Let's Get to Work... My First Victims

The 1940s saw a lot of changes for women. Most notably was the entree of women into the blue collar labor force. Prior to the war it was common for working class women to have jobs like nursing, cleaning, child care, etc. However, middle class women stayed home, and quite often had domestic help. Because of the war the male, blue collar labor force was shrinking as were everyday resources which were being diverted to the troops. Thus, Rosie the Riveter was born. A marketing campaign to bring women into factories. It was quite a success and I've read that by the end of the war a third of factory workers were female. You go girls! Here are some really cool pictures of women in the 40s gettin' er done. It's amazing to me that these women did physically laborious jobs, took care of the home, and still made the time to work in fancy up-dos. These ladies are making me feel lazy.

Alright... on to the recipes. I decided to make two. One from the standard portion of the cook book and one from the wartime ration part.

The standard recipe was for Peanut Butter Cutlets. It's a vegetarian alternative to a meat cutlet which "offers both adequate protein and iron."

The recipe:
Mix 1 1/2 cups peanut butter with 1 1/2 cups hot milk. Stir in 1 teaspoon salt and some pepper. (How much pepper? Who knows? However much you think you would like in your peanut butter slush.) Dip slices of bread into the slurry and saute in hot fat. Garnish with pickles and olives.

Here it is... sizzling peanut butter bread

Can you believe I forgot to add the pickles and olives??? Blast!

My parents were our first retro dinner guests. They were starting to regret coming by when I served this up. Surely the pickles would've absolved their reservations. Oh well, next time.

The consensus was that it tasted like peanut buttery french toast. My son thought it was decent, my mom really liked it, my step-dad said it was horrible. I though it was okay, until I got a bite with noticeable pepper. Peanut butter and pepper, as you might expect, do not belong together. I have since relocated them to opposite sides of the kitchen. They have no business being near one another.

The recipe from the war ration section went over quite a bit better. It was a Rice and Chicken Casserole.

The recipe:
Bone and cube cooked chicken (or buy two cans, which is what I did). Cook up two cups rice according to the package directions. Stir in 2 beaten eggs, 2 cups milk, 1 1/2 tablespoons butter, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Pour a layer of rice mixture into a casserole dish, add a layer of chicken, and top it off with the remaining rice mixture. Bake at 350 for ~20 minutes.

This looks like food, so it's already an improvement.

The results were bland, but completely edible. My son and I liked it, but we added copious salt and pepper. My step-dad liked it and said that he would eat it again. I think he was just relieved after the cutlet. My mom doesn't like rice, so obviously a giant plate of rice wasn't her favorite. In all my excitement, I'd forgotten the first rule of hostessing. Don't serve people foods they hate. Whoops!

All in all, I'm pretty pleased with the results. I might add a little peanut butter the next time I make french toast and if I'm ever in the market for a flavorless meal, the chicken dish will definitely hit the spot.

Next weekend my sisters are coming by with their young children. Hopefully the book can produce some kid-friendly recipes. They're sure to me my toughest critics.