Betty Crocker's 101 Delicious Bisquick Creations (1933)

Betty Crocker's 101 Delicious Bisquick Creations

Copyright, 1933, by General Mills, Inc.

Bisquick, introduced in 1931, was still a new product when this booklet was published. General Mills claimed that this "sensational" product was faster, more efficient, and highly cost-effective and should be readily embraced by the most discerning housewives in America.

While I am intrigued by many of the recipes, I was most tickled by this:

Bisquick Method - 83.75% Faster - Saves 45.5 Steps - Costs 1/7 c More

* These Figures Were Certified to by Theodore Stark, Certified Public Accountant, 715 New York Life Building, Minneapolis, Minnesota, October 3, 1934, as Representing Results Obtained in Average Kitchen. Investigation covered kitchens of various shapes and sizes, some having gas ranges; some, coal; some, wood; and others with electric ovens. Costs of the products were average costs as you yourself would pay at your own grocer's.

Also figured in was the cost of fuel and of your labor. A department of the United States Government estimates the value of the average housewife's time as being 35c an hour. That is the figure we used, although we think it is too little.

Adjusted for inflation, 35 cents is about $8.00 in 2024, and I agree that it is far too little of a sum.

120 Wartime Meat Recipes from American Meat Institute

 

In How To Cook A Wolf, M. F. K. Fisher wrote, "One way to horrify at least eight out of ten Anglo-Saxons is to suggest their eating anything but the actual red fibrous meat of a beast."

Around the same time Fisher published How To Cook A Wolf, the American Meat Institute printed this booklet of wartime recipes.  The tips provided in the "What The Housewife Can Do" section are still valuable, as are many of the recipes suggested by the Institute. However, the dozens of variety meat recipes make this 80-percenter shudder - I will always find offal, well, awful.

Below are a few of the recipes I found intriguing.

Cauchois' Caterer's Companion (1915)

I was tickled by this section in Cauchois' Caterer's Companion, published in 1915 by Cauchois' Coffee Company. If only white wine really *was* a cure for fatness...

Source: Cauchois' Coffee Company, N. York. (1915). Cauchois' caterer's companion: contains over two thousand English definitions of French culinary terms, usually found on bills of fare, and over 100 banquet, reception and private dinner menus according to season ... New York: Cauchois' Coffee Company.

Full Book @ https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=chi.087315274&fbclid=IwAR3gnHPEHM-BF0HijLy2g51-clLyEDfpiBc5eVIHk7xJwDS3GIiHiC6gXHY&seq=5

The Work Basket - July 1950

I'm not sure which of these luscious dessert recipes sounds better! An Orange Refrigerator Torte, Chocolate Sundae Pudding, Quick Coffee Cake, Pineapple Sherbet, and Heavenly Salad all sound delightful.

The Work Basket - June 1950

I'm looking forward to trying this Rhubarb Pudding recipe from the June 1950 issue of The Work Basket this spring. 

I'd love to have that Vita-Mix and electric grill and toaster. According to the Consumer Price Index Inflation Calculator, $29.95 back in 1950 would be about $390.00 in 2024. I have no doubt the 1950s model was better built and longer lasting than today's Vita-Mix blenders - for a comparable price, no less.

The Work Basket - March 1950

 More tasty recipes from The Work Basket.

The Work Basket - February 1950

In late December, I stopped by the local vendor mall and bought several old issues of The Work Basket. Though I'm definitely not skilled enough to tackle most of the craft patterns, I am more than willing to try the recipes :)

1930s Timely Tips to Newlyweds - The West Publishing Company, Louisville, Kentucky

 

Orr's Famous 1001 Recipes (1930)

 

When it comes to books - especially old cookbooks - I struggle to resist adding to my collection. This copy of Orr's Famous 1001 Recipes had been on my wish list for several weeks until I finally purchased it. Now that I've read through it, I have no regrets about buying it.

Cabbage Layer Cake

1 good size cabbage, 1 lb. round steak and 1/2 lb. pork (ground together), 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, 1 egg, 6 crackers, or stale bread, rolled. Cook cabbage 10 minutes in salted water. Mix other ingredients well together. Put one layer cabbage leaves in bottom of a deep baking dish; next, a layer of meat mixture. Alternate layers until meat and cabbage has been used, finishing with cabbage. Bake in a medium oven 1-1/2 hours. When ready to serve, place on a platter and cut it as you would a cake. Serve with cream sauce.

Luncheon Dish

1 lb. round steak, ground, 1 can tomatoes and half can water, 1 cup cold boiled rice, 1 onion cut fine, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon sugar, salt and pepper to taste. Butter baking dish and mix ingredients all together; sprinkle top with stale bread crumbs and dots of butter. Bake from 1 to 1-1/2 hours.

