Cooking in the Golden Era

[1961MJS]

... and there's no smell that takes me back to childhood faster than a pail of fish guts.

Hi Lizzie

I'm pretty sure Larry the Cable guy needs that statement for his next tour. That's funny, true, memorable, but FUNNY.

Later

[John in Covina]

I recall my friend's mom talking about how she learned to cook on a wood stove and had to re-learn for gas stove cooking.

[tealseal]

I would love to do some vintage cooking, but unfortunately, all my grandmother's recipes look something like this:
"Eggs, milk, flour, yeast, spices, soda. Bake 400. Cool"
Two of those I can do, but I'm not, nor will I ever be, knowledgeable enough to know just how much of everything to put in, nor how to combine them. Sigh...because I'd love to be able to re-create some of them!

[skyvue]

Some of you may enjoy Kitchen Secrets and Shortcuts: 83 Kitchen Hints and Ways to Save You Time, Steps and Food, a 1951 (I think) pamphlet that I like mostly for the graphics. The tips are kind of interesting, too, but I spend so little time in the kitchen that they're mostly wasted on me.

[FountainPenGirl]

I would love to do some vintage cooking, but unfortunately, all my grandmother's recipes look something like this:
"Eggs, milk, flour, yeast, spices, soda. Bake 400. Cool"
Two of those I can do, but I'm not, nor will I ever be, knowledgeable enough to know just how much of everything to put in, nor how to combine them. Sigh...because I'd love to be able to re-create some of them!

Hi, a good source of recipes is vintage cookbooks which there are plenty of floating around. A good book to have is the Betty Crocker cook book put out originally in 1950 and there were several printings after that. The earlier the better because they tell you to use things like lard and depend on more basic ingredients that you are more likely to have and can find. Better homes and gardens put out a good general cook book too. If you look at your Grandma's recipes and find ones in the books that use the same ingredients that will get you pretty close on the amounts. As you get experience you can adjust the amounts to your taste. I've used this theory to figure out some things my Grandma made. She had the most excellent bread and rolls I've ever had and have never had any like it since. Last winter through experimenting I managed to get some that was pretty close. Give it a try. You might be surprised with the results.

[Flicka]

I recently found this blogpost with the entire Sunset Magazine Kitchen Cabinet Cookbook. This cookbook has recipes ranging from the 20s until the late 30s, so it's a good source for anyone looking for vintage American recipes.