Vintage Cookbooks, Rambling Post & Chocolate Cake

 One of my favorite cookbooks: 1960s

I like the graphics & 'made simple information'.  My brothers (and all high school boys) had to take this course at one time. One project was to make aprons. Instead of using scissors to cut off the ties, they just used their muscle. They cooked and baked.  The household management & budgeting was a useful tool for everybody.  Is any course like this offered today?

A young couple I know of wanted to save money.  They started to cook at home and stopped eating out frequently.  It went smoothly till their dishwasher broke down, and they could no longer continue to do this. Back to the restaurants. True story.

Sometimes, fast food is cheaper.  Now not everyone is comfortable with to-go orders.  During Covid more people are cooking and baking.    A local  market manager says she can't keep yeast on the shelf  (refer back to my post on baking with yeast). What I read on Nextdoor is people can't find flour, oil, baking soda etc.

During the Depression and war time people had similar challenges in finding product.  One of my favorite cakes came from this time period.  Mom made it a lot in the 1950s and 1960s.

If this is not in your recipe file or vintage cookbook, you can just Google.  It has different names: Wacky Cake, Depression Cake. Crazy Cake.  No eggs, no butter, no milk, no problem.  You just use one pan don't even have to grease it. No bowls needed.  It is a moist 8 x 8 cake, and I put a lemon frosting on it.

https://www.today.com/food/depression-cake-or-wacky-cake-making-comeback-t179436

Enjoy!

Best Poached Egg maybe ever

One darn good poached egg.  I googled and found Alton Brown's, Food Network, simple directions.  Get a whirlpool going in the middle of the pot & the outcome looks like this.  When I took it out of the water with a slotted spoon, I made sure all the water dripped away.  I've had too many watery poached eggs in restaurants.  Has this happened to you?  You can find the directions online.

P.S. Find something good about every day. Today is good because I can't paint the fence; it's raining.