Casserole of Chicken

Happy Tuesday Lovelies..

And what a grey, overcast start to the day it is…

Well.. it is the last day of September.

Photo: November 1945

Im going to be busy today..

Yesterday was such a good laundry drying day... I did far more than planned.

Unfortunately that left me with a copious amount of ironing... sigh..

I best get cracking!!!

To make the time more enjoyable I'm going to listen to an episode of the Inner Sanctum Mysteries

This one is "Amazing Death Of Mrs Putnam" from 1941

Splendid!

And with tonight's dinner of a Chicken Casserole already wafting the kitchen with its delicious aroma

Its going to be quite a pleasant afternoon

Casserole of Chicken

This tasty Chicken Casserole comes from the 1943 edition of  The Radiation Cookery Book. A very popular book of its time... Published to compliment a range of gas cookers it was originally published in 1927.. and revised regularly for over 40 years. 

A very easy.. and comforting recipe.. perfect for a miserable day. I served it with the scalloped potatoes featured under the Casserole recipe and some home canned green beans

1 chicken

1 tablespoonful seasoned flour
2 ozs. butter
1/2 lb. mushrooms
1 pint stock

• Divide the chicken into neat joints, which should be dipped in the seasoned flour.
• Melt the fat in a frying-pan and when quite hot quickly brown in it the joints of chicken and fry the peeled mushrooms.
• Place chicken, etc., in a casserole.
• Pour away most of the fat, stir the remainder of the seasoned flour into the pan, and add the stock.
• Stir while bringing to the boil, and pour over the chicken.
• Cover the casserole with a lid before placing in the oven.

Original Recipe

The Radiation Cookery Book
1943

Pilchards on Toast

Good Morning Lovelies

Coffee Ad 1947

Lets get the coffee brewing

Its going to be a lovely day.. so I'm taking the opportunity to not only do "ordinary" laundry.. I'm washing bedcovers and blankets ready for the colder months ahead... and all the towels. My washing lines will be full

Farm Journal Magazine

August 1945

Hopefully later. before MrD comes home.. I will have time to put my feet up with a nice cup of tea and a good magazine. Fingers crossed

Pilchards on Toast

Im always looking for something different for breakfast.. I mean there is only so much oatmeal or strawberry jam on toast one can eat.. or maybe not. Anyway I was skimming through "Eating for Victory", a collection of Ministry of Food Leaflets from World War 2.. and came across the section with breakfast suggestions. And there nestled on the last page was a blast from the past... "Pilchards on Toast" and maybe the simplest recipe Ive seen for a while

Wow..vI hadnt had that for years...and after a quick rummage in the pantry I found a tin of sardines. Not quite pilchards but they are hard to come by because of over fishing. But the taste is almost the same 

After blowing the dust off, I made myself a tasty meal of this tinned treasure on a couple of slices of National Loaf. I didnt use butter, to me it was just as good. It was so yummy and I thought it would make for a quick lunch too

Needless to say pilchards are now on my shopping list, and wont be relegated to the back of the cupboard again

1 Tin Pilchards (15 oz size)
4 slices of buttered toast

• Divide the pilchards on to the four slices of toast
• I mashed them slightly in a bowl first
• Place under  the grill broiler) for several minutes to heat
• Enjoy!

Eating For Victory

Thank you for popping by

Love and Blessings

Mrs D

Pea Soup

The weather was decidedly cooler this morning and we had a packed church

Photo 1940s

We had a visiting pastor who was quite comical and gave us an interesting sermon

The walk home was quite damp.. I was so happy to get into the warmth and coziness

The Lily Wallace New American Cookbook
1945

I was so pleased to finally get my hands on a 1945 edition of The Lily Wallace New American Cookbook yesterday... I just had to try a recipe straight away.

So it had to be this lovely fresh Pea Soup. Its not quite soup season...or is it?.. but this was so quick and easy to make... I had to try. And I wasnt disappointed. It was very tasty! I used peas straight from the pod...but Im sure it would be just as flavourful using frozen or canned

Serving soup to the family

Early 1940s

I made no changes to the actual soup... but I used Kielbasa sausage because thats what I had on hand. And I dont think I would ever boil the sausage... I would.. and did.. brown in the pan first..

It was Lovely!

1/4 cups boiled peas 
1 cup chopped celery
1 chopped onion

4 cups water
2 smoked sausages
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

• Simmer peas, celery, and onion in 4 cups water until soft. 
• Rub through sieve. 
• In another pan cover sausages with boiling water 
• Boil 10 minutes and drain... or like I did ..
• Brown in a pan
• Slice into soup. 
• Add salt and pepper.

We settled down to watch a comedy/mystery movie from 1941

'Topper Returns' starring Joan Blondell, Roland Young and Carole Landis

1940s Peppermint Patties Box

My Darling Hubby had bought some delicious peppermint candy for us to eat while watching

Tonight.. after its been a chilly, rainy day.. I've ended up with the sniffles... 

so its an early night for me with a good book...

and a warming cup of Ovaltine.

Ovaltine Ad 1948

Sleep well Lovelies

Love and Blessings

Mrs D x

Wartime Porridge

Today felt quite chilly...and we had some unexpected rain.. so its quite damp. Perfect weather for our first porridge breakfast of the season.

This wartime recipe comes from The Ministry of Food.. and found in Eating for Victory.. a collection of MOF leaflets. It offers two variations of the porridge breakfast.. and I choose the recipe using rolled oats

I like mine as written... but MrD prefers his with a little added milk and sugar

6-8 oz. rolled oats or barley flakes
2 pints water
1 teaspoon salt

• Mix the rolled oats or barley flakes with a little of the cold water. 
• Boil the rest and pour on to the oats or flakes stirring well. 
• Return to the pan. 
• Add the salt and boil the porridge for 5-10 minutes, stirring at intervals.
• If thick porridge is preferred use the larger amounts of rolled oats or barley flakes.

