Food.Family.Ephemera

Food Friday: Pickled Eggs and a Note

2012-02-03T18:54:00.000-08:00

Recently my mom was at a garage sale organized by a woman who wanted to sell her cookbook collection. So my mom called me and asked if I wanted any. Of course I did and I told her to buy some "interesting" ones. So my mom went through the large piles of cookbooks looking for those she thought I would find interesting. She did a great job and today's recipe comes from one of those books. Thanks mom!

One of the great things about this cookbook is that inside was a note to a granddaughter from her grandmother. The note includes information on recipes in the cookbook and people's names.

In part, it reads:

"I am sending this cook book to you for Christmas, with your mom as I know you like to try new recipes. I bought this awhile back when they were having the park days and Bi-Centennial celebration. Your mom just called me, I had tried calling her and got no answer, she said she had had her hair fixed tonight thats (sic) why I wasn't able to get her. There's a lot of recipes in this book by Pat Rod, she is the mother of Donna Rod who is engaged to Jerry Wolford, and Donna baked and brought the pine-apple upside down cake to the Sandberg (?) reunion..."

This notes reminds me of the ephemera (documents, correspondence, photos) that I have found in books. These "bookmarks" can be important and I would encourage you to look through your family's cookbooks for "bookmarks." (Not convinced that there are important finds in "bookmarks" left behind in your family's cookbooks? Check out the blog Forgotten Bookmarks.)

What's Been Cookin' in Bureau County. Bicentennial Cook Book is the product of The Ladies of Bureau County Home Extension Association.(Illinois). This 1975 cookbook features recipes and line drawings of places around the county including short historical descriptions. Unfortunately, some of the recipes are not credited to an author but the beginning of the cookbook includes a credits page for those who assisted with the publishing of the cookbook.

Today's recipe is for Pickled Eggs. I'm using this recipe for two reasons. One is it isn't credited which is too bad since the author mentions her grandmother. Second it reminds me of my paternal grandmother and the pickled eggs she made. She used the juice of canned pickled beets for her eggs.

Food Friday: Yellow Peas with Bacon, Pork Loin and Sausages

2012-01-20T19:27:00.000-08:00

The Bishop Hill (Illinois) Heritage Cookbook ((c) 1982/seventh printing 1995) is everything you could want in a community cookbook. There is an introduction to food in the Bishop Hill Colony. This introduction/history includes when foods were introduced to their area, what people ate and what the typical day's menu was like in the 19th century.

Recipes in the cookbook include everything from the past to the modern. Names and some affiliations accompany recipes. Some of my favorites include the name of an exchange student and when he was living in the community. The cookbook ends with recipes from local establishments and foods served during events.

The Bishop Hill Heritage Cookbook is so much more than a cookbook, it's really a study of the community's food history.

Food Friday: Sauerkraut and Oysters

2011-12-30T13:06:00.000-08:00

"I like your cooking , I just don't like it when you cook stuff from 1870."
--My youngest son to me after being asked why he didn't like Pink Stuff.

Contrary to popular belief I do not make my children eat foods from the 1870s, for the most part. For the Holidays I decided to go ahead and make Pink Stuff, a jello dish I described in a previous post. While the adults loved it, the children were less then thrilled. They complained that the mixture of ingredients sounded awful (dry jello, cool whip, pineapple and cottage cheese) and that they didn't like the texture of cottage cheese.

Honestly, that suited all of us adults fine because that meant there was more for us.

For this Food Friday, I am posting a recipe for a dish where the ingredients don't sound like they would be good together but like Pink Stuff, this dish might be great. Sauer Kraut and Oysters is not a combination most people eat today. However, I love sauerkraut and like to imagine dishes aside from hot dogs were its use is embraced.

This recipe is from the "Cloud City" Cook Book by Mrs. Wm H. Nash (Ladies Congregational Church). Leadville:Co. Herald Democrat Steam Book and Job Printing House. 1889. Available from Internet Archive at
http://www.archive.org/stream/cloudcitycookboo00nash . The recipe was submitted by Mrs. Werner and can be found on page 44.

The history of Oysters in the United States is an interesting one. Our ancestors loved oysters and they were plentiful . I would highly recommend the book by Mark Kurlansky. The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell. New York: Ballantine Books, 2006.

Food Friday: Oh The Things We Eat During The Holidays

2011-12-23T09:24:00.000-08:00

I love that the Holiday season is like a time of free reign over eating pretty much everything and anything. Foods you would not eat during the rest of the year become fair game during the winter months.

So what types of things do you eat during the Holidays? I came across a series on unique holiday foods on NPR called Chompsgiving to Chew Year's: Holiday Dishes. This is a great series that shares family recipes and I highly recommend it.

From Flickr Commons

One of the reminiscence in this series is about ambrosia salad. Entitled, When Ambrosia Salad Spells Dread it tells the story of one man's repulsion to a jello dessert that in my family was officially called "Pink Stuff."

Now I must admit that I was considering making it for our Christmas luncheon. I like the stuff and I wonder what's not to like; it has dry jello folded into Cool-Whip with cottage cheese and fruit. It's not like some jello salads that I have seen recipes for that include ingredients like fish and cheese.

But to each his own. The one lesson in this is, write down those holiday recipes that are unique to your family so they can be passed down the generations.

Here is our family's recipe for the Pink Stuff though this is just one variation of the salad. I've also heard of people adding different canned fruits and even nuts.

Pink Stuff
This is a Jello dessert salad that my mom would make to serve at different holiday dinners.

1 package Strawberry Jello (You are using it in powdered form, do not prepare it)
1 tub of Cool Whip
1 contained of Cottage Cheese (small curd)
1-2 cans of mandarin oranges

Mix all the above ingredients together, mix well or the Jello crystals won’t dissolve. Once mixed, put in the refrigerator for a few hours to “set.”

You can choose to use different flavors of Jello and different fruit combinations.

Food Friday: Sandwich Spread

2011-12-09T16:03:00.001-08:00

Is it just me or do sandwiches always taste better when someone else makes them? I can use the same ingredients as a friend but when she makes the sandwich it tastes so much better. Maybe that explains the popularity of sandwich places where you pick what you want but someone else makes the sandwich right before your eyes. You could make your own gigantic sandwich at home but one a stranger makes tastes different, even with the same ingredients.

Today's Food Friday comes from the Ladies' Auxiliary of the Illinois Rural Letter Carriers Associaiton (1935).

From the Collection of Gena Philibert-Ortega

What could make a sandwich even better is if you used a sandwich spread. The following recipes may provide you some ideas for a homemade sandwich spread. These recipes also provide ideas for any green tomatoes that you might have.

War Time Food: Remembering Pearl Harbor

2011-12-07T07:30:00.000-08:00

From: http://www.flickr.com/photos/usnationalarchives/5531627685/

World War II in the United States was a time that affected all Americans. If we just focus on food, civilians were encouraged to eat less meat, use up all they had and grow as much as they could. Publications and propaganda posters of the time suggested ways to can and preserve foods, grow victory gardens, and how to substitute certain foods. Ration coupons helped insure supplies of both food and goods.

As you think about preserving your family's food heritage, consider finding out more about what your family ate during World War II. Look around your home and the home of relatives for cookbooks, recipes from newspapers, recipe booklets, and ration stamp books. Ask your family questions.

Bringing up the subject of food during World War II might stir up memories in family members you are interviewing. Some types of questions to consider might revolve around how what they ate was different during the war years (consider things like alternative meats that were consumed, food substitutes and rationing). Did the family grow and preserve their own foods to supplement what they purchased? What recipes do they remember from this time period?

Food history is a part of your family history. Now is the time to record this more recent food history so it's not lost to future generations.

Have You Documented the Holiday Foods You Ate?

2011-12-02T15:20:00.001-08:00

In my Thanksgiving blog posting, Thanks for the Memories: Thanksgiving I provided some ideas for questions to answer about your memories of Thanksgiving. The Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories, a month long series of blogging prompts, encourages bloggers to write up their Holiday food memories for December 2nd.

Check out the blog for links to blogger's posts about food memories. Remember, you don't have to be a blogger to record your food memories. That information can be included in a journal, family history book or a family cookbook.

Food Friday: Cheese Loaf

2011-12-02T14:52:00.001-08:00

Cookbook appears courtesy of Gary Clark, www.phototree.com

Now my true confession for this Food Friday is that I love cheese. Cheese is my food downfall and probably will result in a future heart attack. However, the following recipe for Cheese Loaf makes me wonder what the end result would taste like. The combination of cottage cheese and peanut butter is... interesting. This recipe is from the Bentley (Kansas) Community Cookbook 1942.

It's hard for me to imagine how you would use this. Would you slice it for a sandwich? Would you use it as a side dish? If you have partaken of the Cheese Loaf, please feel free to leave a comment for this posting and let me know.

The onions and peanut butter in this recipe also reminds me of a jr. high school history teacher I once had who enjoyed peanut butter and onion sandwiches. (But that recipe will be left for a future Food Friday).

Resource: St. Cloud Times Community Cookbooks

2011-11-28T13:20:00.001-08:00

The St. Cloud Times has a feature in their Life section where they take a community cookbook and provide a recipe from it. A search in their online archives shows over 100 postings of community cookbook recipes. Today's post was from the Avon Lakers' Ladies Cookbook (1980).

This is a nice feature and might be helpful to those who had/have family in this area. While it does not provide the names of everyone that contributed a recipe it does, through the title, let you know what is available.

The unfortunate part is that older articles require you to pay a fee to see the entire article. An abstract is free. Consider setting a Google alert for "community cookbooks" to keep up with the articles they post today and in the future.

Leftovers, Leftovers: The Thanksgiving Aftermath

2011-11-25T04:00:00.000-08:00

So all the food is put away. The guests are gone. Your house needs another cleaning. Now what to do with all that food?

Several editions of The Metropolitan Cook Book was published by Metropolitan Life Insurance in the 20th century. The 1925 edition provides homemakers with tips for healthy eating including advice well suited for today. A variety of foods is stressed in one tip, "there should be a liberal amount of fruits and green vegetables..." One of their "useful suggestions" state that "it pays to buy clean food from a clean store " (Amen to that).

The goal of the cook book is "to help the housewife in her everlasting question, "what shall I have for dinner to-night?" One of the sections tries to answer the question of what to do with leftovers. The introduction to those recipes state:

Almost any left-over meat may be combined with other foods, well seasoned, and be made up into very palatable dishes. Beef, veal, mutton, lamb, chicken and ham are all desirable and may be combined. Fish may be substituted for meat in many recipes. Trim off carefully all non-edible parts. Cut or chop mean in fine pieces of uniform size. Do not mash.

