Picked up a 1950s cookbook for 50 cents and tried a recipe that actually worked

Found this beat up copy of "The American Woman's Cookbook" at a church sale last month. The binding was loose and a few pages were stained with what looked like butter, but for fifty cents I figured it was worth the gamble. I decided to try the recipe for "Never Fail Pie Crust" from the 1948 edition. To be honest, I half expected it to be a disaster with old shortening and a weird ratio, but it came out flaky and tender. My wife thought I bought the pie from a bakery. The only trick was using ice water and chilling the dough for an hour. The book has sections on how to set a formal table and what to do with leftover ham, which is pretty funny to read now. Has anyone else had luck with a vintage cookbook recipe that surprised you?

2 comments

2 Comments

lucas_price839d ago

Can't believe someone actually uses a cookbook that old. The butter stains just add to the authenticity I guess.

green.jessica9d ago

Oh man, I gotta disagree with you there! Those butter stains and splattered pages tell a story. My grandma's old Joy of Cooking is held together with tape and has more flour caked in the spine than I care to admit, but every time I flip to her creased banana bread page, it feels like she's right there with me. Old cookbooks have a soul that new ones just can't match. Your mileage may vary of course, but I'll take a well-loved relic over a clean PDF any day.