Rosie's recipes

I have never made gnocchi from whole wheat cereal, nor made apple pie with potatoes and potato water. But I also don't live in the 1940s during World War II. Reading through Rosie's Riveting  Recipes, edited by Daniela Turusich, I felt lost. I always feel confident flipping through recipes, visualizing searing, roasting and chopping. But looking at Pigs' Knuckles with Cabbage or Beef and Oatmeal loaf I wasn't salivating... I was learning how boiling, pickling and canning were the way of the day. 

This book is punctuated with black and white photographs from the National Archives in the Library of Congress. Women inspecting tubing pieces, welding and drilling all while maintaining perfect hair and nails. And they had to make dinner, too?

The charm of this book lies in the war-time slogans encouraging rationing and general thriftiness. 

"Time means money, nowadays, 

We can all save in many ways!

The things we've never tried before

May be the ones that win the war!"

I guess I could  garnish my soup with scrambled eggs or chop cold spaghetti up to serve in lettuce cups.

I guess I would do almost anything to feed my family nutritious food and feel like I was helping the soldiers by rationing meat, butter and sugar.

I found it interesting how women were urged to strain, save and drop off their grease at their grocery store. Grease was used in ammunition and was not to be wasted.

Things I learned about War-time cuisine:

1. French dressing was really popular.. Put it on everything.

2. Parsley Soup was a thing

3. 3 ounces of cottage cheese equals a serving of meat.

4. A teaspoon of flavoring extract is sufficient to flavor a quart of pudding.

5. It's really not so tough when meat is tough!

A special thanks to my Dad who knew I'd love this book. I think the first recipe I'll make is the Everyday Cake. There's orange rind and orange juice in it, along with your normal baking ingredients. This I can handle. Maybe Victory Bread, with dark molasses and oatmeal will be next.