My guess is that for those who grew up in financially difficult times or during war time these recipes are easily recognized.

The recipes for leftovers include:

Thanks for the Memories: Thanksgiving

2011-11-21T16:17:00.001-08:00


Woman Cooking from the US National Archives. http://arcweb.archives.gov/arc/action/ExternalIdSearch?id=513406

As genealogists our concentration is rightly focused on the lives of our ancestors. While that should be the majority of our focus at some point it's a good idea to consider what our descendants will remember about us or even know about us. As we approach Thanksgiving I have been asking people that I know how is Thanksgiving different now from when you were a child?

Obviously, the people you gather to eat with now might be different. Where you eat the food might be different. One of the things I have been interested in is how is the food different?

One of the dishes we had when I was younger was mincemeat pie. This was one of the many pies that my great-grandmother made. I previously wrote about some of my thoughts about mincemeat in a blog post here. Suffice it to say pumpkin pie was my favorite and so I was not interested in there being any other pies. Eventually as people in my family weren't as interested in mincemeat pie and as my great-grandmother was unable to help with the cooking, that pie eventually disappeared from our Thanksgiving table. I will say now as an adult, I'm sorry I never tried a piece of my great-grandmother's mincemeat pie.

So as you start reflecting on Thanksgiving, think about recording some of your Thanksgiving memories that can be shared with family. These questions/answers can be included in a family cookbook, in a Christmas letter, in your genealogical database or even on your blog. These questions are going to be different depending on what years you are reflecting on. For me, Thanksgiving is different if I'm thinking of it from when I was in elementary school, later as a high school student and then as I have a family of my own.

Some questions to consider include:

Where did you spend Thanksgiving each year?

Who prepared Thanksgiving?

Who attended Thanksgiving? (names of family and friends)

Did you have any traditions that went along with Thanksgiving? (playing football, putting up Christmas lights, watching TV, saying a special prayer, etc).

What was your favorite Thanksgiving food?

What was the Thanksgiving menu? (include recipes of dishes)

Did you ever have a Thanksgiving disaster? (kitchen caught on fire, plumbing backed up, dog ate meal).

How was Thanksgiving different when you were a child (different food, different traditions).

What decorations were used for Thanksgiving?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Food Friday: Fried Squirrel ala World War II

2011-11-11T17:12:00.001-08:00

Recently, I was in Solvang (California) checking out the used cookbooks at the local bookstore, The Book Loft. (On a side note, these great independent bookstores are a dying breed and deserve our support). They had a great selection of community cookbooks compiled by all kinds of different fundraising groups. I ended up picking up a few that looked unique and then headed off to a play we were seeing that night.

On the long drive home, I started perusing the cookbooks and started wondering about the story behind one of the ones I had purchased. I couldn't quite figure out who the group was that compiled it. It was different than the church, school, hospital, alumni group, local community groups I was accustomed to. It was obvious the book had to do with World War II and after analyzing some of the stories I knew that the atomic bomb dropped at the end of World War II played some integral part in why these women knew each other.

This cookbook, a combination of recipes and memories, was complied by the Oak Ridge '43 Club. Members of this club were those living in Oak Ridge (Tennessee) in 1943. One of the nicknames of this city is the Atomic City. Those who lived in Oak Ridge lived under a veil of secrecy not only from the rest of the world but also to a degree, amongst themselves. They were working, unbeknownst to them, on materials for the Manhattan Project.

What I love about this cookbook is that it's not just a compilation of recipes of the time. It is a history, told in the words of the women who lived it. The book includes biographies, sketches of what the housing looked like at Oak Ridge and rich descriptions of their lives. This is truly a cookbook/history book. We definitely need more of them.

Today's Food Friday is a Fried Squirrel recipe. I think it's important to remember the foods people had to eat during hard times and to listen to their stories. To learn more about Oak Ridge see the Oak Ridge website. This cookbook is available here.

Food Friday: Bacon and Cottage Cheese Sandwich

2011-10-22T11:11:00.000-07:00

They say that bacon can go with just about everything. I'm not totally convinced that bacon is a good match for all things but am open to different combinations even those that include desserts with bacon like bacon doughnuts and chocolate covered bacon.

Today's Food Friday come from the cookbook highlighted last week, Recipe from Our Redeemer's (sic). Bacon and Cottage Cheese Sandwich is fairly easy to make, all you need is bacon, cottage cheese, onion salt, chives and bread. I would probably try this recipe and am curious if any of my readers have had it. I found a group on Facebook, On the 8th Day God Created Bacon and one of the members did post that her grandmother frequently made this sandwich.

Food Friday: Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

2011-10-15T10:45:00.000-07:00

I'm very lucky because my parents are constantly on the lookout for community cookbooks for me. At a recent library book sale they purchased a stack for me and one of them has quickly become my favorite.

Recipes from Our Redeemer's (sic). Our Redeemer's Lutheran Church Cook Book. Benson, Minnesota (1964) is a collection of 246 pages of recipes. All types of recipes are represented here, lots of desserts (I mean LOTS of desserts) and even a smorgasbord section (I'm a huge fan of smorgasbord). One of the reasons I like this cookbook is that a woman bought it for her friend and then she annotated the recipes so that her friend would know which ones were the good and very good ones. She also marked which recipes were from her family, which she notes are all very good. What a great idea, to give the cookbook as a gift and then annotate it for your friend.

So this Food Friday is a recipe I would gladly try. In honor of Thanksgiving next month today's recipe is for Pumpkin Chiffon Pie.

I have to also say I like the little tip below this recipe that remarks that if your pie crust doesn't turn out or the filling isn't right just top it with whipped cream or ice cream. Wise words indeed.

Food Friday: Tomato Milk

2011-10-07T18:09:00.000-07:00

One of my historical food interests is the foods served during World War II. This is an interesting time food wise because people had to not only make due with what they had but they had to do it while using ration coupons, food substitutes and enduring shortages.

One recipe I have seen in more than one cookbook from this time is for Tomato Milk also named Milk with Tomato Juice. I'm not sure why this ever seemed like a good idea except that it probably allowed one to stretch what little they had.

The recipe is always pretty much the same. It's basically tomato juice, milk and a pinch of salt or sugar (depending on your preference). The following is the recipe from Metropolitan Cook Book issued by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. Notice that there is also a recipe for Milk with Fruit Juice. Another cookbook I saw with this Tomato Milk recipe framed it in the idea that it was the perfect snack for children. (My opinion is it is not a good snack for kids unless you want your children running around yelling about how gross it is-for more on this, see below).

I had mentioned this recipe to my mom who voluntered to give a try since she had all the ingrediants handy. Well we just happened to be at my parent's house one day and she said "let's all try it." Well, what was I going to do? I couldn't just say, "hey mom you try it because I'm pretty sure it's really gross." So my mom, my youngest son (he loves to try weird foods) and I bellied up to the kitchen counter where she mixed the recipe using a pinch of salt. (The rest of the men in our family went outside to look at the garden, yeah right).

Now, I like all of the ingredients involved in this recipe. I love tomato juice. I like milk in my cereal and I love a good dose of sugar. This combination of ingredients reminds me of a drink some of the local Vietnamese restaurants have that is basically an avocado smoothie. I like avocados and I like smoothies, just not certain that avocado smoothie is the best idea for me. The same is true for tomato milk.

So why did I try it? Well I honestly wanted to figure out what was so appealing about that combination. I wanted to see if I could imagine serving it to kids as a "wholesome" snack. I wanted to take a drink of a World War II recipe.

So we tried it. The final result? Two of us felt sick to our stomachs the whole night and the third person ran around yelling about how gross it was. I'll let you figure out who was who.

Basically, it did have this creamy/acidic taste that I found pretty heavy. The taste is probably one you could imagine.

When I asked my Facebook friends if anyone had ever drank this, I didn't have anybody admitting to it but they did name off recipes that were similar ingredients-wise including a tomato gravy that includes milk.

The moral of this tale is that you should always be cautious when trying the foods of your ancestors. At least don't make plans for later in the day if your going to try something unusual. But it should also give you an appreciation of what they might have ate out of duty.

Food Friday: Eskimo Ice Cream

2011-09-29T12:19:00.000-07:00

Recently, I've had the opportunity to do some traveling and as part of that traveling I have sought out regional foods. Isn't that the great thing about traveling?

So in Springfield, Illinois I had the Horseshoe Sandwich.

The basic horseshoe is an open faced sandwich with meat, french fries and a cheese sauce. There are variations of the horseshoe including an Italian horseshoe that was also enjoyed on this trip.

In St. Louis, Missouri we had a few opportunities to eat BBQ.

At one of the BBQ restaurants we ate we tried boiled peanuts. A true regional food, I liked the boiled peanuts and actually preferred them to "regular" peanuts.

Community cookbooks reflect foods of their region. So they provide a wonderful glimpse into the types of foods available to our ancestor's community. Regional recipes sometimes seem a little strange to those not living in that community. I remember once looking at a recipe for picked eggs and wieners (not in separate jars but the same jar) and thinking that was strange. But it was a great glimpse of the foodways of this particular community.

Regional foods come about for so many different reasons, transportation, ethnic and religious influences, local chef inspirations. Sometimes, especially for our ancestors, the food might be reflect what is available locally.

Consider this recipe for Eskimo Ice Cream found in a cookbook from Nome, Alaska, Nome's Own Cook Book complied by the Ladies Aid Society of Federated Church (1946). My guess is that most of my readers won't be trying this recipe anytime soon.

Food Friday: Depression Dinner

2011-09-17T09:24:00.000-07:00

Probably everyone has an idea about how to make a low cost meal that your family will enjoy. I've seen articles addressing this topic in food magazines as well as websites and even YouTube. During difficult times like recessions, depressions and war this topic can be one of utter necessity.

If you Google the phrase "Depression Dinner" you will find various recipes, most include ground beef, for a meal with this title. The Depression Dinner recipe I found in the Our Favorite Recipes cookbook written by the Order of the Eastern Star, Towson Chapter (n.d., page 81) includes some canned foods. This would be a pretty inexpensive meal, probably costing under $5.00 to make if you were to do so today.

Have you come across any recipes called "Depression Dinner?" Have you made any of these recipes?

