Saturday, August 09, 2008

1931 recipe for peanut butter sandwich

I have a thing for cookbooks that goes beyond looking for new recipes to make. I'm interested in how recipes have changed, how they were altered in times of economic strife or when new foods were being introduced, as well as some of the etiquette suggested for the homemaker. Several years ago I found an amazing cookbook at a yard sale/flea market. "The Art of Cooking and Serving" by Sarah Field Splint. It was published in 1931. The first half of the book is focused on setting up the ideal kitchen and dining area. The second half is recipes for the family including a significant chapter on preparing for large group dinners. When I first read through the book I thought how odd...all the recipes have CRISCO in them. I joked with Wyatt and Brian as I read the book in the car on the way home from the yard sale that it must be a favorite food from the 30s. It was then I noticed that the publisher was Procter and Gamble. It was the introduction of Crisco. I am not kidding when I say all the recipes have CRISCO in them. Here is the 1931 recipe for a Peanut Butter Sandwich "Cut thin slices of white or rye bread and trim off crusts. Spread one slice with peanut butter and the other with CRISCO spread. Put together and cut in halves diagonally." Crisco spread recipe 1 cup Crisco Few grains cayenne 1 egg yolk 1 tsp salt 1/4 tsp mustard 1/2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce 1/8 tsp paprika 2 tbsp lemon juice 2 1/2 tbsp vinegar Cream Crisco. Add egg yolk, slowly and beat well. Mix mustard, paprika, cayenne, salt, Worcestershire, and lemon together and sitr into the first mixture. Add vinegar beating in a little at a time. Mix thoroughly. Keep in Cool place for several weeks. If mixture becomes hard, warm slightly and beat to proper consistency. All I have to say is that IF I WAS EVER GIVEN A PEANUT BUTTER SANDWICH LIKE THIS....I would never have eaten peanut butter sandwiches again

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