What's Cookin in the Cottage Kitchen?

Greetings Blog Friends,

Hope you all had a special weekend. Celebrating Mother's Day and enjoying a wonderful Sunday.
Today and all week long also celebrates the Cottage Kitchen here at Etsy Cottage Style blog.


As I was going through some old books I love and cherish, especially the vintage books, I came across one of my dearest from my mother's collection.

This awesome book from 1951 was apart of a special event where my father worked. Developed from the tips of the wives who were married to the employees, it covers everything for help and cutting corners around the home.

So with this section on Cooking, I wanted to share a few tips that can still be used today. Maybe even give you a chuckle at the changes compared to today.

Here's one about brown sugar. One lady wrote, using hard and lumpy brown sugar in a recipe slows down the baking time. She suggests, warming the brown sugar in a warm oven to soften before use. Today we use our microwaves to soften brown sugar, but I did not know, if lumpy, it would slow down the baking process.

Another lady gives a tip to run a fork along the long sides of a banana before slicing for a pretty decorative look when topping on desserts. Love this idea to pretty up sliced bananas.

And this employee's wife says, when making rolled cookies you can save time by cutting the dough in squares with a knife instead of rolling them out. She says to dip a steak pounder mallet into cold water and then press atop each square This makes the cookie look like a little waffle when baked.

Here's one interesting tip, to remove fish odor from hands and pots and pans after baking, rub the with hot salt water and wash as normal. This removes the fish odor.

Yet another lady says to measure honey accurately, she recommends greasing the measuring cup with shortening first before adding the honey. The honey will pour out to the last drop.

And I like this one too. When you crack eggs into a recipe and some of the shell drops in the contents, you can remove it easily by using another piece or half of the egg shell you just cracked to lift out the stray egg shell. Egg shells will adhere to each other for removal easier then trying to use a fork or spoon.
I will have to try this one.

Oh and here's one I like too. When serving an egg omelet, warm the dish for serving before serving the omelet. A cold dish will cause the egg to fall and become soggy.

How about some funny tips, When cleaning chicken, one lady says, keep tweezers near by to pluck the tiny feathers. LOL!! When is the last time you plucked a chicken???

Or this one, when defrosting your refrigerator, place frozen meat on ice cube trays wrapped in paper to keep meat frozen until your fridge is clean. Do they still make these refrigerators that need to be defrosted? Maybe someone has a vintage fridge!! If so, this is helpful.

Of course these tips are from the days when women did not work outside of the home, but rather made a career of home and family. The best job in the world really, which never paid what it is really worth.

These are just a few of the many fun tips covered in this special vintage book. I will share more from time to time on the different subjects offered in the chapters. I could read it for hours as it makes me wonder what life was like before I was even born. Women worked hard to make life wonderful for their families. Similar to the way we women work today only in a different way with more helpful appliances.

Till next time, enjoy What's Cookin from the Cottage Kitchen at Etsy Cottage Style and I will leave you with a few pics of my Mother's Day Flowers.

Have a wonderful day.
Hugs, Celestina Marie