Food Friday: The Congressional Club Cook Book 1961

2011-09-03T09:58:00.000-07:00

Antique stores hold family history. Yes, much of what you will find is not the record of an individual family's life but more of a documentation of what our collective families used over time, in different time periods. But in some cases antique stores sell items that do name names and document an individual's life. These are items like postcards, photographs and correspondence.

So what does that have to do with community cookbooks? Well the other day as I was perusing some local antique stores I took a moment to go through some shelves of cookbooks. On one of the shelves I found The Congressional Club Cook Book from 1961. The Congressional Club members include the wives and daughters of members of Congress, of the Cabinet, and the Supreme Court. 1927 marked the first Congressional Club Cook Book and updated editions of the cookbook have been published ever since. In fact, you can purchase the latest Cookbook, the 14th edition, from the Congressional Club's website.

The 6th edition of the cookbook includes recipes from the wife of the President of the United States, the wife of the Vice-President of the United States, the Wives of Past Presidents of the United States, the Wives of the Justices of the Supreme Court, the Wives of Foreign Ambassadors, Wives of the Cabinet, Wives of Governors, Wives of the Senators of the Untied States, Wives of Representatives of the United States, Other Active, Associate and Non-Resident Members of the Club, the White House Kitchen, The Congressional Club Kitchen, and the Husbands (who cook) of the above categories.

Each recipe includes the signature, name and relationship to someone associated with the above groups. There are a few women included who are not associated with a man but are a Representative or hold a similar government position. What's also interesting is that though many of the women signed their names as Mrs. so and so, there are those that didn't, including Jacqueline Kennedy.

As is probably obvious by now, my research specialty is researching women via their material artifacts, the items they participated in and left behind including signature quilts, journal and diaries and community cookbooks. As I thumbed through this edition of the cookbook I found a recipe that was penned by the wife of a Representative from North Carolina, Mrs. Thurmond Chatham. Thurmond Chatham is my 2nd cousin three times removed. Finding that recipe provides an interesting piece of information to add to the Chatham Family History Book.

The recipe submitted by Patricia Firestone Coyner Chatham is shown below

Food Friday: Ritz Cracker Sandwiches

2011-08-19T18:38:00.000-07:00

Today's Food Friday is from the Bentley Community Cook Book contributed by the Ladies of Bentley and Their Friends. Compiled by Esther Circle of the Bentley Methodist Church (Kansas, 1942).

One recipe that caught my eye was the Ritz Cracker Sandwiches.

I love this recipe, it's simple and perfect for mom's that are multitasking. Almost like the 1942 version of a Lunchable. Just goes to show that not all the recipes grandma made were complex and not suitable for our hectic lifestyles.

Food Friday: Cookery for the Sick

2011-08-04T14:45:00.000-07:00

Community cookbooks were more than just books of recipes. Early cookbooks served as reference guides for women in which they were given instructions for how to prepare food for the sick, how to clean their homes, and medicinal remedies. Often, these cookbooks provided a wealth of knowledge for the women who owned them.

Today's cookbook is no different. The Third Presbyterian Cook Book and Household Directory (Chester, Pennsylvania, 1917) includes almost 300 pages of helpful advice and recipes for the women of the Chester community. In addition, a multitude of ads provides a virtual "phone book" of places that the lady of the house may want to visit to purchase supplies of services.

Consider the following ad complete with the board of director's names and some ideas about the nature of women and men.

page 64

The recipe for today is from the "Cookery for the Sick" section of this cookbook. While some of the recipes seem questionable as "curative" foods like Hamburg Steak, Cocoa and Chocolate Cream, others are pretty standard for the day, like Beef Tea, Milk and Rice Gruel and Soft Boiled Egg.

page 220

This is a great recipe with the name, occupation, and workplace of the contributor listed with the recipe. There is also some medical history within the recipe and the name of another nurse who contributed additional recipes.

Preserving and Sharing Family Recipes PDF from Family Tree Magazine

2011-07-30T10:16:00.000-07:00

I thought I would pass along an offer I received in my email today. Family Tree Magazine has a sale going on for some research guides that cover all kinds of genealogical research. One of the PDFs by Karen Edwards is the Step-by-Step Guide: Preserving and Sharing Family Recipes. You can order it for $4.00 and it's downloaded to your computer.

While I haven't talked about recipe cards on this blog, obviously they are an important family heirloom. Consider taking some time to preserve them and share them with others so that your family food traditions can be passed down.

There is also one other cooking related PDF on this flyer, which is History Matters: Utensils.

**Disclosure: I am writing a book for F + W Media which publishes Family Tree Magazine. I have purchased many F + W Media products over the years. No one asked me to post this article.

Food Friday: You Say Stuffing, I Say Dressing

2011-07-29T09:09:00.000-07:00

Today's Food Friday is unseasonal but it shows an aspect of community cookbooks that can be important to genealogists. Some cookbook, allow contributors to write a line or two about the origin of the recipe they are submitting. Such is the case with today's post from the Corpus Christi: 50 Years in the Baking church cookbook.

Unfortunately, I can't tell you too much about this cookbook. There is no publish date, though my guess is it's within the last 10-20 years. They mention Pacific Palisades in the introduction, so it appears to be from a parish in Pacific Palisades, California. This volume has lots of images, and places where contributors have talked about the recipe and where the recipe has been served, influences, etc.

Which brings us to today's recipe for Grandma Hannah's Thanksgiving Dressing by Carolyn Highberger whose recipe came via her mom who stood by her grandmother to record the recipe.

Not all community cookbooks follow the formula of only having a name with a recipe. While even that little information provides us with rich information, there are community cookbooks that include much more.

Food Friday: Perfection Salad

2011-07-22T18:04:00.000-07:00

Couldn't everyone use a little Perfection Salad? One recipe for it, shown below, comes from the Klamath Falls Ward (LDS Church), Klamath Falls, Oregon from their cookbook Our Favorite Recipes (1959).

Community cookbooks often have other types of advice or recipes aside from things to cook. Mock recipes like "How to Cook a Husband" offered advice in a lighthearted way. Cookbooks also featured household tips and healing advice. The front pages of Our Favorite Recipes provides some household tips that provide ideas to make life easier, not just how to clean your house.

Food Friday: Woman's Relief Corps of the Grand Army of the Republic

2011-07-15T11:16:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, especially with female ancestors, we forget that they may have been involved in a membership organization. Many different kinds of women's auxiliaries, organizations and clubs existed. One example is found in this community cookbook, simply titled Selected Recipes.

This book published by the Joe Spratt Woman's Relief Corps (Watertown, New York) is filled with recipes, none of which are attributed to anyone. (The Woman's Relief Corps was an auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic.) However, the real value is in the advertisements. Most likely this booklet has more ads than recipes but it gives us a great way to reconstruct the community. This cookbook and its ads almost seem like a city directory.

This cookbook appears to be from the early 20th century, there is no date, and while it contains no names of the members of this branch of the Woman's Relief Corps it does tell us much about their community. One of the interesting aspects of the ads is that they include a page with the names of different men running for public office. A great idea on those politician's parts taking advertisements out in a cookbook. My guess is this cookbook might have been published around 1920, when women were granted the right to vote. Additional research will help me pinpoint an approximate date.

If you Google "Joe Spratt Woman's Relief Corps" you will find additional information about this group through sources like Google books and newspapers found on the website Old Fulton Post Cards .

The recipe I chose for this Food Friday is one that illustrates one of the important aspects of researching cookbooks. Women wrote in their cookbooks. They made comments, made changes to the recipe, gave information about the contributor and wrote their experiences with the recipe. Some women stored newspaper clippings, other recipes and even letters in their cookbooks. Unfortunately, this cookbook owner didn't put her name on the book, but we can see what she thought of this doughnut recipe.

My guess is this recipe might not be very good. Try it at your own risk.

Food Friday: Roast Rabbit or Squirrel

2011-07-08T09:05:00.000-07:00

This Food Friday comes from the cookbook, Pittsburgh Tested Recipes, Prepared by the Ladies of Trinity ME Church (Smallman and Twenty-Fifth Streets). 1885.

One of the recipes in this collection is for Roast Rabbit or Squirrel (p. 152). The first thing you might notice about this recipe is the lack of directions and measurements. While there is a mention of a tablespoon of butter, the rest of the measurements are lacking. We also aren't told how long to cook the dish for. Cookbooks during this time period assumed that you knew "basics" of cooking so the recipes did not provide this information. Later, cooking instructor/cookbook author Fannie Farmer among others start adding measurements and exact directions in recipes, allowing women to follow a recipe and end up with the type of dish that the recipe gave instructions for.

This lack of instruction is very obvious in the next recipe found on the same page for Cookies.

The recipe for rabbit/squirrel is also a good reminder that our ancestor ate what was available to them. In an age where eating organic, local food wasn't a fad but a part of life, eating things that were native to your area and that provided an easy food source was a necessity.

Cluster Genealogy Points to Other Localities

The other thing to notice about the rabbit/squirrel recipe is that it is provided by a woman in Kentucky. This recipe found in a Pennsylvania cookbook most likely indicates that the contributor had lived in the Pittsburgh area at one time or had some sort of connection to a person in this church (maybe she was a sister-in-law or is a sister to one of the women). A good reminder that sometimes our ancestors are listed in places other than the locality where they lived.

An example of being listed in a resource in another locality that we as genealogists are more familiar with is obituaries. An obituary may be placed in the newspaper where the person lived and also in other newspapers around the country where a close relative lives or where the deceased lived at some point in their life.

Community Cookbooks are the City Directories of Women

Community cookbooks are much like city directories. They are a listing of a community of women, sometimes from a church, civic organization, membership group or a town. But aside from just the women, businesses are also listed, giving you a snapshot of that town during that time period. Those listings can be helpful in finding other documents in manuscript collections relating to your ancestor. Knowing the name of the local doctor, midwife, and funeral home can lead you to records that those people left behind that may mention your ancestor and their family.

Food Friday: What People Eat in July in Los Angeles, circa 1894

2011-06-30T19:17:00.000-07:00

How We Cook in Los Angeles: A Practical Cook Book Containing Six Hundred or More Recipes Selected and Tested by Over Two Hundred Well Known Hostesses Including a French, German and Spanish Department With Menus, Suggestions for Artistic Table Decorations, and Souvenirs. Ladies Social Circle, Simpson M. E. Church. (Available on Internet Archive )

Now this church cookbook is great for many reasons. One is the bounty of names in it from the book's publication committee to the 3 page list of contributors (names of those not living in Los Angeles, include their name and city/state), to the names of the women in the foreign "departments," and the officers and members of the Social Circle. Ads are also included in this cookbook.

