Delicious Spring Drink From 1939 Cookbook

I love reading vintage recipes. I find entertainment value in reading what folks made almost 90 years ago. Many recipes from that era used garden produce, just assuming that most people who had a patch of land were using some of that space to grow food for themselves. Before victory gardens became part of the wartime effort in the 40s, home vegetable gardens were already common due to the need for more self-sufficiency during the Great Depression. These were often referred to as "relief gardens" or "thrift gardens." Growing a portion of one's own food provided some food security during uncertain times.

As spring is in full swing for many of us and just around the corner for our friends to the north, I thought I'd share a beverage recipe from the 1939 Better Homes & Garden Cookbook (birthday gift). It's actually called Delicious Spring Drink. It sounds a lot like a punch, but I thought it might be interesting, as it calls for rhubarb. I make rhubarb lemonade once or twice per season, so I'm not unfamiliar with using rhubarb in drinks. But this beverage has a delightful sound to it. I think it would be lovely for a bridal or baby shower. 

Here's the recipe.

Delicious Spring Drink

2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups water
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups rhubarb juice
2 1/2 cups unsweetened pineapple juice
juice of 2 lemons
1 quart ginger ale

Cook sugar, water, and salt 5 minutes. Just before serving, add rhubarb juice, pineapple juice, lemon juice, and ginger ale. Pour over crushed ice into tall glasses.Garnish with a sprig of mint. Serves 6 (I think maybe 10-12 would be more like it).

So now you may be curious how you get rhubarb juice. I've got a recipe for that.

Rhubarb Infusion

2-3 stalks rhubarb, chopped into 4 pieces each (more rhubarb for more tang, less for a milder drink)

4 cups water

Place rhubarb and water in a stainless saucepan.  Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.  Strain out the rhubarb pieces.

For the full Rhubarb Lemonade recipe is in this post (click here).

Thank you to all for your well wishes. My dental appointment wasn't too bad, but the stress of it wore me out. I did practically nothing all afternoon yesterday. My daughters put dinner together for us last night -- scrambled eggs, bread and butter, leftover rhubarb jello, and canned green beans. It was tasty and filled our needs. Sometimes you just need a super simple dinner. Today I felt more normal. I even got a good day of gardening in. Our tomato plants are now in the ground! I have more gardening to do tomorrow. This is a busy season. 

Now for some good news. I can see the bottom of my deep freeze! Why is this good news? It means we're actually using those foods from the garden that I put away last season. I used more frozen pears for dessert with tonight's dinner, gingered pears. And a good handful of garden celery went into the cream sauce for the tuna casserole.

Is anyone else trying to use up what's in their freezers so they can do the defrost job? How are your efforts coming along?