These buns are named for their spiral shape like a snail’s shell – the word “Schnecken” means “snails” in German.
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Category: 20th Century
Spice Roll
This recipe comes from The Settlement Cookbook, first published in 1901. The book was initially created as a charity cookbook to raise funds for the Jewish Settlement House in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and was so successful that the proceeds of the first two editions were enough to purchase a site for the new Settlement House. The cookbook presents a variety of recipes influenced by German, Eastern European, and Jewish cooking, reflecting the culinary traditions of the immigrants served by the Settlement House.
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Cranberry Pudding Supreme
Before cooking shows on television, Americans turned to the radio for all their culinary infotainment.
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Hallowe’en Cookies
Themed parties were popular in the 1920s and 1930s, leading to the publication of many books of theme party ideas. This recipe for Hallowe’en Cookies comes from The Children’s Party Book, a 1923 book of party games, decorations, and recipes for a variety of holiday parties.
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Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookies
This is the original recipe for Toll House chocolate crunch cookies, invented in the 1930s by Ruth Wakefield for her restaurant the Toll House Inn.
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Magic Lemon Cream Pie
This Magic Lemon Cream Pie came in handy during a recent visit to my parents’ house – their oven was broken, so this no-bake recipe saved the day!
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Chocolate Fig Ice Cream
This recipe comes from the 1912 edition of Lowney’s Cook Book, so far my favorite cookbook in my growing collection of vintage books. I was lucky enough to happen across it at an antique fair near my town. Although the book has been digitized and is available online, there’s something magical about handling an original copy.
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Preserved Ginger Pudding
This recipe comes from the delightfully-named 1911 book The Woman’s Book: Contains Everything a Woman Ought to Know. In addition to the expected sections on cooking, household management, and the care of children and pets, the book also contains some very progressive (for the time) chapters on careers for women. These outline the types of careers open to women, discuss the training and education needed for each career, and even note what salary to expect.
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Blueberry Buckle
This recipe comes from the Kitchen Army Nutrition and Receipt Book, a World War II-era book published by the Sydney Nutrition Committee of Sydney, Nova Scotia. The cookbook was written “to improve nutrition of Canadians and to emphasize its importance in the national war effort.”
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Great-Great-Grandmother Raver’s Cake – Orange and Lemon Version
Over a year ago, I discovered a recipe for my great-great-grandmother Grace Raver’s cake, thanks to an article from my grandfather’s cousin, Anne.
In her article, Anne recalled that her grandmother Grace would vary the cake according to the seasons; she would flavor it with black walnuts when they were harvested in fall, but would make the cake with orange and lemon the rest of the year. I’ve made the black walnut version of this cake a few times already, so I decided to try the orange and lemon version this time.
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History in the Making 