Women from the following cities, aside from Los Angeles, contributed to this cookbook, Riverside, California, Orange, California; San Diego, California; Tustin, California; Pomona, California; Alhambra, California; Long Beach, California; Petaluma, California; Santa Barbara, California; New Brunswick; Boston; Bowling Green, Kentucky; and Philadelphia.

An essay entitled "Old Time Hospitality" by Jessie Benton Fremont is a nice family history/anecdotal stories of the author's life.

Today's Food Friday is a July breakfast menu from this book (page 47). Let me just say my kids will be happy that's not how we eat in Southern California now.

Food Friday: Campground Cookbook Genealogy

2011-06-03T12:29:00.000-07:00

While the cookbook highlighted today is not a traditional community cookbook, it is one where people were asked to send in recipes. Favorite Recipes from America's Campgrounds (1992) is published by the publishers of the Woodall's Campground Directory. In this cookbook, owners of campgrounds from all over the United States were asked to contribute recipes. All of the recipes include an introduction with information about that particular campground. The down side of this cookbook is that the name of the person submitting the recipes is not included. There happens to be some genealogical information in this cookbook but unfortunately the recipes are noted by the campground and not the owner or staff member that submitted the recipe. Luckily this recipe does appear to have the contributor's name, Eloise Dean, who also gives a history of her family. Consider the genealogical information in the following recipe found on page 118:

Food Friday: Potato Chip Dip

2011-05-20T13:55:00.000-07:00

The recipe for this week's Food Friday is not too remarkable but the book it comes from is. This recipe is from a cookbook that is a combination family and company book. Notice that the recipe not only includes the author's signature but also her residence.

The recipe is found in the Wurlitzer Centennial Cook Book 1856-1956: A Book of Recipes Covering Three Generations of the Farny and Wurlitzer Family and the Wives of Present Business Associates. The book includes recipes from their first cookbook as well as a short history of the Farney/Wurlitzer family,the business and their cookbook.

The Wurlitzer Company was originally a company that manufactured instruments. There is someone on Flickr who has digitized some of the first pages of the book that you can look at here.

Cookbook Bookstores

2011-05-07T13:49:00.000-07:00

I'm always on the lookout for resources for my writing and research. Used bookstores are one of the places that I search to find topics that I think might be interesting to write about. When writing about food, used bookstores are the best for helping me find books that document food through history. But even better than a used bookstore is a used cookbook bookstore.

Last week I went to The Cookbook Store in the Kensington neighborhood of San Diego. I was looking for community cookbooks and was not disappointed in the selection offered at this store. Ran by a cookbook collector, this store offered a great diversity of cookbooks.

Specialized bookstores like the one above provide you the opportunity to ask questions of a bookseller whose passion is that genre of books. They are knowledgeable about the history of that genre and can help you learn about where to get certain titles and how much to expect to pay for them. Getting to know a used bookseller can be as valuable as being friends with your local reference librarian.

There's a lot of great bookstores in San Diego and highly recommend checking them out. You can learn more about them by visiting the website for the San Diego Bookseller Association.

Food Friday: Catsup

2011-05-06T12:10:00.000-07:00

Today's recipe is from The Junior League of Salt Lake City's Heritage Cookbook (1976). Local cookbooks, in many cases, are not just places to find names and advertisements. They can also provide some history of a community. The following recipe for catsup provides a short history about the recipe and the name of a pioneer butcher from the area.

What's Cooking Uncle Sam Exhibit to Open

2011-04-12T06:42:00.000-07:00

If you are in the Washington D.C. area this exhibit may be of interest.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 1, 2011

National Archives Opens “What’s Cooking, Uncle Sam?” Food Exhibit

Opens June 10, 2011

Groundbreaking exhibit explores nation’s love affair with, fear of, and obsession with food

Washington, DC. . . On Friday, June 10, 2011, the National Archives will unveil a delectable new exhibition, What’s Cooking, Uncle Sam? The Government’s Effect on the American Diet.

Unearth the stories and personalities behind the increasingly complex programs and legislation that affect what we eat. Learn about Federal government’s extraordinary efforts, successes, and failures to change our eating habits. From Revolutionary War rations to cold war cultural exchanges, discover the multiple ways that food has occupied the hearts and minds of Americans and their government.

Food-related holdings of the National Archives are surprisingly yet tastefully presented in this exploration of the government’s role in the American approach to food. What’s Cooking Uncle Sam? is free and open to the public, and will be on display in the Lawrence F. O’Brien Gallery of the National Archives Building in Washington, DC, through January 3, 2012. The exhibition was created by the exhibit staff of the National Archives Experience with support from the Foundation for the National Archives.

The Government’s efforts to inspire, influence, and control what Americans eat have led to unexpected consequences, dismal failures, and life-saving successes. Records in the National Archives trace the origins of the programs and legislation aimed at ensuring that the American food supply is ample, safe, and nutritious. The records also reflect the effects the government has had on our food choices and preferences. At turns comic (blindfolded turkey tasting experiments) and tragic (lab notes on toxic candy), these records reveal the evolution of our beliefs and feelings about food. They convey the desperate voices of depression-era farmers, and explain how the government got into the business of publishing recipes for ham shortcake and teaching housewives to can peaches.

Dig into “What’s Cooking, Uncle Sam?” to learn the fascinating history behind the government’s involvement with food:

· What made canned meat, ketchup and candy so dangerous at the time of the Industrial Revolution?

· Why did Frank Meyer, foreign plant explorer, go from the vast grasslands of Manchuria to the tiger-patrolled mountains of Siberia in search of new foods?

· What did President Lyndon Johnson serve at White House State dinners?

· How can donuts improve morale?

“What’s Cooking, Uncle Sam?” offers visitors the chance to examine letters, diaries, photos, maps, petitions, films, patents, and proclamations from the food-related collection of the National Archives. Instead of a traditional chronological approach, the exhibition explores four broad themes: Farm, Factory, Kitchen, and Table.

Farm -Government has had a profound effect on the way farms are run and what they produce. The Department of Agriculture scoured the globe for new plant varieties, researched hybrid crops, distributed seeds to farmers, and controlled the prices of farm commodities. Learn how programs and legislation transformed agriculture in America.

Section highlights include:

· A musical program in support of the Office of Price Administration performed by Pete Seeger and others.

Factory - Government’s attempts to ensure the safety of an industrialized food supply have changed the nature of foods, production methods, labeling, and advertising. Public outcry over swill milk, rancid meat, and substandard tea led to the Pure Food and Drug Act and the FDA. Food producers quickly capitalized on new regulations, touting their products as “pure,” “enriched,” and “unadulterated.” See how the government embraced advances in food technologies, performed research on food production, and secured patents for some of their methods.

Section highlights include:

· Upton Sinclair’s original letter to Theodore Roosevelt on the hazards of the meatpacking industry.

Kitchen - As scientists made discoveries about nutrition, the government sought to change the eating habits of Americans. Most efforts aimed to reform the homemaker through nutrition education and cooking classes.

Table - Although many of its overt attempts to change our diets were unsuccessful, the government did succeed in changing and homogenizing American tastes in other ways. Meals served to soldiers and school children instilled food habits and preferences that persist today. The diets and entertaining style of the Presidents and First Ladies were also influential, as many Americans wrote the White House for recipes and incorporated Presidential favorites into their family meals.

Section highlights include:

· Jacqueline Kennedy’s menus for State dinners.

· President Johnson’s famous Pedernales River chili recipe.

What’s Cooking, Uncle Sam? -related products -- including a special exhibition catalogue, recipe books, apparel, and dishware -- will be featured in the Archives Shop. All Archives Shop proceeds support the National Archives Experience and educational programming at the National Archives.

For more information on “What’s Cooking Uncle Sam?” or to obtain images of items included in the exhibition, call the National Archives Public Affairs staff at 202-357-5300.

Food Friday: Ham Cornucopias

2011-04-08T12:12:00.000-07:00

The following recipe is not from a community cookbook, instead it's from a cookbook printed by the John Morrell & Company who produced ham products. Titled, Treasured Recipes of the Old South, this 1941 cookbook pamphlet features ham recipes of all kinds including the following luncheon recipe.

The recipe is a combination of folded ham with a pickle inserted inside to look like a lily and then served on top of a gelatin vegetable salad with mayo and vegetable salad congealed inside a mold.

Your Family's Food Tradtions Wanted for a New Book

2011-03-31T07:11:00.000-07:00

The following is a press release about a new book from F & W Media, the same publishers that bring you Family Tree Magazine. Typically, I don't post press releases but this one is different. It's is about a book that I am writing.

I am very excited about this different look at our ancestor's lives and hope that you will consider telling your family's food story.

March 31, 2011

For Immediate Release

Contact: Jacqueline Musser

(513) 531-2690 x 11467 or

jacqueline.musser@fwmedia.com

Share Recipes and Traditions for a New Family Tree Book

Food is a key ingredient in every family’s history: Dad’s Saturday morning pancakes, the marzipan Granny served every Christmas, the spaghetti sauce recipe passed down from your Sicilian great-great-grandmother. Family Tree Books wants to know about your family’s food traditions—we’re collecting short essays for a book to be published in spring 2012. We’ll select 8 submissions to feature in the book based on these criteria:

Submissions should be between 1,000 and 2,000 words.
Essays should tell the story of a real tradition, specifically:

o What is the tradition?

o Who started it and when?

o What cultural or regional background does the dish or tradition represent? (for example, is it a US regional specialty or a product of your ancestry in Germany, Sweden, Mexico, etc.?)

o What does the tradition mean to you and your family?

Submissions should include a recipe described in the story and a family photo—of the original chef, people described in the story or yourself. (Pictures of the dish itself may be submitted but likely will not be published.)

To enter: E-mail your essay to FTMedit@fwmedia.com with the subject line: Family Food Traditions no later than July 13, 2011. To be considered, submissions must adhere to the following specifications:

Essays in Microsoft Word (.doc or .rft) or plain-text format. Do not paste your essay into the body of an email.
Photos in JPG or TIFF format, 300 dpi or higher resolution.
Name, mailing address, phone number and email address given in email message and within the essay.

By submitting, you acknowledge that your entry is your original, previously unpublished work, and you give F+W Media, Inc., permission to use your submission in all print and electronic media. Submitters of chosen essays will be notified via email by September 13, 2011, and receive a copy of the book after publication in May 2012.

