Becky Brillon | The War In My Kitchen

Archive for Author Becky Brillon

We Interrupt This Program…

Posted on June 21, 2015 by Becky Brillon Leave a comment

For those who could afford one before the war started (production factories were converted to war production), radios served as important fixtures of the home front house. Styled more like furniture, and called “consoles”, you’d find one in a prominent place of the home within hearing range of the kitchen.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s famous “Infamy” speech was delivered through radio waves and it’s easy to picture every home in America tuned in with family and neighbors gathered around. The news of the bombing at Pearl Harbor and the speech land radio an earned spot of WWII history.

“Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan….

“I believe I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again….

“With confidence in our armed forces—with the unbounded determination of our people—we will gain the inevitable triumph—so help us God….”

FDR continued Fireside Chat radio broadcasts focused on rallying the country throughout the war.

“We are now in this war. We are all in it—all the way. Every single man, woman and child is a partner in the most tremendous undertaking of our American history. We must share together the bad news and the good news, the defeats and the victories—the changing fortunes of war….

“To all newspapers and radio stations—all those who reach the eyes and ears of the American people—I say this: You have a most grave responsibility to the nation now and for the duration of this war.”

Broadcast news updates of the war via radio formed the modern style of half-hour news programs. What was three- to four-minute updates a few times a day became a regular thirty-minute event.

Happier times were spent listening to comedies, soap operas and music, especially while cooking and baking. Since the 1920’s, corporations realized the enormous reach of radio to their target consumer: the homemaker. WWII advertising was delicately delivered via sponsorship of radio shows: The A&P Gypsies, The Planters Pickers, The Yeast Foamers, King Biscuit Time , and Light Crust Doughboys.

Proctor & Gamble’s Sisters of the Skillet, a soap opera, was part of Mrs. Blake’s Radio Column advertising Crisco. PET Milk sponsored The Mary Lee Taylor Program from 1933 to 1954. For many, the famous PET Milk Pumpkin Pie recipe was first heard over the radio and hastily written down.

The Betty Crocker Cooking School of the Air played from 1924 until 1948. Over time, the school saw over 1 million homemakers enrolled. Students took the homework seriously. Listeners mailed in reports for grading and received cooking pamphlets and other promotional literature.

I feel grateful that the Cooking Shows have been saved and archived. The Old Time Radio Catalog collected all of the shows for purchase.

Posted in Companies & Advertising, Radio

The Six Month Mark of the Project

Posted on June 7, 2015 by Becky Brillon Leave a comment

Today marks the halfway point for the WWII Food Rationing Project year. The starting day was the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, which was the event that sent the United States into the war and rationing.

So, how’s it going?

In the first month of the project, I was able to manage the weekly meal prep according to the Meal Planning booklets from 1943/1944. It would take an entire day to prep the food, which is okay since I like that kind of mindful working. The recipes were good, though notably scaled back from what we were eating prior to the project. One problem though was keeping sandwich bread fresh and soft through the week, especially if I made lunches ahead of time for the week, wrapped in wax paper. By Friday, we felt like we were eating celery/egg sandwiches on toast. Preparing lunches for the day during the morning rush proved too complicated in my routine without losing an hour’s worth of sleep that made me functional for the day. I say it over and over – I don’t know how they did it!

I enjoyed making bread every week. But, I am currently trying to find a recipe for Potato Bread instead of the typical wheat flour recipes I had been using. I’ve been buying instead of making for two months’ time. IMG_20150607_125238013_HDR

I haven’t purchased sugar in over three months’ time. In the beginning of the project I wasworried about supply and running on fumes by the end of the week. That was also at the time I was following the meal planning booklets closely. We’re not eating desserts at the end of each meal. The worst craving was for Oreo cookies and with their invention in 1912, they actually were on the allowed list.

We have a huge (to our standards) “Victory” Garden. It’s a pain to keep up. During WWII people were encouraged to use IMG_20150607_130141634 every inch of lawn space for a Victory Garden. We’re only using about 1/8th of our yard for it and I can’t keep the weeds down.