Luncheon Potatoes

Use cold ends of steak or any mixture of cold meats. Put them through the food chopper, place meat, tomatoes, and sliced raw potatoes in alternate layers in casserole. Season to taste, dot with butter until done.

Grapenut Bread

1 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons butter, 1 tablespoon lard, 2 cups buttermilk, 1 cup grapenuts, 4 cups flour, 2 teaspoons soda, a pinch of salt.

Bake in a covered pan for 50 minutes. This makes three in (one pound) baking powder cans. Two one pound coffee tins make ideal little loaves.

Weary Willie Cake

1-1/2 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, 5 tablespoons melted butter, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 2 eggs (not beaten), pinch of salt, flavoring, milk.

Put butter in cup, then eggs and then milk; sift flour, sugar, baking powder, salt; pour cup mixture into the flour and beat well; bake in shallow pan.

These Are Very Good Drop Cookies

1-1/2 cups sugar, 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup sweet milk, 3 eggs, 2-1/2 cups flour, 2 teaspoon baking powder, flavor with vanilla or lemon.

Drop on buttered pans.

Egg Ring Cookies

4 hardboiled egs, 1 egg yolk, 1/2 lb. butter, 3/4 lb. flour, 5 oz. sugar, grated rind of lemon. Form in rings and bake.

Dom-Econ Cake (Domestic Economy Cake)

3 ounces chocolate (grated), 3/8 cup butter, 3/4 cup boiling water, 1-1/2 cups flour (before sifting), 1-1/8 teaspoons soda, 3/8 cup sour milk, 1-1/2 eggs, 1-1/2 cups sugar, 1/2 cup chopped nuts if desired.

Mix in order given; batter is thin; not necessary to wait for water to cool before adding other ingredients; bake in two layers. Cream Filling: 1/2 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, 1/16 teaspoon salt, 1 cup scalded milk, 1 ounce chocolate (grated), 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 1 or 2 egg yolks. Mix dry ingredients; add to scalded milk; cook 15 minutes in double boiler, stirring until mixture thickens; cool and add vanilla; spread filling between layers and ice cake with any white frosting desirec. A simple one is 1 egg white, 1/2 cup granulated sugar. Beat egg white; stir in sugar and put in top of double boiler until it is warm; this melts the sugar and makes the frosting smooth; care should be taken not to let the frosting get hot.

"Don Econ" Cake

2 oz. chocolate, 1/4 cup butter, 1/2 cup boiling water, 1 egg, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup pastry flour, 1/4 cup sour milk, 3/4 teaspoon soda. Pour water over chocolate and butter, stir until melted, add sugar, flour, with which soda has been sifted, and milk. Bake in two layers and use this filling: 1 cup milk, 2 tablespoons flour, 1 oz. chocolate, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 egg yolk. Scald milk and melt chocolate in it. Beat egg yolk, add sugar and flour, mix together, pour hot milk over egg mixture. Cook in double boiler until it forms custard. Cool and place between layers. Ice top of cake with any white frosting.

"Fatti Mans"

6 egg yolks, 6 tablespoons cream, 8 tablespoons sugar, 4 tablespoons brandy, 1 grated lemond rind, 3 or 4 tablespoons butter, 1 or 1-1/4 lbs. flour, 4 egg whites, beaten stiff, cardamom to taste.

Fattigmands Bakkelse

12 egg yolks, 6 egg whites, 12 tablespoons cream, 12 tablespoons sugar, flour, 12 tablespoons melted butter, 1 teaspoon cardamom, wineglass full of fruit juice (peach or apricot, original recipe calls for brandy). Beat the egg whites, then the egg yolks, then combine and add sugar. Then add butter, cream, cardamom, fruit juice, and flour enough to handle, add just enough flour so mixture will leave the hands. There is dnage of toughening the mixture with too much flour. When thoroughly mixed, place in a cool place over night. Roll as thin as possible, without flour. Cut in diamond shapes and make a slit in the center with a cookie cutter. Then pull one corner through the slit. Fry in deep fat until a delicate brown color. Sprinkle with powdered sugar as soon as they have been fried.

Fattigmands Bakkelse

12 egg yolks, 2 whites, 18 tablespoons sugar, small bottle cream, scant teaspoon cardamom, 5 tablespoons melted sugar, 3 tablespoons brandy. Beat yolks, add sugar and beat. Add in order melted butter, cream, whites of eggs, and brandy, flour enough to handle. Roll thin, cut in diamond shapes and cut a slit in center of each cake. Fry in hot lard until a very light brown.

______________________

The three versions of Fattigmands Bakkelse intrigued me so much that I spent a bit of time looking at other recipes for Norwegian "Poor Man's Cakes". That search led me to the Milwaukee Public Library's Digital Collections Historic Recipe File (https://www.mpl.org/special_collections/images/historic-recipe-file), which sent me down an hours-long rabbit hole.

