—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.  

Save That Fat!

Courtesy of Shorpy.com

June 1942. "Why greases must be saved. A soldier of the home front -- and there's one in every American kitchen -- saves all waste fats and greases so that they can be processed into ammunition for America's soldiers on the battlefronts. Pan and broiler drippings, deep fats, renderings from bacon rinds: These are some of the fats which should be put through a strainer to remove meat scraps and other solids, and poured into wide-mouthed cans such as coffee or fat cans." 4x5 safety negative by Ann Rosener for the Office of War Information.

And if you don't give your leftover fat to the government, at least make a veggie-filled pastry!

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.

A Gentleman's Lunch

Original BYU Special Collections

This is J. Stanley Anderson, enjoying lunch al fresco in 1900. This is also the very place where he was bumped out of a flying meat wagon on his neck. Poor guy. Nice lunch.

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!

Country Kitchen: 1936

Original at Shorpy.com

This woman is making butter. And lucky her, she's got a crank butter churn! The butter I churned in the 1870's took a lot longer. I churned butter on a farm in WWI, and they had an awesome butter churn with a gear ratio of 3:1, thus making the chore 3x faster than the effort I had to expend.

Next time: A full-meal post, to include cake. Hooray!

Picnics and Luncheons.

Woman's Favorite Cook Book [1900's]


Some of these foods look tasty. Some do not. Pressed beef... and eggs. Jellied veal. I... I... look how happy that family is in the top left-hand corner! I want to live in that picture.

Food Furnished by the Sea, Lakes, and Rivers

Woman's Favorite Cook Book [1900's]

All right, I'm usually first in line to say how fab these pictures are... but... I'm just not feeling it on this one. I'm just happy for the urchin brat at the top. She looks really pleased that she gets fed tonight.

Delights For the Old and Young

Woman's Favorite Cook Book [1900's]


Look at this! Oh my golly but these pictures are beautiful. Even the jelly mold that suspends what appears to be a whole cluster of grapes looks appetizing. What I really really want, though, is the cornstarch pudding with candied cherries. The little girl in the top left corner has been left on her own, and has therefore determined that of all the sneaky, naughty things she could do, she shall make a pastry.

This is a much better idea than playing with matches. She probably read this cautionary tale and found pastry a wiser alternative.

Die gar traurige Geschichte mit dem Feuerzeug
The Dreadful Story of Harriet and the Matches

Victorians didn't mess around with cautionary tales.

Fresh Fruits and How to Serve Them

Woman's Favorite Cook Book [1900]

Click to embiggen

Do you remember that part of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory where they see the beautifully colored wallpaper that you can lick and it tastes like fruit? One of my sisters has a thing for a particular shade of yellow paint. It makes her think of lemon pudding and she wants to lick it. This is how I feel about this page. I want to lick it.

I also like to think about how in 5 seconds, this little girl is going to cram that banana into the doll baby's face.

Something New in Cake Making

Woman's Favorite Cook Book [1900's]

Click to enbiggen

So gorgeous. No idea what that little girl is pouring on the cake "just like Mamma." Hopefully it is not the demon rum. The marguerites are suspiciously colored, but the orange vol-au-vent, perfection cake, and strawberry souffle look mouthwatering. I don't even know what the little boy is chowing down on, but I want some.

Listen to the Penguin.

Coldspot Freezer Informational Booklet [1952]
Listen to the penguin! He knows whereof he speaks. Except about the bananas. Frozen bananas are great. Especially in smoothies, and banana ice cream. Also the milk. Frozen milk is fine. And the celery. You can throw it into soup, it'll be grand. And tomatoes. For sauce.

Actually you know what? Penguins are not known for their expertise in the culinary fields. They mainly eat bait fish. Don't listen to the penguin. He's full of it.

Coldspot Freezers dance!

Coldspot Freezer Informational Booklet [1952]

You can dance if you want to!
You can leave your friends behind!
'Cause your friends don't dance with freezers
And if they don't dance with freezers
Well, they're no friends of mine!
FREEZER DANCE.
FREEZER DANCE.
Everybody freezer dance!

Coldspot Freezers are Spiffy!

Coldspot Freezer Informational Booklet [1952]

"Well honey, this way, I only have to bake one birthday cake a year!"

My grandma always keeps the booklets that come with her appliances. This is such a booklet.

I really really want to buy this freezer so that I can wear a ruffly red polka-dot apron with ric-rac trim. If I had a daughter, doubt not that she would have a matching one.

Mom for President! With the help of milk.

Carnation's Easy-Does-It Cookbook [1958]

We Vote YOU 8th Vice President!!!

Take a tip from your husband. Run your home as efficiently as he runs his office! Over 1,000 meals a year makes you a B.H.E. (that's short for Big Household Executive) in your kitchen.

Personalize your office (the kitchen, that is) with gay, attractive curtains and colorful accessories. There are so many inexpensive ones these days! You can afford to change them often.

