake was its sheer weight. It is a solid 2.5 lbs. It is like a raisined brick. In today's standards, I would in no way classify this as a cake. It is too solid, dry, and not sweet enough. As a bread, it is passable. In 1918 though, I know it'd be a big treat and I'd be happy to have it. Moreover, as solid as this sucker is, it's going to last for a looooooong time.

It is best toasted, then slathered with black-market butter and sprinkled with black market cinnamon sugar, with a side of guilt for our starving Allies.

Alternatively, we discovered the next day that it is fantastic made into bread pudding and drowning in warm custard.

Home Cooking: 1910

Shorpy.com

Gorgeous! Look at Shorpy's label, though: "Circa 1910. Mixing up a big batch of 'Salmonella Surprise.'" Oh my golly gosh, this nice looking lady has a raw fowl (duck?) on her table! How dirty and ignorant she must be. She will surely kill everyone in her household with diseases.

Geez. She probably just got through de-feathering the thing. Cut her a break!

The Fruits of Victory

I canned some peaches! Hooray!



Glorious. As you know, there is a war on, and every quart of produce canned from one's Victory Garden is one in the eye for Kaiser Bill! The extra sugar ration is also pretty super.

Wait, where am I again? Oh geez. Sorry. Sometimes I get confused.

Stewed prunes, shirred eggs Mornay, bread

Good morning, you bright-eyed and bushy-tailed thing you! It is breakfast time once again. This time, with the Hotel St. Francis Cookbook [1919]. Glorious. Breakfast is all you're getting from me from this book, and even that is iffy.

Most of the menus involve things like truffles and lobsters and cow brains and lamb kidneys. In short: either expensive, organ-related, or both. Seriously, I was only able to find a handful of menus I was willing to do. This is more impressive than it sounds at first, because this book includes a different breakfast, lunch, and dinner recipe for every day of the year. Except February 29. I guess the kitchen staff got a vacation once every four years.



Shirred Eggs Mornay
Put on a buttered shirred egg dish one spoonful of cream sauce, break two fresh eggs on top, season with salt and pepper, cover the eggs with sauce Mornay, sprinkle with grated cheese and bake in oven. [about 10-12 minutes at 325 degrees F.]



Mornay Sauce [not from the book, from the internet]

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup whole or 2% reduced-fat milk
1/8 teaspoon salt
Pinch of freshly ground pepper
Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
1/4 cup each coarsely grated Gruyère and Parmesan cheese [I used Monterey Jack instead of Gruyere. Do not judge me.]

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in flour, and cook, stirring constantly, about 1 minute. (Do not let mixture brown.) Add milk, whisking constantly. Bring to a low boil, and cook, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes more. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Remove from heat, and stir in cheese. Use immediately.




Stewed prunes.
Wash well one pound of prunes, and soak in cold water for two hours. Put on fire in same water, add a small piece of cinnamon stick, the peel of a quarter of a lemon, and two ounces of sugar, and cook on slow fire until soft. It will require about one hour. If an earthern pot with cover is used, put in bake oven for about two hours. The flavor will be better.


Verdict:

Shirred eggs Mornay: Oh my golly. Eggs baked in cheese sauce with cheese on top. Really good. It would have been better if the yolk was runny, but that is my own fault. Yum. Really, yum. It was pretty rich to handle on its own, but spoonfuls of this on sourdough toast were fantastic. Smooth, creamy, cheesy goodness. I ate two because I made more sauce than I needed and I felt I had to use it up, but one egg like this is enough for anybody.

Stewed prunes: Yeahhhhhh not so much. I tried to overcome my foolish modern prejudices against prunes, and it worked pretty well on the one I tried straight up. But stewed and mushified... no. The flavor was actually really good, the cinnamon stick and lemon really added something. I just couldn't get over the texture. With the super mushy inside and the skin holding it together, they were like little sacks of goosh. On the other hand, this is a meal for travelers. I think we'd all be happier if we ate meals like this on vacation instead of Taco Bell, ifyouknowwhatImeanandIthinkyoudo.