Hot Cross Buns

April 18, 2025 Little DorritLeave a comment

Hot cross buns are traditionally served on Good Friday. I made a classic yeasted version of hot cross buns a few years ago, but for this year I wanted something a little easier. This recipe comes from The Bride’s Cookbook, a 1910 cookbook that was produced by local businesses in San Francisco and given to newly wedded brides for free in order to advertise their products. Since these buns are raised with baking powder rather than yeast, they are much quicker and easier to make than traditional buns.

Cheese Cookies

December 24, 2024December 22, 2024 Little Dorrit1 Comment

Published in 1932 in the midst of the Great Depression, Sheila Hibben’s The National Cookbook became a national sensation in America. In her introduction, Hibben wrote that she was inspired to write her cookbook after seeing a newspaper article featuring an elaborate recipe for a dog sculpted out of whipped cream paddling in a tureen of soup. She hoped that instead of making “frivolous novelties” and “elaborate atrocities” such as the whipped cream dog, her book would “call people home…to learn from the experience of our fathers the best and simplest way of eating.”

Potato Cookies

November 10, 2024 Little Dorrit1 Comment

Another recipe from the The Economical War-Time Cook Book, these cookies were designed to save on scarce ingredients such as wheat and fats during World War I. They also help use up leftovers, since they can be made with leftover mashed potatoes.

Gatsby Picnic 2024

September 22, 2024September 21, 2024 Little Dorrit2 Comments

Every year at the beginning of September, the Art Deco Society of California hosts the Gatsby Summer Afternoon, a 1920s and 1930s themed garden party and picnic. I went for the second time this year with my mother, and once again planned out an entire spread for us using recipes from 1920s cookbooks.

Gatsby Picnic 2023

September 1, 2024August 31, 2024 Little Dorrit2 Comments

Every year at the beginning of September, the Art Deco Society of California hosts the Gatsby Summer Afternoon, a 1920s and 1930s themed garden party and picnic. I went for the first time last year and of course made a whole picnic spread of recipes from 1920s and 1930s cookbooks. I had a blast, but was very tired afterwards and completely forgot to finish writing my post about it…until I started preparing for the picnic this year. So here it is, nearly a year late, but just in time if you happen to be planning your own picnic.

Avocado Ice Cream

August 18, 2024August 17, 2024 Little DorritLeave a comment

This recipe comes from the Western section of The United States Regional Cook Book, a 1939 cookbook that purports to showcase the “literally thousands of deliciously different foods representative of all sections of the country.”

Cherry Ice Cream

July 1, 2024June 30, 2024 Little Dorrit1 Comment

This simple recipe from 1909 seemed like the perfect way to kick off National Ice Cream Month.

War-time Cake

July 2, 2023August 27, 2023 Little Dorrit8 Comments

This recipe is one of many variations on “Eggless Butterless Milkless Cake,” an unusual recipe that became a staple during the food shortages of both World War One and World War Two. I’ve found similar recipes across dozens of cookbooks from the 1910s to the 1940s. Interestingly, while wartime cookbooks usually referred to this type of cake with names like “Eggless Butterless Milkless Cake” or “War Cake,” cookbooks published during the Great Depression often call it names such as “Depression Cake,” “Economy Cake,” or “Poor Man’s Cake.”

Avocado and Bacon Sandwich

June 11, 2023August 17, 2024 Little Dorrit1 Comment

I had to make this recipe from a 1933 cookbook just to show that avocado toast has been around for longer than you might think. Avocados were first cultivated in the United States starting in the early 1900s, and became very popular by the 1920s. They were used in all sorts of recipes, including open-faced sandwiches like this one – or, as we would call it today, avocado toast.

Chocolate Chip Honey Cookies

April 30, 2023April 23, 2023 Little Dorrit1 Comment

Last year, I made Ruth Wakefield’s original recipe for Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookies. Invented in the 1930s, these cookies became so popular that by 1939 Nestlé developed chocolate chips specifically for use in the cookies. Nestlé continued to promote chocolate chips and chocolate chip cookies during World War II, such as in this poster suggesting that a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies would be the perfect gift to send a soldier.

History in the Making

recreating historic foods and crafts

Category: 20th Century