Organize your work space. No home or apartment kitchen is perfect, but you can store your equipment near the logical food preparation, cooking, and serving areas to make your work easier.

Periodic reorganization isn't just for office efficiency experts. (Or, are you the exceptional woman who remains sweet-tempered when the mixer "conks out" midway through angel cake batter?) Periodically, devote a day to maintenance. Have the knives sharpened, straighten kitchen drawers and shelves, scrub the can opener. Surprising how much difference it makes!


Yayyyyyyy! I'm a Big Household Executive! Yayyyyyy!

Carnation Can-Can

Carnation's Easy-Does-It Cookbook [1958]

Vegetables Continental will spark the tired vegetable appetite, or intrigue the most sophisticated guest! Try these intriguing new ideas!

"By Jove! She is a corker!" *monocle pop*

Am I wrong, or is this the flimsiest excuse ever for a picture of a monocle and top hat wearing, bow tie sporting gent ogling a can-can dancer ever? I'm not complaining, I'm just saying.

Additionally:
*Where are those sparkles coming from?
*Why does the woman in the right back have no body?
*Have her companion's legs been replaced with tentacles?
*Where is Monocle Man sitting?
*The dancer's ankles. Those bows seem suspicious. They may have malicious intent.

I suspect the involvement of the Green Fairy in this work.

Carrots make your hair curly, I guess

From Carnation's Easy-Does-It Cookbook [1958].

This little girl is having none of that nonsense. Or is it nonsense? How many carrots has this lady eaten??

I also enjoy that her bosom has a jaunty bow, or possibly a propeller. It seems as if it is about to take flight.

Happy Carnation Family

[1958]

I want a pink fridge. And... suddenly, more Carnation milk products. LOTS more. Carnation sour cream, Carnation cottage cheese, and most of all, Carnation heavy cream. Cream is good.

Betty Crocker's Prize Sheep

Last installment of Betty Crocker's New Cooking for Two Cookbook [1972]! I hope you have enjoyed them.

Children, I'm sorry to say that your pet prize sheep, Ramsey, got a little sick while you were at school. We tried everything, but we just couldn't save him. We had to take off the fleece so we could see what the problem was better, then your mother spent minutes and minutes rubbing an herbal salve onto every inch of him. Finally, we had to amputate his legs. Because of the illness. Didn't work, so we had to keep amputating. In the end, I'm afraid he just didn't make it.

Lucky for us, and for him, we have this home cremating machine, so we could send him off in honor. He should be just about done now.... oh, look at that. Terrible! Just didn't get hot enough. He's not burned at all! Just a little... crispy... Tell you what though, we can put him here and make it like a Viking funeral! We'll just place some of his favorite things around him so he can have them in the happy sheep afterlife, where he eats tasty grass and frolics in daisies all day long. You know how much he loved cabbage. And... noodles. And mother's spicy raisin cupcakes and pineapple-cheese salad.

Barbecued Lamb Riblets
Hot Buttered Noodles
Panned Cabbage
Pineapple-Cheese Salad
Spicy Raisin Cupcakes


***Thanks to Mitchell and Webb. :D (warning: mild language)***

Merry Christmas to mothers!

This is from a recipe booklet from Coldspot Freezers from 1952.

Click to enbiggen

Now Mother Can join in the Christmas Morning Fun

Thanks to her Coldspot Freezer, mother is no longer shackled to the kitchen while the rest of the family enjoys Christmas fun. The day-long labor of preparing holiday feasts--long taken for granted as woman's lot in life--is now a thing of the past. Mother can have any holiday meal prepared, by simple easy tasks spaced out as suggested by the typical schedule at the left. On Christmas morning--with Christmas dinner store away in her Coldspot Freezer, all ready to cook and serve--a worry-free mother can join whole-heartedly in the gay celebration around the tree.

Summary of Aforementioned Schedule:
*July: Freeze peas and carrots
*August: Freeze melon ball salad
*September: Make and freeze candied sweet potatoes
*October: Make and freeze mince pies
*November: Freeze turkey
*December: Make and freeze rolls

All right, I know, I should wax cynical about who on earth starts cooking Christmas dinner in July, and about what poor mother starts prepping Christmas dinner at the crack of dawn Christmas morning instead of enjoying with the kids, but honestly... this just sounds like a fantastic idea. I mean, sure, 5-6 months ahead of time is excessive, but on the whole, this is genius.

Plus, look at that family. My heart is all soft and syrupy just looking at them. Aren't they adorable? Golly gosh. Also, I want that dressing gown. It is fancy.

In the Christmas spirit, as my gift to you... Melon Ball Salad.

Melon Ball Salad.
Freeze watermelon and honeydew melon in balls. Arrange on lettuce leaf when partly thawed. Red and green melon balls make an attractive holiday salad.