Plastic containers have left our kitchen for good. It didn’t take long to switch over to glass. I’m still using freezer bags in the freezer since I couldn’t come up with a better solution. Utensils were a challenge to replace and I have scrounged around antique shops and estate sales to repurchase non-plastic measuring spoons, cups, and such. One recipe booklet told me to use a rubber spatula to scoop something out of a jar. I was elated! I would easily nominate rubber spatulas as the greatest kitchen invention of modern time. Something so simple, right?

It is rare for food to be thrown out. My mother is a master of leftovers and it’s taking me practice to get there, but I’ve greatly improved on food waste. The solution is to not buy things special for a recipe that I’ll only use once and don’t buy anything I don’t need, period. There is always a suitable substitute for ingredients, or you can omit (Use It Up, Wear It Out, Make It Do or Do Without).

I haven’t purchased cleaning supplies in six months. Yes, I still clean the house! Vinegar, Borax, baking soda, lemon juice/oil all do the job. For everything. When a t-shirt is beyond its wearable lifespan, it is cut up into four rags. Which can be rewashed.

We are eating a lot of chicken. Chickens weren’t plentiful during WWII, they were needed for eggs, but when we started following the recipes we were eating way too much red meat, even under the monthly rationing standards. I categorize this change as “When You Know Better”. It just didn’t feel healthy to be eating that way.

So, what do we eat?

Eggs. Chicken. Peanut Butter Sandwiches. Salads. Fruits. Vegetables – lots of potatoes. Ham. And, nobody is going hungry.

When I bake and cook I listen to the radio or music from the era. This point IMG_20150607_130519694 made me realize I had been forgetting that every single kitchen I spent time in as a kid had a radio centered in the kitchen.

Back in December when people asked me why I was going to start the project I told them it was a study in contentment, resourcefulness, and mindful eating. I have to say, it’s been all of that. In very good ways. The next six months will march on; starting today I will make a commitment to shore up some of the edges that have become frayed as far as the rules go and see what else comes along. To Victory!

Posted in Cleaning, History & Why Am I Doing This WWII Rationing Project Thing, Make it Do, Preparing for the Project, Use it Up

A D-Day Anniversary

Posted on June 6, 2015 by Becky Brillon Leave a comment

D Day

Today marks the 71st anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of Normandy, France that took the lives of (or wounded) approximately 425,000 Allied and German troops. Back home, the news of the operation would have traveled via radio and newspaper slowly compared to today. When word reached home many Americans were stunned by the staggering numbers reported. 4,000 ships and 11,000 planes supported the attack. For anyone with a loved one in the European theater, they had to wonder and worry; startle at every knock on the door.

If the home front was weary of the rations and shortages, D-Day brought people back to reality. No matter how hard it was to sacrifice and make do, the effort was far worse in Europe and troops needed support without complaint.

Renewed commitment to the effort was found.

In my hometown paper from Ripon, Wisconsin an editorial around the time read, “It is time somebody spoke sharply to those disgruntled citizens who “can’t get along” under wartime restrictions.

The woman who scurries about trying to buy every pair of sheer hose she can get her hands on because she “just won’t wear those heavy stocking” is in the same class as the housewife who chases from store to store, hoping to get still another pound of coffee to add to her hoarded pile.

The woman who “can’t get along” on her sugar ration belongs with the man who feels that something “must be done about” getting him a third pork chop. And all these persons are in the same class with those who are “about ready to give up” because of gas rationing, fuel oil rationing, the shortage of chocolate, the impossibility of getting a new vacuum cleaner, etc. etc.

Is a pork chop, then, a matter of vital concern to a free and ingenious people? Is it really important whether or not we have a second cup of coffee? We have had these things as a matter of course. We have grown used to them, but is it fair to expect them when a whole world is upside down, when there is a battle to the death to see whether democracy shall survive or be wiped out? Is it fair to “beef”about our “hardships” when the issue of victory or defeat is still undecided?

