Grandma's Wartime Baking Book: World War II and the Way We Baked

I've been teaching "A Separate Peace" in my sophomore English classroom for many years and have always decorated my room to fit the wartime era of that novel (1942-1943), using movie posters, newspaper front pages, propaganda posters as well as playing music of the era. This year I chose to also bring the reality of rationing to my students and went in search of a cookbook to do the job. "Grandma's Wartime Baking Book" did just that.In addition to dozens of recipes, the author also provides plenty of stories, insights, and excerpts from period publications. For example, here's a conservation tip from the 1943 publication "Your Share": 'Save fresh fluid milk....rinse cream bottles with milk, and use with milk; rinse milk bottles with water, and use in cooking.' Evidently, the frugal homemaker didn't waste anything!I haven't tried very many recipes yet, but I did bake a couple batches of cookies to try and stress to my students what rationing was all about. I first made the carrot cookies on page 74, and then I tried the chocolate rolled oats cookies on page 75. Both of these recipes used no sugar--honey was used as a sweetener. And while both recipes only called for two cups of flour (remember sugar and flour were in limited supply during wartime), they both yielded the four dozen cookies stated in the recipe. I should point out that the carrot cookie batter was almost cake batter thin, but they turned out terrific--and my students loved them, too.

It's great to see how they adjusted to not having ingredients and it gives me a library of how to adapt in case of multiple disasters. I appreciate how they adapted to provide good meals.This book arrived on time and in good condition as described.

Thank you! I can't wait to try out the recipes. I love vintage cookbooks and how people lived in ww2.

Brought back old memories. Great reading as well as the recipes.

I have picked several recipes to try. Boston cream pie, butterscotch bars, and cupcakes are good!

Very interesting book that demonstrates that during war time, women were able to provide great baked goods to their families, despite the rationing of sugar etc., etc...Highly recommend.

I bought this for my mother, hoping she would be able to find recipes from her youth. She has enjoyed reading through the book, but has not tried any of the recipes yet.

is is very informative and easy reading.i even remember some of the recipesand it was great fun going back in timeAAA+++++