100 wartime recipes

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Day 2: Daily diet sheets- lots of food!

It is a good job there currently is no man in my life …If there was, he who shares my couch and my bed would certainly be in for a night full of surprises tonight and not in a good way ( I need say no more than beans and veggie stew- a delightful combination with spectacular wind power qualities…)

Despite not having a big appetite again today and worrying about my car repair bill, I made sure to eat plenty of wholesome food for the first part of the day. Firstly a large bowl of the obligatory porridge oats (oatmeal), a huge veggie stew of which I gobbled down three bowlfuls with two slices of bread and finally a small dinner of 1/2 my bacon ration and 1/2 can baked beans followed by a delightful ‘Danish Apple Pudding’ (I’ll post that recipe tomorrow)

So here is today’s 1940s authentic wartime diet sheet

Breakfast

Porridge oats (oatmeal) made with just water and sprinkled with a little sugar   25 cents/ 12 pence

Lunch

3 bowls of vegetable stew (included veggies like cabbage, onions, cauliflower, potatoes, carrots and tomatoes)

2 thick slices of wholemeal (wholewheat) bread spread with margarine  $1.25/ 65 pence

Dinner

1/2 can of baked beans

2 oz bacon  $1.00/ 50 pence

Dessert

Large portion of Danish Apple Pudding ( 4 portions made with 4 old bruised apples, wholemeal bread, a little sugar, syrup and almond essence)  1 portion = 75 cents/ 35 pence

Drinks

4 very large cups of tea and lots of water.

TOTAL COST = $3.25 / 1 UK Pound & 60 pence

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Potato Floddies

‘Potato floddies’ are nom, nom nom! (sorry there was no other description that fitted the bill)

Potato floddies are 1940s junk food… only to be used when you need something quick, tasty, a little greasy and are missing those trips to the nearest fast food establishment when only fried potatoes will fill the void.

Floddies can be cooked and spread with jam or cooked with a pinch of mixed herbs, salt and pepper for that hash brown taste.

Floddies are flippin fantastic! NON, NOM, NOM!

Potato floddies

  • 2 large potatoes, scrubbed with skins on
  • a little flour
  • salt & pepper
  • pinch of mixed herbs
  • butter, margarine or dripping for frying

Method

1. Grate your scrubbed potatoes into a large bowl (coarse)

2. Add in salt and pepper and herbs

3. Sprinkle in flour and stir, keep adding until a batter begins to form and starts to bind together the grated potato

4. Non-stick pans work best, place fat into pan and heat on medium/hot

5. Drop in a large spoonful of the floddie mix and press down to flatten out

6. Fry until browned on one side (a few minutes or so) and turn. Fry the other side

7. Remove from heat. Eat!!!

Each potato makes about 3 floddies so this recipe makes 6 or more floddies!

“This post is part of Twinkl’s VE Day Campaign, and is featured in their Best Wartime Recipes to Celebrate VE Day from Home post”

 

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Potato and Cheese Bake

While I struggle to get to grips with my sweet tooth and portion size following the Christmas, New Year, marriage separation anniversary and 4 birthdays cakes BLIP (so I actually have some weight-loss results to post on the blog) here is a tasty and simple recipe.

This no-fail recipe is bound to have the family kissing your feet (even if they are stinky) and pledging a life of devotion to your 1940’s cooking if you’ll “just-cook-some-more-of-that-again”..  It’s like some sort of cat nip for kids (they need it, they want it, they have to possess it…) except it calms and satisfies them and stops them demanding potato chips for at least 3 hours. This HAS to be a good thing.

It’s like some sort of cat-nip for kids…

This particular recipe is something I have just put together and is not out of any particular cook book however it does use my rations fairly wisely as well as lots of potato- the Ministry of Food would be so proud of me..

Potato and Cheese Bake

  • 3 large peeled potatoes per person (peelings can be used in a stew)
  • generous portion of butter or margarine (if rations allow)
  • 4 oz of strong cheese (use less if you are running low)
  • generous amounts of dried or fresh herbs (common herbs at the time would have been rosemary and thyme)
  • a little milk
  • salt and pepper.
  • Note: I used 12 large potatoes to serve 4 generously using a 10 x 8 inch pan for baking.

Method.

  1. Peel potatoes and wash.
  2. Cut into 1/2 inch chunks.
  3. Place into salted cold water and bring to boil on stove, simmering until chunks are tender.
  4. Drain well and return to saucepan.
  5. Add in a large blob of butter (the bigger the better if rations allow).
  6. Move around until melted.
  7. Thoroughly mash until smooth.
  8. Taste potatoes adding plenty of salt and pepper until you get the required taste.
  9. Add a little milk and mix with wooden spoon until you get the required consistency.
  10. Add into baking pan and spread out evenly.
  11. Rough top with a fork.
  12. Grate 4 oz of strong/sharp cheese.
  13. Sprinkle evenly over the top.
  14. Finally sprinkle generous quantities of herbs, lots of thyme and a little rosemary work well together. Don’t skimp!
  15. Place in pre-heated oven at 200 C for 25 minutes and finish off under a hot grill/broiler for 5 so the top browns.
  16. Remove, let stand for 5 minutes or so and then serve. Goes well with meat, veg and gravy.

Serves 4 generously!

And now you have your family subdued and totally under your spell it’s time to put your feet up, open a good book and savour the quietness of your home….