Fattigmands Bakkelse

3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cream
1/2 cup melted butter
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3-1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
About 3 pounds fat for deep frying
Confectioners' sugar

Beat eggs at medium speed of electric mixer until very light and fluffy. Add sugar gradually. Beat well. Add cream, butter and vanilla. Sift flour three times with salt and baking powder. Turn to a low speed. Add dry ingredients to egg mixture. Blend. Chill several hours or overnight.
Roll small portions of dough one-sixteenth inch thick on well floured canvas. The crispness of the bakkel depends on the thinness of the dough. Cut with pastry wheel or knife into small diamond shapes. Cut a three-fourths inch lengthwise slash in center of diamond. Pull one end of the diamond through the slash.
Fry at 365 degrees until delicately browned. Drain on absorbent paper. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Makes about nine dozen depending on size of diamond.

Source: Milwaukee Journal (November 12, 1964), via  MPL Digital Collections Historic Recipe File (https://content.mpl.org/digital/collection/histrecipe/id/2839/rec/1).

Thrift Recipes by Patricia Powell for National Macaroni Manufacturers Association (1931)

Along with last week's booklet from Foulds, I purchased this booklet distributed by the National Macaroni Manufacturers Association during the early years of the Great Depression.

Per the National Pasta Association's website (https://ilovepasta.org/history/), the National Association of Macaroni and Noodle Manufacturers of America was formed in 1904 after the U.S. pasta industry began to boom in the mid-19th century.

Flavory Dishes Made With Foulds (1927)

I could not resist purchasing a couple of pasta manufacturer recipe booklets a while back - I'm a big fan of pasta, so why pass them up? Fortunately, this 1927 booklet from The Foulds Company did not disappoint.

From a quick internet search, I learned that The Foulds Company began as a milling company in Cincinnati in 1885 and moved to Libertyville, Illinois around 1905, where the company produced various pasta products until ending operations in 2014.

Of note -- From a quick internet search, I learned that The Foulds Company began as a milling company in Cincinnati in 1885 and moved to Libertyville, Illinois around 1905, where the company produced various pasta products until ending operations in 2014.

First Ladies' Recipes from The All-American Cook Book (c. 1959)

 

The All-American Cook Book, compiled by The Employees of Rough Rider, United Garment Workers Local 197 A.F.L, in the late 1950s is filled with delightful recipes. I am intrigued by the Grapefruit Pie recipe, from a friend of a friend of Lou Hoover, and so want to try it out! I also love the recipes from Eleanor Roosevelt and Bess Truman.

Old-Fashioned Pumpkin Pie
Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt

1-1/2 cups pumpkin

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1-1/2 cups scalded top milk

3 eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

Partially bake a 9-inch pastry shell in hot (450 degrees F.) oven until it has just started to brown. Meanwhile, mix the pumpkin, either freshly stewed or canned, with sugar and spices. Add eggs, slightly beaten, and hot, scalded milk. Beat until smooth. Turn into partially baked pastry shell. Bake in hot (450 degrees F.) oven 8 to 10 minutes; reduce heat to 325 degrees F. and bake 40 minutes or until center of custard is firm to touch.

Grapefruit Pie

(This was a favorite of Mrs. Herbert Hoover, wife of former President Hoover of the United States. Given to Local 197 by a close friend of Mrs. Hoover.)

1 cup sugar

1 cup grapefruit juice

1 tablespoon butter

1/4 cup water

1/8 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons cornstarch

2 egg yolks, beaten

Meringue:

2 egg white

6 tablespoons powdered sugar

2 teaspoons grapefruit juice

Mix thoroughly sugar, salt, and cornstarch. Add water and grapefruit juice and cook slowly, stirring constantly until thick. Let mixture boil gently about 5 minutes, stirring to keep from burning. Add butter and the beaten egg yolks and remove from fire. Beat mixture well; let stand until cold. Turn into baked pie shell and cover with meringue made by beating the egg whites stiff and beating in the powdered sugar slowly, and lastly add 2 teaspoons grapefruit juice. Put into slow oven (300 degrees F.) for 15 minutes to bake meringue.

Tuna and Noodle Casserole

Mrs. Harry Truman

Wife of President Truman

1 can tuna

1/3 pkg. noodles

2 hardboiled eggs

1/8 pound butter

1 cup halved mushrooms

1 pint milk

1/4 pound sharp cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Boil noodles in salt water, remove and drain. Make white sauce, add cheese and butter. Drain tuna, add all ingredients, pour into buttered casserole. Bake in moderate oven 30 minutes. Serves 4.