Food Friday: Chocolate and Tomatoes

2011-03-19T08:48:00.000-07:00

One way to market a food brand or an appliance is to provide a cookbook with purchase or as a premium. You probably have a few of these sitting around your house. The last one we received was in the packaging of our outdoor grill.

While a cookbook for an outdoor grill will have everyday favorites, some cookbooks for food products in years gone by included, let's say, imaginative ways to use the food product. Obviously, the more ways you convince someone they can use a food product the more likely you are to sell large quantities of that food product.

As I was reading The Food Chronology by James Trager I came across an interesting way to incorporate a candy bar into a side dish. The Oh Henry! candy bar company distributed a free cookbook in the early 1920s. One of the dishes was Oh Henry! Stuffed Tomatoes. This dish included two Oh! Henry candy bars, three tomatoes, mayo, lettuce and salt. I found a food blogger, the Candy Professor, who posted the recipe and instructions should you want to serve this for your Easter buffet.

Trager also writes that the one of the other recipes is Oh Henry! Surprise Pie. Boy I would sure like to know what that was.

What Have New York Restaurants Served Historically?

2011-03-16T18:01:00.000-07:00

Restaurant menus can tell us a lot about a historical period. They provide another look at what people ate that can be different than what we find in cookbooks. Eating out would have been out of necessity (like when you travel) or for a special occasion, unless the person was wealthy.

Digitized collections give researchers easier access to materials that may not be studied as much if it was not digitized. Recently the New York Public Library has announced that they are digitizing more than 40,000 menus dating back to 1843 from the city's restaurants.

The New York Post has an article about this project here. You can currently search the New York Public Library digitized American Menu Collection. Consider menus as a way to add social history to your family history narrative.

What is Ephemera?

2011-03-06T10:42:00.000-08:00

One of the questions I am asked when I present to audiences is what the word "ephemera" means. Ephemera is something that genealogists and historians deal with quite a bit but may not know that there is a word to describe it.

Ephemera is generally some type of printed matter that was not meant to be kept or archived. There are many items that have genealogical or historical value that fit this description. Greeting cards, posters, menus, tickets, receipts are all ephemera.

Our ancestor's hand written recipes, newspaper clippings and some cookbooks may also not have meant to be archived and last generations. However, when they do last they provide an important snapshot of our ancestor's day to day life.

While ephemera may be a home source it may also be archived at a museum, library or archive. To learn more about ephemera see the website for the Ephemera Society of America.

Food Friday: Chicken Tuna Casserole

2011-01-28T16:20:00.000-08:00

I like a good casserole and have been known to make a few, but I think this casserole might be on my doctor's list of forbidden foods. Notice that not only does it have a 1/2 lb of Velveeta cheese (yum) it includes onions or green peppers fried in butter. (In all fairness it says that you can just dice them and put them in milk.) My favorite part has to be the potato chip topping. Course if I made this, I may just eat all the Velveeta and call for reservations.

And we wonder why Americans have such a high incident of heart disease?

This recipe is from the 1958 community cookbook entitled The Husband Holder compiled by the editors of the Newhall Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It's a good peek at food in the 1950s which included lots of cream soups, casseroles, and jello.

Oh and for those who don't like tuna, don't worry. There's no tuna in this recipe.

Food Friday: Fruit Cake

2010-12-24T03:00:00.000-08:00

I have a confession to make. I like fruit cake. I realize this is like confessing to a criminal act, but I don't care. I like fruit cake. Maybe because no one ever forced me to eat it. Maybe because no one has ever given me one. But I do like it.

Here are three recipes from ladies who probably liked it as well. Notice that all their spices are from Folger's. Quite possibly they were a sponsor of this community cookbook. All but one recipe calls for some liquor. To see a better copy of these recipes, see the cookbook .

These recipes are from the California (San Francisco) M.E. Church Cook Book by the Ladies' Aid Society (n.d.), page 41.

List of Contributors to the Gulf City Cook Book, 1878

2010-12-22T08:01:00.000-08:00

While typically you have to read through a community cookbook to find the names of all the women who contributed, there are times when an index or list is provided. Sometimes this index provides the page numbers and other times it's simply a list of names.

Such is the case for the Gulf City Cookbook found on Internet Archive.

Have family from Mobile, Alabama who attended the Methodist Episcopal Church, South? You may want to check this list of recipe contributors found on page 9 of the cookbook. Of course, women who are married are listed by their husband's name.

Food Friday: Scottish Woodcock

2010-12-17T10:59:00.000-08:00

This recipe from The Community Cook Book by the First Presbyterian Church, South Orange, New Jersey (1917) is featured in the Lucheon Dishes section of the cookbook. I've noticed that these luncheon dishes feature lots of cheese. Something that I highly approve of but my doctor doesn't.

I should point out that no woodcocks are harmed in the making of this recipe. Although there is no woodcock in this recipe, it is a bird that is hunted and ate by some. Not sure what a woodcock is? There is a Wikipedia article that tells about this bird.

Woodcock was a bird that Shakespeare referred to in Hamlet. According to a paper written by blogger Madaleine Laird, woodcocks were "prized by those who hunt them" because of their taste and their intelligence. They were caught in at least two ways during the Bard's time. One was to create a snare to catch them and the other involved "limeing" which required smearing a sticky solution on nearby tree limbs and leaving behind some corn to tempt the woodcock. The woodcock lands on the limb and is stuck to it.

So below is the Scottish Woodcock recipe sans the woodcock.

If you would like some recipes featuring woodcock, click here.

My thanks to Madaleine Laird for quoting her paper Springes and Lime: Images of Trapped Birds in Hamlet.

A Genealogy Community Cookbook

2010-12-14T16:07:00.000-08:00

I was excited to receive in the mail yesterday the Conejo Valley Genealogical Society cookbook, A Dash of Thyme. This cookbook is beautiful with vintage photos and recipes from Conejo Valley Genealogy Society members as well as "celebrity" genealogists. The celebrity genealogists include those local to Southern California like Barbara Renick, Jean Wilcox Hibben and Colleen Fitzpatrick and those outside of California like Lisa Alzo, Dear Myrtle, Maureen Taylor, Paula Stuart-Warren and Megan Smolenyak (just to name a few).

You can find the recipe for my great-grandmother's fudge on page 128.

To order this 144 page cookbook contact the society at cvgscookbook@gmail.com.

Food Friday: Mock Turtle Soup

2010-12-10T11:43:00.000-08:00

This community cookbook, My Mother's Cook Book, from the Ladies of St. Louis, compiled for the Women's Christian Home has a few recipes for Mock Turtle Soup (see page 17 for two versions).

For the squimish cook, I would recommend the mock soup versus the Turtle Soup found on page 19 that requires the decapitation and bloodletting of a live turtle. (That's something you won't find on Food Network.)

Funeral Home Advertisement for Newark, New Jersey

2010-12-05T11:17:00.000-08:00

Here, the second advertisement on the page, is a possible lead on a funeral home that existed in 1917 in Newark, New Jersey. Notice that the advertisement provide the name of the mortician's father. This might indicate his father was the previous mortician. Which may also show that the funeral home was in existence for a longer period of time.

This advertisement is found in The Community Cook Book. Compiled and Published by the Women's Auxiliary of the First Presbyterian Church. South Orange, New Jersey. 1917.

Advertisers Index from The Community Cook Book. South Orange, New Jersey

2010-11-30T15:46:00.000-08:00

As I have written previously, many community cookbooks have advertisements scattered among the recipes. This was a win-win situation for both the group who was publishing the cookbook and the business advertising. This is also great for genealogists and researchers since that provides information that includes people's names and occupations. So genealogists should do more than use community cookbooks to look for their female ancestor's names. They should also be seeking out these cookbooks to learn more about the community, especially if their ancestor was a business owner. Community cookbooks are a great source for social history when you are learning more about an ancestor's community and time period.

I received in the mail today one of my latest community cookbook acquisitions. The Community Cook Book. Compiled and Published by the Women's Auxiliary of the First Presbyterian Church. South Orange, New Jersey (1917) not only includes many advertisements but it also has an alphabetical index to the advertisers. (Too bad there isn't an index to the recipe contributors as well).

This cookbook is without its original cover which may have included the owner's name on the inside. But I do like how the owner inscribed the top of the title page with the names of two women and the words "recipes-good".

The First Presbyterian Church in South Orange, New Jersey who compiled and published this cookbook is still in existence. You can see their website here.

Cookbook Advertising Directed at Women 1912

2010-11-28T09:12:00.000-08:00

One of the great aspects of community cookbooks is that they often include advertisements from community businesses. These advertisements helped pay for the printing of the cookbook. In the example below, the bank decided to target women in their advertisement, which was smart since they were the ones who used the cookbooks. The bank was probably also seeing the potential in new customers.


From the Hathi Trust Digital Library, http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uiuo.ark:/13960/t86h4hv6v

I wonder how many banks today have a furnished rest room?

Of genealogical value in this ad are the names of the bank's officers at the bottom.

This advertisement and others are from the Christopher House Guild Cook Book, Compiled by the Christopher House Guild of the First Presbyterian Church, Evanston, Illinois (1912).

New Jersey Community Cookbooks

2010-11-27T18:49:00.000-08:00

Have a female ancestor from New Jersey? There is a list of New Jersey community cookbooks on the Rutgers University Libraries website. These cookbooks were written by women from churches to membership organizations from 1900 to the present day.

Food Friday: Jellied Veal Loaf

2010-11-26T13:21:00.000-08:00

I like gelatin but I must admit that the combination of meat with gelatin doesn't thrill me. I grew up with lots of Jello for dessert but mostly it was combined with fruit or a whipped topping. I remember the first time I saw a tomato aspic mold, I was about 20 years old, I couldn't understand why in the world someone thought that combining Jello and tomatoes was a good idea. (Now, if you like tomato aspic, please forgive me for the above comment, we all have our food preferences).

So for this Food Friday, a gelatin recipe you are probably glad no one made yesterday for Thanksgiving. This is one of many in this genre.

I highlighted this cookbook and recipe before. You can read that posting here.

From Spirit Lake Cook Book (1937).

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T07:22:00.001-08:00

From: http://hubpages.com/hub/Thanksgiving-vintage-postcards

1913 Student Recipe Book from Brigham Young College

2010-11-21T11:52:00.000-08:00

From Brigham Young College Recipes (1913) available from University of Utah.

