When I woke up this morning, it was raining and it looked like it would rain for a good part of the day. I chose to skip the farms (mud) and stick with the vintage shops. I packed a large thermos of half and half coffee and some sweet and savory snacks. Since I wouldn't be hanging out at a farm for part of the day, I figured I would head back home in the early afternoon and not need a full lunch.
My current obsession with vintage shopping is vintage cookbooks, particularly ones from the 1940s and 1950s. In March, I had seen a particular cook booklet from the 1940s in which I was interested. I debated then whether to buy it or not. In the end, I chose to leave it. Well, I regretted that decision afterward and promised myself that if it was still there I would get it next time.
Next time was today. That was the first shop I went into. It was also the first shop to be open this morning. Most shops open at 11 AM M-Th, 10 AM F-Su. This shop opens at 10 AM every day. Serendipity that the shop that had a booklet I wanted was the one open so early? Maybe, maybe not. I also like to get to the vintage district because parking is hard to find by 11 AM.
So I arrived around 9:45. I sat in the car and drank coffee and finished my breakfast until the "OPEN" sign came on. And yes, that booklet was still there as well as one other that interested me today. Oftentimes, items we're interested in will still be there for many months. So this wasn't too big of a surprise. I bought that booklet and considered a couple more. It looks like I'll be heading back there in a few weeks to get at least one more booklet.
The rest of the day went well. I took breaks periodically to eat my snacks and have more coffee and water. I looked longingly in the window of the pie shop at all of the delicious pies. But I also know that I'm a pretty good pie baker, and just between you and me, I make a better pie crust than the pie shop. I got back onto the road to come home before 2 PM. I was trying to miss the Boeing traffic, which creates huge traffic jams every afternoon. I wound up in the early part of this traffic, which is better than the peak traffic hours. And I was going in the opposite direction of most of the Boeing employees. Yay! It was a great day, although different from what I've become accustomed to in the last 5 years.
My new-to-me menu planning and recipe booklet
One of the reasons WW2 menu planning and recipe books appeal to me is these resources take into consideration that households may be short some of the usual ingredients. Many of us, here, sometimes find ourselves lacking an ingredient or two called for in a recipe or menu plan, and we are reluctant (due financial restrictions or personal frugality philosophy) to go out and buy said ingredients.
This booklet was published in April of 1944 (Westinghouse, Electric and Manufacturing in Ohio, USA) mid-WW2 with all of a war's associated lack of availability and rations. This 55-page publication contains 10 days of ration-friendly menus, tips for cooking for health, and page after page of recipes (21 of the 55 pages are dedicated to recipes). It's a women's magazine on steroids.
Here's a sample day's menu:
Breakfast
- cook the rolled oats in advance and pour into a pan to cool. I imagine this could be done while cleaning up the kitchen from dinner the previous night. By morning, you would have a shallow pan of cooked oats all set up for cutting into squares to fry.
- the carrot-peanut butter filling can be made ahead and kept refrigerated for a few days
- the apple-berry whip
- soaking then cooking the beans for dinner's bean and wiener casserole
- mix and sift the dry ingredients for the graham bread
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