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Cottage Pie or Shepherds Pie (if made with lamb)

Tonight I am well stuffed (in the culinary sense)… I baked a wartime ‘cottage pie’ and fear that an actual cottage could have been the main ingredient as I am so full! This was one-hell-of-a-satisfying-meal on a cold winter night! I must make this more often…

One of the most satisfying things about the meal was the comments that flew my way as it was being gobbled down

Youngest hobbit…” Yum- this tastes good! There is no bits of starch in it like last time…”

Eldest hobbit …. ” Jeremy (boyfriend) wants to hire you as a cook”..

Eldest hobbits boyfriend.… ” Every meal I have tasted here has tasted so good..”

Middle hobbit …” Ewww- what’s that????” (this is not surprising as he is a vegetarian who doesn’t like vegetables)

Eldest hobbit….(who is also vegetarian but who I prepared a separate topping for)… ” ………just silence….”  (trust me this is good!)

Try this fabby, tasty, tummy filling, stick to your ribs meal- it is worth the effort!

Cottage Pie

  • 1 lb mince beef or soy mince made up to 1lb in hydrated weight ( note a weeks ration of mince beef for one person was about 1 lb ). Make it with minced lamb for a Shepherd’s pie.
  • several large potatoes
  • 2 oz cheese
  • dried herbs (Rosemary & Thyme work well)
  • salt and pepper
  • beef stock or vegetable stock ( 1 pint or more)
  • bisto gravy powder
  • peas and finely chopped carrots and onion optional
  • blob butter or margarine

Method

  1. Brown the mince
  2. Add the chopped veggies (optional)
  3. Add salt and pepper and herbs
  4. Add beef stock, stir and simmer for 15 minutes (thickening towards the end by mixing bisto powder with a little cold water to a runny paste and adding to beef stirring all the time- beef sauce should be quite thick!)
  5. Meanwhile chop up all the potatoes into small chunks
  6. Place in salted hot water and bring to the boil until tender and drain.
  7. Mash with generous (if rations allow) blobs of butter or margarine, add salt and pepper to taste
  8. Finally add milk so mash is spreadable
  9. Place mince sauce in a small cooking tray with deep sides or shallow casserole dish
  10. Pipe or spread mashed potato on top
  11. Sprinkle with 2 oz of grated strong cheddar (or vegan alternative) and some dried herbs if you like
  12. Place in oven for 20 minutes at 200 c
  13. Finish off under broiler/grill to brown top

Serve with steamed fresh veggies!

Serves 4 with veggies

“This post is part of Twinkl’s VE Day Campaign, and is featured in their Best Wartime Recipes to Celebrate VE Day from Home post”

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Glory Buns

glorybuns1940

This is a recipe for simple currant spiced buns that turned out so absolutely tasty and yummy and easy to make that I simply called them GLORIOUS..

They are not only economical but taste sooo good!

The more I think about it the more I think it’s a terrible, terrible thing. I think about war a lot and I think about how all over our world it has effected every day families regardless of colour or creed.

I made these WWII ‘Glory Buns’ today after I had observed the Remembrance Day silence and while I listened to the full Remembrance Day service from Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, on my local radio station, CKBW. After the service I watched some of the veteran videos that appear on the http://www.southshorenow.ca website which I have on DVD… ( you can purchase these by clicking here and all proceeds go to the Legion Poppy Fund)

First of all I listened to Pierre Allaine

Pierre Allaine: Was a 14 year old when war broke out. He used to ferry people, lying flat on a barge during the night, across the river, by pushing the barge silently with a long pole to the free side of France. Pierre recited Flanders Field at the service in Bridgewater today.

Next I watched Frank Hammond who shared his thoughts… Quote: Conflicts today are not being resolved through power and the only real way is through negotiation…

And then Bert Eagle… Quote: Bert Eagle: There should NEVER be another war again, EVER, yet if I were a young man again and we went to war I would serve my country gladly…..

Above all I’ve been thinking of the BRAVE men and women who have taken part in a war and lived through it or given their lives and the BRAVE families at home battling to keep their children safe and fed and holding things together…

And the Glory Buns? It was such a glorious day that it needed to be celebrated with simple glorious food on my best glorious tray….. it reminded me just how lucky we really are.

Recipe for Glory Buns

  • 12 oz of wholewheat flour (or white)
  • 2 oz margarine
  • 2 oz sultanas/currants/raisins (optional)
  • 2 oz sugar
  • 8 fl oz warm water
  • 3 teaspoons of quick rise dried yeast
  • 1 teaspoon dried cinnamon powder
  • pinch salt

To glaze:

  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 3 tablespoons sugar

Method
Place all the dried ingredients in a bowl (apart from dried fruit) and stir
Rub in the margarine
Mix in the dried fruit
Add in the warm water
Knead well (use extra flour if mixture is too sticky)
Divide dough into 12 balls
Place on greased deep sided tray (I like to use the 8 x 8 inch foil trays and place 4 balls in each)
Cover with plastic film or plastic bag
Leave to rise somewhere warm for an hour or so
When risen place in oven at 180 C for 15 minutes or so until golden brown
When cooked remove from oven onto a wire rack to cool
When cool prepare glaze by heating the water and sugar together until dissolved
Using a pastry brush apply the glaze generously