While this cookbook is not a community cookbook, it is a cookbook written by a Brigham Young College student and her instructor that includes contributions from other women. Recipes appear to be from instructors at the college and family members. The description for this cookbook, found through the Mountain West Digital Library, says, "Brigham Young College Cooking Recipes cook book, handwritten and compiled by Mary Carl [Carlisle] and instructor Phoebe Nebeker. Included in the cookbook are recipes for first and second year domestic arts students at Brigham Young College...."

This Brigham Young College Cooking Recipes cookbook is a handwritten book with some damage. The archive description indicates a date of about 1913 for this cookbook. However, one recipe found on page 53 shows a date of May 27 '12 . Though the recipes are from the early 1900s, there are many that we would be familiar with today including fondant, cheese fondue (page 21) and beef stew (page 31). Some recipes are probably more reflective of their historical era like the recipe for Rock Buns (page 38) which is some sort of biscuit with currants.

Looking for an idea for those Thanksgiving leftovers? What about Potato Candy? Chocolate does make everything taste better...

From Brigham Young College Recipes (1913) available from University of Utah.

This is a great piece of food history that indicates just some of the recipes being used by domestic arts students at Brigham Young College in the early 1900s.

Food Friday: Tomato Appetizer

2010-11-19T12:19:00.000-08:00

I had been thinking of doing something fun on Fridays featuring community cookbook recipes. The title Funky Food Friday seemed appropriate but I decided that I didn't want people to feel insulted in case they enjoy the recipes I feature. But let me just say that each Food Friday installment will feature more unusual recipes.

This first installment of Food Friday is from a community cookbook that was part of my maternal great-grandmother's collection. Schooners Recipes was written by the Schooner Club of The First Presbyterian Church in Monrovia, California. It has a publish date of November, 1964. Although the recipes do feature the contributor's names, this particular one does not.

Our first recipe is for a tomato drink that includes whip cream and horseradish.

So basically this is hot tomato juice with a frothy topping of whip cream and horseradish. I like all of those ingredients but not sure I want them put all together.

Community Cookbook Contributors Aren't Always in the Same Community

2010-11-18T08:00:00.000-08:00

Typically, when we see a community cookbook, the contributors are those who are somehow a part of the local community. They all attend the same church, their kids go to the same elementary school or they share a favorite charitable cause.

However, one's community may be more broad than that. In genealogy there is the concept of cluster research. Cluster research looks beyond the individual and looks at those who had contact with the individual ancestor, like local business people, neighbors, and midwives. Our ancestor's did not live in a vacuum and because of this those cluster members may have documented your ancestors and their dealings with them.

The same is true for community cookbooks. Although the majority of the contributors have a local common bond, they may include others who share in that bond but are not part of the local group. A good example is that recently a genealogy society asked me to contribute a recipe to their community cookbook. While I have never been to that society, they asked because of our common bond as genealogists. This group is at least 2 hours from where I live and my guess is no one would think to look in this cookbook for my name.

Not all community cookbooks include recipes from those who live elsewhere and in many cases, it may only include a few from the mother or sister of one of the contributors. But there are other cookbooks that include many recipes from those living elsewhere. Such is the case for a list I was looking at for a Baptist Cook Book, Mount Vernon, Missouri (1895). The list of those contributing recipes was reprinted in the Ozar'Kin Vol. XIX, No. 4 (Winter 1997), available through the Periodical Source Index (PERSI).

The list of contributors is quite large but below are contributors not living in the state of Missouri.

Miss Hannah Burson- Salineville, Ohio
Miss Lucy A Boucher- Seattle, Kentucky
Miss Fannie Burson- Alliance, Ohio
Mrs. Ruth G. Clark- Charlotte, Michigan
Mrs. L. J. Cunningham- Oakland City, Indiana
Mrs. V. J. Covell- Box 152, Rock Island, Illinois
Mrs. J. W. Daniels- Van Buren, Arkansas
Mrs. James Gillingham- Charlotte, Michigan
Mrs. Mattie L. Hardy- Waterville, Kansas
Miss Emilie W. Henrich- Humboldt, Kansas
Mrs. Rose Hetherington- Salinesville, Ohio
Jennie L. Hall, Nobleboro- Maine
Miss Lizzie Long, Atwater- New York
Mrs. Pantha Marbut, Lockport- Illinois
Mrs. R. E. Mason, Rockford- Kansas
Fanny Oliver- Alicel, Oregon
Mrs. Anna E. Richardson- Palatine, West Virginia
Mrs. W. P. Roberts- Loveland, Colorado
Mrs. May Roe- Alicel, Oregon
E. M. R.- Nobelboro, Maine
Mrs. Jennie Starr- Eureka Springs, Arkansas
Emma Sewell- Coleman, Texas
Mrs. M. Vomberg- Charlotte, Michigan
Mrs. Naomi Young- 816 19th St, San Francisco, California
Mrs. Lizzie Young - Atwater, New York

While it currently may be near impossible to figure out if your ancestress is in a community cookbook for a different location, it is important to be mindful of her associations. Those associations can yield clues to her life.

Using Cookbooks as Family History Books

2010-11-17T12:12:00.000-08:00

Yesterday one of my Facebook friends posted a link to a news story about a family who took their family history and recipes and created a cookbook. (Read more about the story entitled, Family Records 160 years of History in Cookbook.)

One of my cousins did something similar to this. She wrote a cookbook where she included a brief story with each recipe. Stories included the author of the recipe, memories of that person and when they cooked the dish (for example it it was a holiday or a family favorite). As I looked through her cookbook I noticed the names of ancestors as well as family friends. This cookbook is a non-traditional family history narrative.

A family cookbook could include quite a bit of family history including photographs of ancestors, images of their homes, kitchens, recipe cards or even signatures. And of course stories behind each recipes should be included. Not only is this a great genealogical gift for those family members who are not into genealogy but it's a great way to document and pass along your family's history.

Menu from Camp Funston, 1917

2010-11-11T14:00:00.000-08:00

On this Veterans Day I want to thank all those who are serving and who have served in the military. Your service is appreciated.

So thinking about Veterans Day and its precursor Armistice Day, I started wondering what people were eating during the World War I years. I came across a menu available through a digitized menu collection at the Los Angeles Public Library, for Camp Funston, Kansas.

Camp Funston holds an important place in the history of World War I. Funston saw nearly 50,000 recruits trained there. Also, it was the camp that had the first reported incidence of the Spanish Flu, the flu that was responsible for the 1918 Flu Epidemic. (To learn more about Camp Funston, see Wikipedia)

On December 25, 1917 a special meal was prepared for the 353rd Infantry at Camp Funston.

From the Los Angeles Public Library Menu Collection, http://www.lapl.org/resources/en/menu_collection.html

Many of the menu items reflect what we are use to seeing as a traditional Holiday dinner; turkey and stuffing with yams and cranberry sauce, vegetables and desserts. Probably the only thing that looks out of place on a menu are the cigars and cigarettes. This menu reflects its time and what was available in Kansas. I'm assuming the mention of California fruits may have been a special treat.

Checking out a menu collection allows you to see what your family may have ate when they went out. It's a great way to gain some social history perspective on your ancestors.

Houston Presbyterian Church Cookbook circa 1883

2010-11-07T09:55:00.000-08:00

Information about Church Cookbooks seem to be almost everywhere. Case in point is the inclusion of a page from a Presbyterian Church Cookbook in the book, Houston 1860-1900 by Ann Dunphy Becker (published by Arcadia and part of their Images of America series). On page 31 she has an image of a page from this cookbook, no other publication information is listed. It also appears that the recipes from this cookbook may not have the names of submitters attached to them but it's hard to tell looking at only one page.

The page the author used in her book is part of the Miscellaneous Receipts section of the cookbook. What's interesting is that one of the recipes is for cough syrup and presumably one of the owners used a pencil to cross out the recipe and wrote next to it "Mistake. Do not use. Poison." This might be a good warning in general that cures from the "olden" days may not be the best ones to use now.

That's one way to cure a cough.

What Did Your Family Eat in the 1920s?

2010-10-25T16:39:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder about your ancestor's life in the 1920s? The website, The Roaring Twenties: A Historical Snapshot of Life in the 1920s and their blog, provides some great information about all sorts of social history including food.

The short article on food includes information on what foods were ate, appliances and prohibition. A list of food advertisements provides an idea of what was available from various companies.

Other pages that relate to food include Prohibition and Garden.

The El Paso Cookbook

2010-10-24T18:23:00.000-07:00

In many cases, community cookbooks are self published in small runs so that many are never archived. The total number of community cookbooks ever published will probably never be known. But in a rare case, a cookbook may be reprinted and annotated for a modern audience. Such is the case for the El Paso Cookbook, originally written to benefit the Ladies Axillary of the Y.M.C.A. in El Paso, Texas. This book is available to read at Google Books and available for sale at Amazon.

This cookbook provides a short history of charity cookbooks in Texas. Edited by Andrew F. Smith, a Culinary Historian, he writes in the introduction, "The El Paso Cookbook is valuable from a historical standpoint-for what it tells us about El Paso and what it tells us about cookery at the beginning of the twentieth century."

This reprinting of an 1898 cookbook provides us with the names of 85 recipe contributors. According to Smith, women contributing recipes were local women, women whose husband's were stationed at Ft. Bliss, and women from other cities in Texas, Pennsylvania and Minnesota. In the case of women who were not living in El Paso, their city is listed next to their name just under the recipe title. Along with recipes, there are also advertisements for local businesses.

Looking for cemeteries in El Paso? Well this cookbook includes a full page advertisement for Concordia Cemetery (page 65). The ad states "This cemetery is situated upon high ground thirty feet above the river level. It has been greatly improved and beautified under the new management and no effort will be spared to add to its attractiveness. The Masonic and Odd Fellows' Societies, the Jewish and Catholic Churches and other organizations have their burial grounds immediately adjoining this cemetery."

One of the funnier ads found in this cookbook is for an insurance company which proclaims "Before trying the recipes in this book, have you lives (sic) insured with The Equitable Life Assurance Society." (page 98).

Those with ancestors in El Paso at the turn of the century might find the ads, and the names of the women contributors in this volume, of interest to your research.

On the Bookshelf: The American History Cookbook

2010-10-18T19:19:00.000-07:00

I've been reading various cookbook histories and picked up The American History Cookbook by Mark H. Zanger at my local library. This book provides the reader with historical information on food and recipes throughout American history. These recipes are largely from cookbooks published in each historical era. Recipes begin with America before it was "discovered" and then continue through history to include the Revolutionary War, Early American Health Food, The Civil War, Settlers and Homesteaders, World War I, The Great Depression, World War II and ends in the 1970s. With over 50 chapters providing information on food during different time periods, you are bound to get some ideas about what your ancestor may have ate or may have had access to.

