Menu for Hope

I haven't been blogging for a while, but participating in the Menu for Hope gave me the incentive to start again. I'm donating a dozen vintage cookbooks, dating from the '20s to the '80s-- Prize #UC 19. They make good reading--there are some excellent forgotten recipes (and some very strange ones: Frozen Cheddar Cheese Dessert, anyone?). It's also a nice way to look at the history of food preparation, food fads, and even the place of women in the home, since a lot of small cookbooks were put out as new appliances came out. The manufacturers wanted the American homemaker to want an exciting new GE refrigerator or a Hotpoint stove, and they put together recipes to entice her with a vision of her ideal future (see photo above, lower right corner).

If you don't know about Menu for Hope, check out Chez Pim--Pim is the begetter and gracious overseer of this enterprise to do some good in the world, now in its 4th year. Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen is handling things for the central U.S.--take a look at her post, with a listing of other prizes that have been donated by midwesterners. A full list of all prizes is at Chez Pim, here.