Even if there has been “lack of proper planning” and “unparconable mistakes in Washington” and a “woeful absence of vision”, is it fair, or practical, or helpful to the war effort to grouse and grumble about “condition”?

All over the world today, in dozens of outposts, the soldiers of democracy, though they may have the coffee and beef and the chocolate we find it difficult to get, are living under conditions we cannot even imagine — and dying to keep from us the fate of a permanent loss of good things of life.

Men are dying at sea trying to bring us the coffee we crave, getting some through despite the dangers just so that we may have that cheering drink at breakfast if at no other time.

And we, sitting in our easy chairs with the radio playing, soft music in the background and with the room temperature still comfortable, express our displeasure that our coffee is neither so good nor so plentiful as in the past!

Wake up, complainers! A million Japs are at the throats of our brothers and sons, who are fighting for us in Asia’s heat and Europe’s cold. What have we to complain about, except that we care so little to help them, except that we are not doing all the little we can?”

Cemetery at Normandy Beach

Posted in Make it Do, Memorial

I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends

Posted on May 31, 2015 by Becky Brillon Leave a comment

I have some wonderful ladies helping me in my wartime kitchen project. Betty, Martha, Mary, Jane, Nancy, Anne, Martha M., Mary Lynn, Aunt Jenny, Mary Lee, Ann, Sue, Kay, Virginia, Mary Ellis, and Mary Margaret.

L to R: Nancy Haven (Western Beet Sugar), Ann Page (A&P Retail Stores), Martha Meade (Sperry Products), Betty Crocker (General Mills Gold Medal Flour), Aunt Jenny (Spry Shortening), Jane Ashley (Karo Syrup), Kay Kellogg (Kellogg Cereal), Virginia Roberts (Occident Flour), Martha Logan (Swift Meats), Mary Alden (Quaker Oats), Mary Ellis Ames (Pillsbury Flour), Mary Lee Taylor (PET Milk), and Mary Margaret McBride.

Advertisements from WWII make it possible for me to feel like these wonderful ladies are right here by my side baking bread, cakes, and pies. I know their faces from the labels on the boxes and cans of their products and I can hear their lovely voices on the archived radio shows.

These women were the famous names of food corporations during the war. In most cases, the women were fictional; made up corporate characters used to sell products to the doubting homemaker who needed the expert opinion of someone she could trust. “Experience has shown that a corporate personality makes friends for the company, gives it a greater degree of humanness, and frequently increases the readership and response to advertisements and recipes,” one industry executive wrote, “because Mrs. Consumer feels more confidence in recipes which have been tested and approved by another woman.” (Marie Sellers, “Product Insurance for the Homemaker,” in Food Marketing, ed. Paul Sayres McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1950)

One trade publication commented that “Ideally, the corporate character is a woman, between the ages of 32 and 40, attractive, but not competitively so, mature but youthful looking, competent yet warm, understanding but not sentimental, interested in the consumer but not involved with her.” (Katherine J. Parkin, “Food is Love: Advertising and Gender Roles in Modern America”)

Almost every food company had a corporate character with an “attractive, but not competitively so” face and a WASP-y name. Mary Alden worked for Quaker Enriched Flour, Nancy Haven for Western Beet Sugar, and Mary Lynn Woods for Fleishmann’s Yeast. (Susan Marks, Finding Betty Crocker: The Secret Life of America’s First Lady of Food).

“The extent of use of the corporate characters varied tremendously. Betty Crocker, whose name and face appeared on products, cookbooks, radio, and television, was one of the most-used characters. At the other end of the spectrum, some characters only appeared as a signature on correspondence to consumers.” (The Path to the Table: Cooking in Postwar American Suburbs by Timothy Miller)

Deceptive? Commercialism? Maybe, but I feel less “sold to” than modern day brand names like Martha Stewart, Rachel Ray, Giada De Laurentiis and Ree Drummond. How about the men? Would Bobby Flay, Gordon Ramsey, and Emeril been credible back in the WWII kitchen? Probably not. And, isn’t that interesting?

