The flea market at the Mansfield Drive-In doesn't always yield vintage cookery pamphlets, but this time I got lucky. First up, a small booklet from Skilton Foote & Co. by "A Practical Housekeeper." It cost fifty cents when it was printed, and I paid a dollar for it ... but a dollar is worth a … Continue reading Flea market trip: two more pamphlets
vintage cooking
That was then, this is then: Perfect bread
One of my "vintage cooking pamphlets" is really a small book (110 pages long) called "Easy Home Baking: Tested Recipes for Breads, Rolls, Cakes, Cookies, Pastries and Desserts," published by Sands, Taylor & Wood Co. - the former name of King Arthur Flour Company - in about 1937. I'm estimating the date from a short … Continue reading That was then, this is then: Perfect bread
Oven Temperature Guide
During the twentieth century, technological developments meant that the temperature of ovens could, at long last, be exactly regulated. As a result, the old terminology for oven temperatures had to be translated - but not every cookbook or recipe got around to that. Some, however, provided helpful information on how to determine oven temperature. Here's … Continue reading Oven Temperature Guide
More vintage cooking pamphlets
Acquired at the Brimfield Antique Show today! First up, from 1918, the Ryzon Baking Book by Marion Harris Neil. This is an unusual item - a hardcover, with color illustrations inside. Here's the cover (click for larger version): It also provides this very helpful image explaining how Ryzon's activity level measures up to "other" baking … Continue reading More vintage cooking pamphlets
Doughnut report
I did finally make doughnuts the other day. I settled on a recipe from this 1935 booklet, "Be an Artist at the Gas Range" by The Mystery Chef: If I was better at graphics I'd have the back cover and front cover lined up better, but I hope you get the idea. Don't you just … Continue reading Doughnut report
Doughnut versification
So, here I am, snowed in and looking through my vintage cooking pamphlets for doughnut recipes, and I discover that The New Home Cook Book (1926, Latest Revised Edition) offers no fewer than nine recipes for doughnuts. And one of them (p. 36) goes like this: Doughnuts. One cup sugar, one cup milk, Two eggs … Continue reading Doughnut versification
Kristen Noble Keegan, Historical Geographer 