World War II Banana Bread Recipe: A Delicious and Simple Way to Save Overripe Bananas

I swear that produce is going bad quicker during the quarantine. It’s been a full time job just keeping up with what is about to go bad. This recipe came to the rescue.

 It’s from Fannie Farmer’s The Boston Cooking School (1942).   Bananas are one of the biggest sources of food waste. For every one banana eaten, two are wasted. That’s bad for us and the environment. 

Today, Cavendish bananas are the most common but in the 1940s, they would have likely be using the Gros Michel variety if they could get bananas at all. Gros Michel bananas had a thick peel and a strong flavor but were susceptible to Panama Disease, which destroyed many banana plantations in the 1950s leading to the current popularity of Cavendish. If I ever get ahold of a Gros Michel, I’ll be sure to do a taste test. 

This recipe has a nice texture, just between bread and cake. It smelled like heaven while baking and was delicious toasted in the toaster with some butter

World War II Banana Bread

Ingredients:

- 3 Bananas
- 2 Eggs
- 3/4 Cup Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 2 Cups Flour

-1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Instructions: 

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mash your bananas with a metal fork add sugar, eggs, salt, baking soda then flour gradually. Put in a buttered 9 x 5” pan. Bake for 1 hour. 

You can also replace some of the banana in this recipe with apple sauce and some of the sugar with honey.   

Please check out and subscribe to my Youtube channel. You all asked for it, so here it is. Can’t wait to hear your thoughts and ideas. 

World War 2 Baked Cheese Dreams Recipe

***This post is for the WW2 Ration Cook-in (#wwiirationcookin on Instagram). We're stuck at home but that doesn't mean we aren't working! For the next 7 days we will be attempting a new ration recipe from World War 2.  Be sure to check out @victorykitchenpodcast, @history.in.the.kitchen, and @missfashionistageek on Instagram to see what they cook up this week.***

This is for day #3: Dinner. I've seen this exact recipe in a Pyrex cookbook from 1925 and in the Maritime Cookbook (1939.) It sounded pretty good.

My companion liked it and said they would eat it again. I was not at all into the texture of this. Baked Dreams or Vomit Sandwich?   It tasted like cheese flavored bread pudding with toast on top. There are two possibilities. 1. I wasn't supposed to use all 2 cups of the milk and just "coat the tops" of the sandwiches or 2. I didn't bake it long enough. It's also possible it's just supposed to taste like this. The world may never know.

I have seen other recipes for "cheese dreams" that are similar and just coat the bread and fry in a frying pan. I think that's more my preference.

The Maritime Cookbook (Montreal) 1939

World War 2 Baked Cheese Dreams Recipe 

Ingredients:

- 8 slices of Bread
- 4 slices of Cheese
- 2 Cups Milk
- 2 Eggs, slightly beaten
- Butter (Margarine, lard, butter substitutes)
- 1/4 teaspoon Paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- Pinch Cayenne Pepper
- Pinch of Paprika

Directions:

Butter the bread. Place 4 pieces in a buttered casserole dish. Place cheese on the slices of bread, sprinkle with paprika then top with the remaining bread slices. Scramble the eggs and mix with the paprika, salt and cayenne pepper and pour over the "sandwiches."Bake at 425 °F for around 45 minutes or until browned.

3 Ingredient, WW2 Egg Salad Sandwich Recipe

***This post is for the WW2 Ration Cook-in (#wwiirationcookin on Instagram). We're stuck at home but that doesn't mean we aren't working! For the next 7 days we will be attempting a new ration recipe from World War 2.  Be sure to check out @victorykitchenpodcast, @history.in.the.kitchen, and @missfashionistageek on Instagram to see what they cook up this week.***

Today's prompt was "Lunch." There's not too much to this recipe to the point I was considering not writing a post but thought this is one recipe that might help people scrambling to make meals without being about to restock their normal foodstuffs.

We had this with a little bit of black pepper on unbuttered wheat toast. It was very tasty and decided we would eat this under normal circumstances. Wheat bread was pushed during the war as more nutritious.

The Maritime Cookbook (Montreal) 1939

World War 2 Egg and Olive Sandwich

Ingredients:

- 2 Eggs, Hard Boiled
- 12 Stuffed Olives
- Mayonnaise

Instructions:

Chop the hard boiled eggs and olives together. Add a spoonful of mayonnaise or enough to wet the mixture. Serve sandwiched between slices of buttered bread. 

World War 2 Ration Recipe Carrot Marmalade

This post is for the WW2 Ration Cook-in (#wwiirationcookin on Instagram). We're stuck at home but that doesn't mean we aren't working! For the next 7 days we will be attempting a new ration recipe from World War 2.  Be sure to check out @victorykitchenpodcast, @history.in.the.kitchen, and @missfashionistageek on Instagram to see what they cook up this week.

We're navigating the quarantine with a little help from our foremothers. Limitations are the theme today as we can't venture to the supermarkets right now and I am not with my (perfectly rationally sized) cookbook collection at the moment, so I have to make do with what's in the pantry. Today I will be using carrots to make marmalade!

Carrot marmalade became popular in WW1 as a substitution for orange marmalade. Similar recipes had a resurgence during WW2. During the war, carrots were one thing that were not in short supply. They were easy to grow at home, were a compact plant giving a large yield, and stored well.

It was during WW2 that the myth that carrots helped you see in the dark was spread by the British Ministry to hide the new on-board Airborne Interception Radar technology that helped the RAF locate bombers. The Ministry told newspapers that British Airmen ate a lot of carrots and could see better in the dark.

How to Eat Well Though Rationed (Canada) 1943

How to Eat Well Though Rationed (Canada) 1943

As suggested in wartime recipe books, we served the marmalade with cooked oatmeal, milk, and toast. 

Carrot Marmalade
1 lb. Carrots; 4 Lemons (6 if small), 4 lb. Sugar; 7 tumblers Water. Grate carrots and lemon rind. Squeeze lemon juice, and add water. Boil all together for 3/4 hour. Then add sugar, and boil for a further 20 to 30 minutes, or until set. - War Time Recipes, Ambrose Heath (1941)

The original recipe can be seen here at The World Carrot Museum.

WW2 Carrot Marmalade 

Ingredients:

1 Pound of Carrots, shredded
4 (or 6 small) Lemons, rinded and juiced
9 Cups white Sugar
6 Cups Water

Instructions:

In a large sauce pan on medium to high heat, add the shredded carrots, lemon rind, juice and water. Boil for 45 minutes or until the pieces are soft. Add the sugar and boil for 30 minutes or until it passes the wrinkle test.(A good sign is foamy bubbles.) Carefully, pour into your sanitized jars while hot to avoid sticking. Let cool with lids off.