Another thought, why was Ann Pillsbury replaced by a Pillsbury Doughboy in 1965? How about Betty Crocker now being a red spoon? Have we altogether given up looking for advice from experts resembling humans and turned our confidence over to figments of imagination or logos to sway our buying preferences? Throughout the interviews I recorded leading up to this project, many people commented on the change of values and lost sense of community. I can’t help relating the movement away from people towards images being part of the swift change.

Posted in Companies & Advertising

Spring Cleaning and Why I Won’t Be So Cross on Mondays

Posted on May 17, 2015 by Becky Brillon Leave a comment

When it came time to take my kitchen cleaning back to WWII the list of cleaning supplies was pretty short. Household cleaning, especially during WWII, came down to some simple staples: vinegar, baking soda, salt, ammonia, bleach, Watkins supplies, Borax and Coca-Cola. I had a picture in my mind that my grandmothers would have been using products we refer to as “green cleaning” today – natural and safe enough to put in food recipes also, but that wasn’t always the case.

Under the heading of “When You Know Better You Do Better”, came the emerging chemistry of cleaning supplies. Harsh cleaning chemicals were in demand as the country rebounded from The Great Depression and considered hospital-grade sanitation necessary at home.

Housewives were hearing the scientific name of the cleanser, as opposed to our “dumbed-down” advertised names today (carbon tetrachloride, anyone?). Advertisements went to great lengths to intelligently reason with the consumer and share the logic of buying the product.

Watkins, known for medicinal salves and spices, devoted 90% of its production capacity to support the Allied war effort. To fill government contracts, Watkins produced dried egg Watkins DDT s, powdered juice packets, vitamin tablets, hospital germicide, DDT and insecticide powder.

Home use of DDT was popular. My Grandmother was a new bride in 1946, stationed with my Grandfather on a US Army base in Kentucky. They were enjoying a blissful, newlymarried life living in a tiny travel trailer. (When I say “tiny”, I mean really, really tiny.) Grandma wrote letters home in a constant stream and her adventures of living in the trailer are fun to read:

“I’ve got my dishes done and my house all cleaned up. Roy came home at 3:30 and had to be back by 4:30. He has to drive “his” jeep all night tonight and also tomorrow night. I was just going to do dishes when our next door neighbor poked her head out the window and said, “Honey, do you want to bake something in my oven?” So, honey said yes and I made a pumpkin pie, but not that easy. The recipe asked for ginger. So I went next door and asked for some, no luck; she said try next door, so I went there and she had some. Of course, they both asked me to sit down to stay a while so I’m getting to be just another old hen. Well, I got almost done and ready for the eggs. Boy, were they rotten!! Can you smell them up there? So I hiked over to the neighbors and asked her for two eggs, stayed awhile and came home again. I just about got all done and I spotted where the ants were running. Just opposite the door under that window casing, so I ripped off a strip of board and some off the wall and got out the sprayer and DDT. Boy did they catch —. Big funeral tomorrow, my ants died. Now I won’t have anything to do! Ha! Ha! I got the pie done for dinner and was it ever swell! I made another curtain today, the one for the back window. The neighbor lady asked me to come over to bring my sewing and keep her company.”

From the same letters, I came to understand the enormous chore of laundry. Most cleaning product advertising from the time was devoted to the task. Suds were really important when it came to proving clean.

Rinso was the brand name of a laundry soap most commonly used in the United States and dated back to 1908. From 1936-1950 it was the first mass-marketed soap powder. It was advertised widely on radio, being the sponsor of many network programs such as the popular rinso daytime soap opera Big Sister from 1936 to 1946, and the night-time programs Big Town from 1937 to 1942, and The Amos ‘n’ Andy Show from 1943 to 1950. During this time the product’s advertisements happily chanted the slogan “Rinso white, Rinso bright” and boasted that Rinso contained “Solium, the sunlight ingredient”. Post-WWII, Rinso lost its market to Tide and tried to rebrand in the 1960’s, but disappeared from store shelves by the mid-1970s. Unilever, its manufacturer, replaced the name with Surf in the US (Rinso survives in Turkish, Asian, and Central American markets). But, don’t count a good thing out – in 1992, the 99 Cents Only Store brand purchased the rights to the name “Rinso” from Unilver for use in the US and Rinso brand cleaning supplies are now prominently displayed in their stores. http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Rinso

