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If You Cook

By Lenore De Vries

Copyright 1941

Wonderful vintage book – before cell phones or plastic wrap or a refrigerator in every home!

Book written by radio celebrity with contributions from her write in listeners and women she has met.

Wonderfully captures the 1940’s in terms of the homemaker and her life and responsibilities.

First Chapter is the Homemaker’s Office (the kitchen).

Then all sorts of ideas in this treasure trove of vintage tips and hints! With some eating ideas and recipes too - although not  a cookbook at all.  Some catagories give prep ideas.  A few recipes such as Honey Jelly, Quick Fruit Cake, Easy Caramels and a couple others.  

Using a skirt hanger to keep a small cookbook open, using an egg timer to time long distance calls, pencil on a string near telephone, use an envelope with corner cut off to fill salt shakers, clean a thermos with a handful of gravel, eggs beat to greater volume at room temperature, substitution for cornstarch – twice as much flour, soften a small amount of butter without melting it by placing a heated bowl over it, if you don’t have a refrigerator – freshen lettuce with cold water and buy small cans to use all at once, leftover dabs of jelly can be heated together with water and then poured into a glass to set, cloves in baked beans for variety, make your own melba toast, storing fruit cake, a few slices of onion to boiling cauliflower or cabbage will reduce the odor, high temperature will make cheese rubbery, dip your hands in cold water and raw meat will not stick to them so badly  and ALL SORTS OF STUFF!

Some entertaining in their outdated-ness and some truly lost nuggets of wisdom that is still useful in today's kitchen!

The book is a treasure!  Fun to just sit down and read the many ideas and vintage advice.  Wonderful resource for a look at culinary history too!

Soft cover with metal spiral is age discolored but clean.  Lovely RARE vintage find!  Remains in very good shape

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