One aspect of my own family food history I find interesting is the differences in the diet of my mother's family vs. my father's family. For example, my paternal great-grandmother use to make a bunch of pies each Thanksgiving. There were many different flavors to choose from. One was mincemeat pie. Now as a young girl, just the name of that pie was enough to make me run. The name alone made it seem like a pie to avoid, especially since the pumpkin pies were plentiful. Her version of this pie is probably what many people are familiar with. It was a mixed fruit pie. I have noticed that some stores even sell mincemeat in jars that you can then pour into a pie crust.

For my mother's side of the family, mincemeat was a lot like it sounded. It was a meat pie. There was no fruit in it.

Reading The American History Cookbook provided me with some other versions of mincemeat pie. One of which, is found in the Temperance and Prohibition Recipes (1837-1930) section on page 195. This recipe calls for beef heart, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, salt, molasses, apples and raisins. So a mixture of meat and fruits fill this pie. This recipes was found in a temperance cookbook, substituting the brandy usually found in the recipe from that era, with molasses.

The second recipe a Green Tomato Mincemeat from 1940 (page 394) shows a version where green tomatoes and apples are used in a "mock" mincemeat pie version.

Obviously, food preferences change over time. What may have been considered everyday fare in the past may have all but disappeared in the present. Food availability, food storage methods, money and other factors largely determine our diets. Reading cookbooks like The American History Cookbook provides us with some ideas about the food lives our ancestors lived. And doesn't that make for a more interesting family history?

Church Record Sunday: Historic Paxton Church Cookbook

2010-10-16T23:00:00.000-07:00

You have to love a cookbook that has so much rolled into it. Not only does the cookbook, Historic Paxton, Her Days and Her Ways 1722-1913. Family Recipes Contributed by The Women's Aid Society of Paxton Church have recipes but it also has a comprehensive history of this Paxton, Pennsylvania church. This history includes not only the church, the ministers, and the attached school but even the history of the graveyard. This is my kind of cookbook! There is 144 pages of historical content before you reach the recipes section.

To get to the recipes you will need to forward the book to page 145 which begins the cookbook portion with bread recipes. The names of the women who provided recipes in this cookbook are largely listed by their husband's names. While this does happen occasionally in early cookbooks it still provides information on when your family lived in a certain area and what organizations they belonged to. Names of those who submitted recipes in this book include:

Mrs. Marshall Rutherford
Mrs. J. E. Rutherford
Mrs. Bellett Lawson
Mrs. Thomas Lyter
Mrs. F. O. Tayler
Mrs. J. Q. A. Rutherford
Mrs. S. F. Barber
Mrs. W. Franklin Rutherford
Mrs. Charles Smith
Mrs. John Y Boyd
Miss. Eliza E. Rutherford
Mrs. J.A. Lutz
Miss Margaret S. Rutherford
Miss K. Virginia Ruhterford
Mrs. Charles Forney
Mrs. James Boyd
Mrs. Edgar Martin
Mrs. J. F. Myers
Miss Janet Elder
Mrs. S. Gray Bigham
Miss Keziah Rutherford
Mrs. Arthur Bailey
Mrs. Alison Mayhew
Mrs. H. F. Kramer
Mrs. Howard A. Birchall
Mrs. John Wensell
Mrs. Thomas Smallwood
Mrs. John Elder
Mrs. Wm. Sourbur
Mrs. Ricker
Mrs. S. H. Rutherford
Mrs. Donald I. Rutherford
Miss Eleanor G Rutherford
Mrs. George C Martin
Mrs. Hudgins
Mrs. J. H. Sheesley
Mrs. Harry Holmes, Jr.
Mrs. George Sheaffer
Miss Isabella Rutherford
Mrs. A. P. L. Dull
Mrs. Kochenderfer
Mrs. H. A. Rutherford
Miss Helen Rutherford
Mrs. Daniel Ricker
Mrs. J. C. Wensell
Mrs. John Schuster
Mrs. William Kunkle
Mrs. Harry Fitting
Mrs. Joshua E. Rutherford
Miss Matilda Elder
Mrs. Harry Holmes
Mrs. S. Ralston Dickey
Miss June Rutherford
Miss Mary B Rutherford
Miss Martha K Rutherford
Mrs. Howard A Rutherford
Mrs. Robert C Welsh
Miss Margaret Brown Rutherford
Mrs. E. M. Mulock
Mrs. Darwin F. Pickard
Miss Eva Kunckle
Miss Caroline Smallwood
Miss Inda H Kauffman
Mrs. J. S. Rose
Mrs. J. A. Rose
Mrs. Francis W. Rutherford
Mrs. David Martin
Mrs. Kochenderfer
Mrs. Matthew B. Elder

Women are also acknowledged in the beginning pages by the editor for their contribution to this history. This cookbook is rich with detail and if you ancestor is listed, you will learn much about their time and their religion as well as what they ate.

Recipes from the Past: Vinegar Pie

2010-10-14T19:20:00.000-07:00

Have you ever thought about the food that generations past ate but that for whatever reason is absent from your dinner table? I'm always interested in knowing why some of the dishes of our parents or even grand-parents generation no longer are fixed. Now, I do realize that in some cases you wouldn't want them to end up on your dinner plate. My grandmother made head cheese and though I realize some people like it, I'd prefer not eat it.

One of the mailing lists I subscribe to is sponsored by the Association for the Study of Food and Society. In one of the threads there was a mention of vinegar pie. I, like others, have not tasted vinegar pie. However, I have seen mention of it in several of my older cookbooks. I wonder why it has lost favor in the pie world? The name may be the reason, but maybe fruit pies are just preferred in our era of access to fresh fruit all year long.

So fast forward to today when I was doing some research and saw an article by genealogist Myra Vanderpool Gormley entitled, Vinegar Pie, Cat's Eyes and Tales From Grandma's Kitchen from the Nov/Dec 2006 Ancestry Magazine.

In this article she talks about her favorite pie being vinegar pie. She describes the ingredients as "eggs, sugar, cornstarch, apple cider vinegar, cream of tartar and vanilla extract. Later meringue is added to the top of the filling and browned.

So have you had vinegar pie? What does it taste like? Do you make it still or is it simply a pie of the past in your family?

Libraries and Websites to Find Community Cookbooks

2010-10-03T11:26:00.000-07:00

This list will be migrating over to the right side bar but for now I thought I would bring your attention to just a few places that have collections of community cookbooks. These resources are not just regional, they have collections from all over the United States. This list is in no particular order.

Libraries

Los Angeles Public Library

University of Illinois Library

Library of Congress

Radcliffe Institute Schlesinger Library Harvard University

Websites

Internet Archive

Where Can I Find Community Cookbooks?

2010-09-24T11:17:00.000-07:00

As with any new resource that you want to research for clues to your family history, the most important question is where to find that resource. Currently, community cookbooks are a little different than the majority of genealogical resources we typically use. They are not indexed in a database. They are not available on a subscription site. And because they are largely self-published, they are not part of all library collections. So what's a researcher to do?

Well, that's when it's necessary to not mull over where they aren't but where they are. So start with considering the possibility that they are a home source. Does any family member have a community cookbook that might have recipes from family members? We often don't ask to see books that family members own, so it's not a source that those providing you with information would think of. So ask.

Check out library catalogs. There are some collections of community cookbooks housed in various libraries throughout the United States. A good example is the Los Angeles Public Library which has a large collection of cookbooks, including community cookbooks, going back to California's first community cookbooks. There are a few places to find cookbooks online. I will be puttting together a list of these libraries and websites and adding it to the right hand side of the blog for reference. Look for that being posted sometime next week.

I firmly believe that genealogy is everywhere. Use ebay to search for community cookbooks that are for sale. You can also save your searches so that ebay continues searching for those keywords and alerts you when they are found. I searched on ebay and found hits for searches on "charity cookbooks" "community cookbooks" "church cookbook", searching by the name of a religion and the word cookbook and searching on a city and the word cookbook.

I know it's much easier to go for the information that is easily found on a genealogy subscription site. And there is no doubt that that is a great start to your research. But as you fill in the details to your female ancestor's life, consider taking extra time to hunt down community cookbooks that recreate a time and a place that your ancestor was part of.

Community Cookbook: Spirit Lake Cook Book

2010-09-18T08:13:00.000-07:00

One of the oldest community cookbooks in my personal collection is the Spirit Lake Cook Book sponsored by Dorcas Circle of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 1937. Spirit Lake, Iowa.

This cookbook features recipes and advertising from local businesses. Including advertising was mutually beneficial, it allowed businesses to receive much needed exposure and helped to offset costs associated with the cookbook while helping the group raise much needed funds. Not all cookbooks include this advertising but this specific one includes 12 pages of similar looking advertisements. Ads representing food type businesses like the local creamery, market, bakery, Coca-Cola bottling company and cafe are represented here. There are also ads that would be of interest to genealogists like that for the Donovan Funeral Home and Baumgardner's Furniture Store and Funeral Home. (Need to know what funeral homes existed in your ancestor's time?--Look in a community cookbook from that era!) Even a female attorney is found among the advertising section, Virginia Bedell, as well as a female Ph.D., Mary Price Roberts.

One of the great aspects of this advertising section is that in this small town, even small today with only a little over 4,000 in the 2000 Census according to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_Lake,_Iowa), has listings for probably almost every business, which could help one gain a sense of what occupational opportunities existed.

What about the recipes? Well they run the gamut of protein dishes, vegetables, salads, desserts and pickles/relishes. Being the era of less wastefulness than our own, the meat dishes include different kinds of "meat loafs" including one made with ham and one made with jellied veal. There is Mock California Chicken that is made with noodles and tuna and lots of kinds of pickles which would have been great way to preserve foods. These pickles include both vegetable and fruit pickles.

The above image shows a recipe for Jellied Veal Loaf, among other things. Curious what is in the Jellied Veal Loaf?

Jellied Veal Loaf

3 T. diced celery

2 T. gelatine (sic)

1c cold water

1 tsp. salt

1 bay leaf

3 T lemon juice

2 c meat stock

1 T Worcestershire sauce

1 T chopped onion

2 c cooked and ground meat

3 T chopped green pepper

3 hard boiled eggs

Soak gelatin in water, dissolve in hot meat stock, lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce. When mixture begins to thicken, add meat, onion, green pepper and eggs, cut in pieces. Put in a wet mold in which you have previously poured 1/4 inch hot gelatine (sic). Garnish with slices of egg and green pepper. Serves 10-12. (Recipe by Mrs. H. C. Bradfield).