I absolutely love the Rinso commercials played in movie theaters from the time:

http://aso.gov.au/titles/ads/rinso-easy-does-it/clip1/

http://aso.gov.au/titles/ads/rinso-soap-happiness/clip1/

Another letter entry from my Grandmother, “I got up at 6:30 this morning and did the washing. Gee what a wash! It wouldn’t be anything with a machine but oh this by hand stuff. I washed two sheets, about six bath towels, two pair Army pants, shirt, 2 tablecloths, 4 dish towels, that heavy red rug, and all our clothes besides. It took me about four hours.”

Change to DUZ for ALL 3 KINDS of War-time Wash!

It’s Procter & Gamble’s Big Soap Discovery!

Got some work-clothes or play-clothes in your wartime wash? And less time than ever to do them? You need a new kind of soap to speed you through! You need DUZ!

War-time washes are extra dirty, too! Men folk on the production line . . . dirt from Victory gardens — from factory chimneys — it all adds up to trouble for you. Yes, you want a new kind of soap to do the job today — a soap that gets dirty towels really white and cleans grimy overalls easy. That’s DUZ. . . YOUR SOAP FOR EVERYTHING.

Yet In war-time— your clothes must last and last. Remember — you can trust even bright washable prints and pretty rayon undies to those fluffy DUZ suds! Yes— this amazing new kind of soap gets clothes as white as any soap made, yet it’s safer than any of the other 4 leading granulated soaps — definitely safer for colors, for your hands.

No cloud of “sneezy dust”. In DUZ— it’s amazingly sneeze-free. Be thrifty — buy the Giant size. One big red box does everything in an average wash for weeks! September 16, 1942

(Found at : http://www.retro-housewife.com/1940-housekeeping.html )

Here is a rundown of the steps to clean laundry during the WWII era:

Soak: Soak cotton and linen articles in lukewarm soapy water, or in cold water with borax, 2 tablespoons to the gallon. Soak handkerchiefs separately. Do not soak colored or wool articles.

Wash: Wring out the clothes from the soaking water. Wash with plenty of hot soapy water made with shredded washing soap, soap flakes or jelly. Use two lots if necessary. Rub dirty clothes gently on a wash board with your hand or a nail brush. Do not rub silks, rayons, and wool. Use only mild soap for them, and do not put them in very hot water.

Rinse: Soften hard rinsing water with borax. Repeat warm rinses till the water is clear, and add a little glue to the last water for white cottons and linens.

Dry: Dry outdoors when possible, but do not put silks and wool in the sun or too near the fire. Hang white cottons and linens in the sun to bleach. Dry colored articles in the shade, inside out.

Starch: The heavier and wetter the material, the more starch you need, and if you wring with a wringer you need thicker starch than if you work by hand. Starch articles inside out, using hot starch for white things and cold tinted starch for colored ones. Use blue to tint blue, cochineal for pink, coffee or tea for brown, and a vegetable dye for green. To mix starch, make a smooth paste with starch and cold water, using a wooden spoon, then add boiling water until the starch is clear.

Mangle: Leave clothes until quite dry, then sprinkle them evenly. Fold and roll up, and leave them for an hour before mangling or ironing. Pull garments into shape and put them evenly between the rollers, protecting any buttons.

Iron: The iron should be hot enough to splutter when touched with a wet finger, and you should iron as quickly as possible, continuing till the material is dry. To iron a garment, first go over all parts that hang off the board, then iron the center. To bring out a pattern or monogram, iron on the wrong side over a thick pad. Have a very hot iron for starched articles and a moderate one for silks and wool. Press damp knitted goods between flour sack towels.