Eating For Victory

Lemon Molasses Cookies

Another Molasses cookie recipe.. this time from the Better Homes and Gardens Magazine, February 1947. These cookies are soft and spicy.. with a lovely hint of lemon.  Very nice!

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel

1 well-beaten egg

1/2 cup light molasses

11/2 cups enriched flour

1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/4 cup milk
11/2 cups enriched flour

• Thoroly cream shortening and sugar. 
• Add lemon peel, egg, and molasses; beat well. 
• Add sifted dry ingredients alternately with milk; mix well. 
• Drop from teaspoon onto greased baking sheet. 
• Bake in moderate oven (350°) 15 minutes

Better Homes and Gardens Magazine
February 1947

Meat Pie with Biscuit Topping

I have a large collection of 1940s cookery books and recipe clippings... the majority being the authentic publications from that era. I'm always excited when I find a new addition to my bookshelf.. especially if its good condition and in my budget. 

This week I found the a copy of "57 Ways to Use Heinz Condensed Soup" from 1944.. and of course I gad to try a recipe straight away. This Meat Pie with Biscuit Topping was a good choice

I made a couple of changes. I used ground beef because thats what I had in the freezer. I made smaller biscuits as they fit my dish better.. so I made 12.  And I topped it with some Italian herbs 

A lovely flavour and a homely dinner... which hubby thoroughly enjoyed..so I will be making it again

1/2 lb. raw beef, diced, or 1 cup diced, left- over meat
2 tablespoons fat
1 11-oz. can Heinz Condensed Vegetable Soup with Beef Stock
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
Dash cayenne pepper 
Dough for 1/2 standard recipe for baking powder biscuits

• Brown meat in fat. If raw meat is used cook thoroughly. 
• Combine meat, Soup. water and seasonings 
• Pour into a well- greased casserole (5" x 81/2" x 3"). 
• Pat biscuit dough to 1/4" thickness and cut with a 2" biscuit cutter. 
• Arrange 8 biscuits on top of meat mixture. 
• Bake in a hot oven (400° F.) for 20 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown. 
• Serves 2 to 3.

57 Ways to Use Heinz Condensed Soup
1944

 

Maple Rice Pudding

This recipe comes from the "War in the Kitchen" series in the Toronto Star, this one published 19th March,1942 . Marie Holmes gave us one of her “sugar savers” recipes, and she wrote

“The maple syrup crop of 1942 has special significance. It is a 100 per cent Canadian product and it is a pure, natural sweet which will help to make up for the reduction of imported cane sugar we are all trying so earnestly to put into force.” 

And she was right. This Rice Pudding has an unusual meringue topping. It has no sugar, but the syrup makes the pudding very sweet. Plus the syrup swirlled around the meringue topping was really nice. Very enjoyable, and another empty dish proved the family loved it too

1/4 cup rice

2 cups milk

11 tablespoons cornstarch

1½ cup maple syrup

2 egg yolks

2 egg whites

1/4 cup maple syrup

• Boil rice in salted water until tender. 
• Scald milk in double boiler. 
• Stir cornstarch smooth in ½ cup maple syrup and add gradually to the hot milk. 
• Stir until| mixture thickens and cook 15 minutes. 
• Add to rice and well-beaten egg yolks. 
• Place in buttered baking dish. 
• Beat egg whites until stiff. 
• Gradually add the one-quarter cup maple syrup and spread over pudding. 
• Bake in a moderate oven (350 degrees F.) until delicately browned-about 15 minutes.

Fannie Farmers Banana Bread

This incredibly easy recipe is from Fannie Farmer’s The Boston Cooking School (1942)

It is adaptable You can also replace some of the banana in this recipe with apple sauce and some of the sugar with honey. I even like to add chocolate chips to the mix. Whichever way you choose, it will be delicious

3 ripe Bananas
2 Eggs, lightly beaten

3/4 Cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
2 Cups Flour, sifted
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

• Preheat oven to 350 F.
• Mash your bananas with a metal fork 
• Sift together flour, salt and baking soda
• Beat together sugar and eggs
• Mix in mashed bananas
• Add the dry ingredients mixture garadually
• Stir together
• Fold in the nuts
• Put in a buttered 9 x 5” pan. 
• Bake for 1 hour

The Boston Cooking School

By Fannie Farmer ~ 1942

Honey Brownies

This Brownie dessert comes from the Your Gas Range Cook Book, 1940. They were quick to make and surprisingly tasty, but don’t make this recipe if you are craving chocolatey brownies. They tasted more like honey than chocolate. At first hubby wasnt impressed."Where's the chocolate?" he asked. But the more he chewed, and they were very chewy, the more he enjoyed. Good thing he likes Honey

1/4 c fat
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c honey
2 eggs
2 squares (2 oz) chocolate
1/2 c flour
1/4 tsp soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 c nut meats (optional)

• Cream the fat and add the sugar gradually. 
• Add the honey and mix thoroughly. 
• Beat the eggs and add to the creamed mixture. 
• Add melted and slightly cooled chocolate. 
• Mix well. 
• Sift flour before measuring and then sift the flour, soda, and salt together. 
• Add the sifted ingredients and nuts to the first mixture. 
• Pour into a greased 9×9 inch square pan. 
• Bake at 300°F for 55 minutes. 

Your Gas Range Cook Book, 1940