Nelsonville was (and is) not a bustling metropolis, so the cookbook section is a bit light. The first 60+ pages are filler-- pages for phone numbers, addresses, birthdays, memos, etiquette, calorie tables, and a first aid section that hints darkly at the rigors of living in a rural area. (One section gives instructions for trying to transport someone who may have a broken neck to the nearest medical facility.)
Plus, there are plenty of pages of interesting ads.
I have to love any ad for "Meats, Groceries, Vegetables, Explosives and Paints."
Tucked in among the ads, the booklet does have a few pages of actual recipes, mostly the types of plain and hearty cooking that kept rural families running...
...like Escalloped Hamburg-- basically scalloped potatoes with a middle layer of hamburger.
Then there are the weird recipes made mostly of things off the pantry shelves mixed with desperation:
Apparently the specialty is stretching Velveeta with eggs, vinegar, sugar, and pimientoes.
Here's an interesting dessert to go with it:
Yeah-- graham cracker crumbs mixed with a bottle of maraschino cherries and chopped-up marshmallows, all apparently glued together by hours in the refrigerator.
My favorite part about this book is that I know which recipes the previous owner loved. She was apparently really into Jell-O based "salads."
That page is stained like crazy! Whoever loved this book before I did really liked her citrus Jell-O mixed with cream cheese and pineapple, apparently, and I can't blame her. It may be cheating to call these salads, but it's hard to resist the promise of getting an extra dessert and pretending it's health food.
I spent my summers in Ashville, Ohio...similar mindset. My great-grandmother's handwritten recipe book contains a story about the time the nitra glicerin man came through and blew up the bridge and he was driving it himself because he couldn't find no one else to do it. Blew hisself up too. I believe the length of estimated repair for the bridge was also noted.
ReplyDeleteGotta love classic jello recipes. The graham cracker pudding is fascinating. I haven't seen that one before now.
Your great-grandmother must have been an interesting person! I love seeing things like that story in old recipe books.
DeleteMaybe the Wilson brothers should have submitted some recipes to the book. I would like to know some good recipes for cooking with explosives. Sparkler kabobs, crackers crushed with fire crackers? You have to admit that it would make cooking much more interesting, and the boys would probably be interested in learning how to cook then.
ReplyDeleteThat is true! Plus, I could find interesting new ways to burn holes into my shirts.
DeleteLOL, there's a reason I got to be taller than you. I was tired of those hand me downs with holes in them!
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