Air: If you have no heated linen cupboard, hang straight, folded articles on a clothes rack, and garments with sleeves on hangers to air in the sun or near the fire. Source: Craig, Elizabeth. 1000 Household Hints. London

Posted in Cleaning

Cornstarch Pudding with Raspberries

Posted on April 26, 2015 by Becky Brillon Leave a comment

I mentioned in Grandma Crook’s birthday post that another recipe that makes me think of her is Cornstarch Pudding with Raspberries. It’s sweet and simple.

Grandma’s farm had several raspberry bushes in addition to a big patch of strawberries, cherry trees and apple trees. Once the berry/fruit season started in the early summer, it didn’t end until fall. Getting out to pick early before the sun became too hot was just something that had to happen every morning. And once the picking was done for the day choices about baking, jamming, canning and freezing came next.

In the same time it would take to make jam, but with far less sugar, this recipe is great for a creamy smooth dessert.

Grandma Crook’s Cornstarch Pudding

1/2 C sugar

2T cornstarch

2 C milk

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 tsp. vanilla

In a stove top pan, dissolve the cornstarch in the milk. Add the remaining ingredients and turn on the burner to medium. Stir constantly until the mixture becomes thick and starts to boil. Pour pudding through a mesh sieve to remove any cooked egg whites (ick…no one likes to eat that in their pudding!).Pour into individual size bowls/jars. Put in refrigerator to chill. Before serving, add fresh raspberries (whole or mashed) to the top.

Posted in Dessert

Mabel’s Birthday Pie

Posted on April 6, 2015 by Becky Brillon Leave a comment

On this day in 1909, my Great Grandmother Mabel Buelow Crook was born. Everyone called her Grandma Crook. During WWII she was in her mid-thirties and living on a farm in Green Lake, Wisconsin.

Grandma and Grandpa Crook were probably part of the population least affected on the home front because they were farmers and doing an amazing job of living off the land before the war began.

Part of Grandma Crook’s legacy to my and future generations is that she loved to write. She kept a daily journal for years and took careful care to make sure the diaries were preserved in order for her voice and personality to stay with all of us.

On several occasions she wrote about her memories in story format, going back all the way to what she remembered about her grandparents. She chronicled every season of harvest from their gardens, orchards, barn, fields and from the lake itself.

She lived a life in perfect harmony with the seasons on the farm. An entire life history is easy to gather just from the food she prepared. When I remember Grandma Crook I think of her cornstarch pudding with fresh raspberries, strawberry glaze pie, dill pickles, baked beans, steamed cherry pudding, Thanksgiving dressing, and lemon meringue pie.

For Grandma Crook’s birthday party this evening I made lemon meringue pie (my all-time favorite as well). Some people view pie making as a chore, especially true for all the steps of lemon meringue pie, but I’m thankful I was taught at an early age how to make pie from scratch and enjoy the concentration of pie making.

Lemon Meringue Pie is edible patience and proof that good things come with taking the long way. Now that I look back through the list of Grandma Crook foods, it’s slow food and fresh-from-the-garden tastes that bring back memories of her.

So, to Grandma Crook I say, “Thank you for writing it all down and passing it down, Grandma. You’re never far away from us, especially at the table.”

Lemon Meringue Pie Recipe from Betty Crocker’s Picture Cookbook:

Crust: Mix 1 cup sifted Gold Medal flour with 1/2 tsp. salt and lard (or 1/3 cup plus 1 T hydrogenated shortening such as Spry, Crisco, Swift’ning, Snowdrift). Mix with fork until the mixtures forms crumbles. Sprinkle with 2 T water. Mix until the crumbles are moistened, but not much more. (My mother always told me the more you play with pie dough, the less tasty it becomes.) Once moistened, form into a ball and roll out with a rolling pin. Place into a pie plate and prick the bottom of the dough with a fork to prevent it from puffing up while baking. Put in a 475 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. Then, let cool.

Lemon Filling: Mix in saucepan 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1/3 cup cornstarch and 1 1/2 cups water. Dissolve all and then turn on the burner to medium. Stir constantly until the mixture thickens and boils. Boil one minute and then stir the mixture into a separate bowl with three egg yolks. Mix well and then pour mixture back into the saucepan to boil for another minute.

