Saturday, March 3, 2018

GINGERBREAD FROM A CHILD'S COOKBOOK


Here's a delightful gingerbread recipe from a mid-century child's cookbook published by the good folks at Westinghouse. This little book belongs to my friend Chris, whose father bought it for her when she was little, and she kindly forwarded a scan of the recipe to me. Here's what she wrote about it:


"The copyright on the little cookbook is 1951.  My tipsy handwriting in it looks to be circa third grade (note the word Monday in the top left of the gingerbread recipe), which was probably the first year I was capable of cooking the recipes with some help.  The cover is missing, but in my memory it was red cardstock.  The pages are 8 ½ x 11.  The price?  Fifty cents.  It’s a treasure to me but it’s not in very good shape."

And that's the way it is with treasures. Sometimes they aren't in good shape because we used them. Price in the day: fifty cents. Price today: PRICELESS.

I think you'd enjoy reading through the mixing directions, which are entertaining as well as educational. Though written for a child's use, this is a standard gingerbread recipe.

And note the SECRET: "In the United States Senate dining room they serve gingerbread every noon. Some of the Senators eat it like bread. It's such a healthful food for all of us to eat." I was unsuccessful in efforts to discover if they still serve gingerbread in the Senate dining room. I doubt it.

I think my mother would have agreed that gingerbread is a healthful food, but I'm not sure it has a place in today's concept of a healthy diet. KW

Return to product informationUPDATE: I found the book on Amazon for $12.00 -- "Sugar an' Spice and all things nice."




4 comments:

Chris said...

What a nice post! Yes, my book is a treasure, even with stains, tears and lost cover. I wondered about the gingerbread in the Senate dining room myself and agree with you that its time has passed.

Kathy said...

Haha! It was really your post, Chris. I just filled in the blanks.

Chris said...

Oh, that's cover I remember!

Kathy said...

The cover is just as you described it. I was sure this was THE book.