Surnames included in this cookbook are: Belden, Tritle, Bradfield, Smith, Jahn, Haakenson, Bramblett, Titus, Hill, Furman, Schlotterbeck, Girg, Tott, Harker, Peterson, Brainard, Brown, Pillsbury, Rodawig, Sylvester, Baumgardner, Burt, Hughes, Maytum, Richards, Moore, Moreland, Flemming, Blair, Buck, Deibner, Edwards, Cornell, Lepley, Raebel, Willadsen, Snow, Smithers, LaFontaine, Rector, Clark, Baldy, Parsons. Maish, Arp, Wiegand, Farr, Ellis, Donovan, Klein, Salyards, Radcliff, Hinshaw, Schuneman, Webb, Miller, Peck, Bernholtz, LaDoux, Phippin, Dempsie, Jensen, Lewis, Jones, Osborn, Flemming, Anderson, Schneidawind, Martinson, Cother, Rienke, Narey, Frost, Swailes, Price, Gray, Grant, Gravatt, Welty, Kushe, Redington, Simmons, Fitch, Saupe, Rank, Sarazine, Roberts, Snow, Barlow, Marshall, Williams, O'Dea, McMahon, Redger, Yarnes, Blackert, Hanson, Walson, Jahr, Salyards, Carver, Gerkin, Pedersen, Rector, Fontaine, Steenburg, Fronk, Grove, Tintinger, Strong, Hill, Lindquist, Francis, Hornseth, Ilsley, Adams, Rank, Magnuson, Wherry, Dowden, Walter, McNall, Williamz, Thomas.

What Did Your Family Eat During World War II?

2010-09-03T20:45:00.000-07:00

World War II ushered in an era of necessity that changed the way Americans, and those in other nations, ate. This era included such experiences as food rationing, victory gardens and introductions to different types of food. All families would have been affected as their choices at the grocery store were diminished and women were encouraged to make substitutions for well known favorites and to make what they did have last longer.

Rationing

Not just food was rationed during the war years. I remember a story from my own family history about a great-great grandmother who passed away; no family members went to her funeral because gas was rationed and they lived too far away. Rationing affected more than just what food you could buy and how much gas you could purchase it affected your access to some durable goods.

So what food was rationed? Sugar, meat, coffee, processed foods, cheese, canned milk and fats. To see a list of rationed items and the dates they were rationed, check out this website on World War II rationing.

Families were issued ration books with coupons that were used to purchase food. Ration book covers include the name of the person who it was issued to and their address. These books often are a home source that may be archived by a family member and can be used by the genealogist to add interest to your family history. I have also seen these books at antique stores and on eBay. GenealogyToday’s databases include one with 9,800 names from War Ration books. This unique database provides another way to find family members. While these books provide little information, it does place your ancestor in a specific place in time.

We’re Eating What For Dinner???

In some cases, Americans were encouraged to substitute different food stuffs for what was familiar due to rationing or limited quantities. One of my older relatives lived with my family for a time and refused to eat any ground beef. This refusal stemmed from World War II when horse meat was provided as a substitute for beef. Even after more than 45 years, she was convinced the government was slipping horse meat into packages of ground beef.

Other meat substitutes both animal and plant based were also suggested. Tricks to making food last longer were encouraged. Your family may have changed their diet considerably in order to comply with shortages. Patriotic propaganda that came in the form of posters and cookbooks that told women how to shop and what to cook.

Victory Gardens

When you think about it, it makes sense to encourage the masses to plant gardens when food is at a premium. A little self sufficiency makes it possible to spread the wealth so to speak. One way our families were encouraged to help with the war effort was to plant a victory garden. The May 3, 1943 issue of Life magazine (p. 29) includes a pictorial of gardens in all kinds of places in the United States including at a prison. The caption to that picture notes that prisoners aren’t allowed to plant corn, lest it be used to hide from the guards.

So Now What?

What may seem like everyday, ordinary life to older family members can add interest to your family history narrative. Interview older family members about what they ate, how they sacrificed and did without during the war years. If you are that older family member, write down your experiences. History is made up of the experiences of individuals and history is lost when we neglect to tell our stories and our experiences.

Want to learn more about eating during World War II? The book Manly Meals and Mom's Home Cooking: Cookbooks and Gender in Modern America by Jessamyn Neuhaus includes a few chapters on the subject. Portions of the book are available as a preview on Google Books.

So what did your family eat during World War II?

Introduction: Community Cookbook Detective

2010-09-02T17:44:00.000-07:00

By Madaleine J. Laird

I'm good at finding things, always have been. My life improved dramatically after I found Gena Philibert-Ortega on Facebook. Long story short, I sent her a friend request, she accepted, we met in person at a Family History Expo, and now I inhabit her guest bedroom on a fairly regular basis. We've apparently formed what my mother would call a mutual admiration society. Gena introduced me to the fascinating notion of community cookbooks as an untapped source of genealogical information, and somehow I've managed to impress her with my detective skills . . . at least I think I have.

One of my contributions to Food.Family.Ephemera is the Community Cookbook Detective series, in which I'll report on my efforts to identify the people, places, organizations, and events associated with community cookbooks. I'm sure this isn't big news to anyone who's into genealogy the way Gena and I are, but sometimes those pesky details cannot be found within the cookbooks themselves. Uncovering the details—as well as the big picture—requires digging a little deeper. I'd like to believe I'm up to the challenge!

Staying sharp requires practice, however, and I'm hoping that readers of Food.Family.Ephemera can provide me with some cases to work on. Do you own a community cookbook whose origins are a bit mysterious? If so, you're not the only one. I've come across several that contain no hint of where, when, or why they were published. Many community cookbooks were created as fundraisers for churches, schools, and other community organizations, so it's not surprising that compilers were more focused on immediate concerns than on the cookbooks' future value as informational artifacts.

If you have a mystery cookbook stuffed inside a kitchen cabinet, let me take a look at it! Tell me as much as you remember about how it came to be in your possession. Who gave it to you? Where did you buy it? How long have you owned it? Scan or photograph the cover and the first few pages of the book, then send the images to kinfolit@gmail.com, and please put "Community Cookbook Detective" in the subject line of your email. I hope we can solve a few mysteries together, or at least have fun trying!

Cookbooks Reflecting our Religion

2010-08-22T11:58:00.000-07:00

On my blog, Gena's Genealogy I have a weekly theme called Church Record Sunday. These postings deal with archives, books and records that might help you find church records for your ancestor. On occasion I have written about cookbooks as part of Church Record Sunday.

In studying community cookbooks, considering the beliefs of the group who is publishing the cookbook can help in learning more about your ancestor's life. Their beliefs about food including the use of alcohol, meat, vegetables and desserts will become apparent in the pages of their cookbook. While a recipe might hint at an ethnic origin so too will it reflect a religious belief system.

I like something that Steve Luxenberg, the author of Annie's Ghosts said in a presentation I attended. He pointed out that you have to go beyond a document and what it says; you have to look at what the document tells us. Initially a community/church cookbook may just reflect at the very least the name of the person who submitted the recipe. But in truly reading the recipe you may learn more about their life.

The following posting appeared origianlly on Gena's Genealogy on May 23, 2010. I thought it would be approrpiate to repost it here.

Church Record Sunday: Seventh-day Adventists and Food

This morning I finished reading a great book that was a history of America told through cookbooks. From Hardtack to Home Fries: An Uncommon History of American Cooks and Meals by Barbara Haber was an excellent read that detailed cookbooks from the FDR White House, WWII Japanese Interment Camps in the Philippines, African American Cookbooks and more.

One of the chapters, Chapter 3: They Dieted for Our Sins: America's Food Reformers, discusses dietary reformers such as Sylvester Graham and the Kelloggs. Their 19th century food ideas are intertwined with the dietary ideas of Ellen G. White, founder of the Seventh-day Adventists. Haber has some interesting history of these early diet reformers and how their ideas has shaped the way we eat today.

For those with Seventh-day Adventist ancestors, you may want to read more about the history and beliefs of the early church. Haber includes in her annotated bibliography some books that you may be itnerested in.

Numbers, Ronald L. Prophetess of Health: A Study of Ellen G. White. New York: Harper & Row, 1976.

Graham, Roy E. Ellen G. White, Co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. New York: Peter Lang, 1985.

She also includes books about Graham and Kellog in this bibliography as well.

While this posting isn't the typical posting about church records, I think the social history of our ancestors is important and this look at the dietary reformers is one that is vital to understanding the history of the Seventh-day Adventist church.

Welcome to Food.Family.Ephemera

2010-08-20T12:33:00.000-07:00

Some readers may know me as a genealogist. As a genealogist, I am very interested in the records that our female ancestors left behind. Family history researchers often get frustrated by the lack of records for women and the difficulty in researching women. This concern led me to thinking, what records exist that are unique to women? What resources are not necessarily considered genealogy sources but may hold clues to women's lives?

One such record is the diaries/journals of women which hold rich information about the author's life and the lives of the women she knew and wrote about. Midwife's journals provide us a glimpse of the midwife and her work as well as the families she served.

Another source that is like a name's list of women is signature/friendship quilts. These quilts document a place in time and typically an event. Signature quilts are another interest of mine and I will be writing about those in the future. One recent melding of genealogy and quilting is a new blog that a few of us dreamed up Genea-Quilters, where you can post photos and stories of your ancestor's quilts. (Join us on Facebook too).

Finally, what this blog is all about. One of the sources that are part of women's lives are cookbooks. There are different types of cookbooks, some written by food companies, manufacturers, some written by chefs, and a host of others. But it's the community or charity cookbooks that provide information about what women cook and share with their families. Community cookbooks began to be published during the time of the American Civil War. They provide recipes from a group of women and at the very least include their names and affiliation. Sometimes they include much more information that tells us something about their lives.

This blog will explore community cookbooks, what they tell us about women's lives and where you can find them. My research into the topic is going to include presentations to various societies and articles as well as a database of these cookbooks searchable by the individual woman's name (more on this to come). This is an ongoing project that will show the valuable resource that community cookbooks are to genealogists and historians.

So welcome to this blog. I hope it brings to life the great sources left behind by our female ancestors.