Off the burner, blend in 3 T butter, 1/4 cup lemon juice, and 1 T grated lemon rind. Pour into the baked and cooled pie shell.

Meringue: Blend 3 egg whites with 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar until frothy. Mix in 6 T sugar and 1/2 tsp. flavoring (I use Penzey’s Lemon Extract). With an electric mixer (how did Grandma do this without?!?!?!), beat the mixture until stiff peaks form. Pile meringue onto the hot lemon filling in the pie shell. Be sure to run the meringue to the edges of the crust to “seal” them, otherwise your meringue will shrink away from the crust as it bakes and you don’t want that to happen. Have fun with the meringue and swirl up some peaks and points on the pie. Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Watch it close – meringue can go from delicately brown to burnt in seconds!

Let it cool for at least three hours. If you’d like to “weep” the meringue (honey-colored droplets on the meringue), put it in a draft while it cools.

Posted in Birthdays, Dessert

Happy Birthday, Auntie! Sunshine Cake for Everyone!

Posted on March 31, 2015 by Becky Brillon Leave a comment

Adelina “Auntie” was born on March 31, 1894. Over the generations we lost track of whose true aunt she was. In 1943 she would have been 49 years old. Her sister was my Great Grandmother, whose son was my grandfather and soldier in the Army.

Auntie’s brother had served in WWI and letters between my grandfather and him show that he felt connected through war experience to Percy. Auntie served as the family member he could write to and share things that would have been too upsetting for his parents or his fiance, my grandmother.

Auntie was always cheerful. She did not have any children of her own, so she often relied on my grandfather’s family of 11 for entertainment and get-togethers. She was devoted to all of us – all four generations over the years – as if she were a mother.

She grew beautiful gardens of flowers. Peonies were her favorite. She stayed old-fashioned in many lovely ways. Her home was decorated in Victorian-era styles with bold wallpapers and crushed velvet chairs and couches. She had candy dishes full of Pepto-Bismol pink chalky mints.

I have trouble wrapping my mind all the food innovations she witnessed in her lifetime. She did not incorporate indoor plumbing until the late 60’s. Her kitchen sink involved an old hand pump. In the same year she was born, Iceberg Lettuce was introduced. She was older than Hershey’s Milk Chocolate, canned tuna and date palms. She loved dessert recipes and held on to hundreds of cake, frosting, pie, and all other sorts of treasures. Maybe because it was an exciting introduction as a young child, she had every kind of date recipe one can imagine.

She was 18 when the Titanic sank and 34 years old when pre-sliced bread was introduced and 49 when it was banned during WWII as the machinery used to slice it in factories

was more needed for war production efforts.

I don’t know for sure, but I imagine she was a homemaker who, like many others, viewed the “progress” and “modern conveniences” of the kitchen post WWII as trouble. The new way was one that would lessen the authenticity of homemade.

Auntie’s all-time favorite recipes were fudge and Sunshine Cake. The fudge she made in large batches and stored in coffee tins on the stairway. She’d offer the fudge to everyone who stopped by. Sometimes the fudge didn’t keep so well and when she popped off the cover the whole batch would be fuzzy and green.

The Sunshine Cake became a staple at the family birthday parties. There is family debate about the right recipe and ingredients. She was good about writing it down and sharing it with everyone, but some versions leave out the directions. Other versions are slightly different than all the rest. Luckily, the Sunshine Cake recipe was popular in its time and by patching together versions in the family and researching others online, it is possible to replicate Auntie’s favorite cake.

For Auntie’s party tonight I made the filling from a lemon/orange custard and the frosting from a boiled sugar water (7 Minute Frosting) combination. Auntie loved a caramel filling and topping, but I think she would have approved of my revision.

She probably would have asked to take the recipe home!

Posted in Birthdays, Dessert, Make It Yourself

Frosted Meatloaf: Why Not?

Posted on March 28, 2015 by Becky Brillon Leave a comment

The American Meat Institute was founded in 1906 in Chicago as the American Meat Packers Association. The organization was created shortly after the passage of the Federal Meat Inspection Act and spent much its early years helping meat packers adjust to new inspection requirements.

During WWII the Institute became instrumental in advertising to consumers to drive interest and demand of meat. With the rationing restrictions and shortages, many homemakers were learning to make do without meat altogether. Interestingly, in 1944 the American Meat Institute Foundation, was created with the sole purpose of allowing AMI to conduct scientific research designed to help meat and poultry companies improve their plants and their products.

One of the premises of my project was to discover and describe how WWII brought on the emergence of food science. When it came to food, the US Army was most interested in delivering light-weight, non-perishable, and tasty food to soldiers. Eggs, milk, and many other dairy products turned to powder. Chemical preservatives and salt could extend shelf lives of products, allowing transportation overseas.

What came first: corporations noticing the trend and applying it to the home front early in the war (who wouldn’t want to buy a little meal convenience), or corporations developing products and seeing a near end to the war and their new profits? I’m inclined to answer the latter.

Returning soldiers found work and settled off farms. Once homemakers were off the farm, supply of dairy and other food was found in grocery aisles, not gardens.

So, back to Frosted Meatloaf – I almost forgot! Through advertisements disguised as recipe pamphlets, The American Meat Institute introduced a new, creative, and meat-extending version of meatloaf in 1943. Frosted Meatloaf. It was a regular meatloaf with mashed potatoes “frosting”.

I’ve never been a food mixer. I’d rather use one of those compartmentalized plates at Thanksgiving to keep my cold salads away from the warm sides. I don’t want my stuffing and gravy to touch.

Frosted Meatloaf took me out of my comfort food zone. And I didn’t like leaving my zone. Hubby enjoyed the effort, presentation, and flavor. I, on the other hand, ended up deconstructing the thing when it got to my plate.

Some things just shouldn’t be messed with, no matter how boring the original becomes.

Posted in History & Why Am I Doing This WWII Rationing Project Thing, Make it Do

Use It Up.

Posted on March 13, 2015 by Becky Brillon Leave a comment

“Use it Up. Wear it out. Make it do, or do without.” — Mantra of the WWII generation.

There will be many posts about this topic of wasting nothing. Everything about the home front during WWII involved making sure everything received its full use.

In my kitchen I’m having trouble parting with some things that I have no idea how I’m going to use — twist ties from fruit bags, fruit bags, empty jars (non-canning), frying pan grease (stay tuned for that post soon!). Every piece of paper, foil, cardboard is getting used twice and then composted or recycled.

With all this being said, it’s no surprise that every scrap of food must be used up. The EPA reported in 2012 that the US throws out 35 million tons of food each year. Estimates during WWII are around 4 million tons. How sad!

Of course, people living on the home front during the war were constantly reminded to not waste food. It was a matter of being a good patriot.

While the sentiment about being mindful of those without enough to eat is still around, a big factor in food waste comes down to convenience – there’s no need to worry about using a ham bone to make broth since you can buy a can of it from any grocery store for very little money. Does anyone now have any idea how to take the giblet bag of a turkey/chicken and make it into a pan of gravy? Again, no…a can or a powder and some water will do the trick.

So, back to my kitchen. You know when you make a pie and there always seems to be more crust than pie plate? What can you do with the scraps?

The problem left me with an idea to make individual pies for lunches. There are a variety of ways to accomplish this. You can make “hand pies” by simply folding the filling into the crust and baking or frying (kind of like those Hostess Fruit Pies — warning…do NOT look at the calorie intake on those packages — well, actually – go ahead. Take a look at how many calories you are eating in those things! Spoiler Alert: I’m going to tell you now. 480 Calories per pie! 480!!)

I much preferred the idea of making a mini pie that could be contained in a lunch box. I simply pressed the leftover dough into a small mason jar, filled it with blueberries or apples and put them in the oven until they looked and smelled done.

Mission Accomplished: No Waste Today!

Posted in Dessert, Use it Up

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