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.

Who Decides What History to Tell and Who Gets to Tell It?

It's a rumor that I hate "Progressives." I have a deep respect for reenactors and their craft. I ogle over the small details people put into their impressions. I gush over the sewing projects. I squeal over their pictures. I have my own standards for myself, higher than some reenactor's standards and lower than other's. The standards I hold for myself are not the standards I hold for others.

Everyone is free to have their own standards but I am appalled at the people who take their standard as a reason to harass others. Yes, it is harassment. Yes, it's real harassment even if it's "just online."

Reenacting, is experiencing a common museum problem. Who decides what history to tell and who gets to tell it? For a long time, museums were by the wealthy, for the wealthy. Later, museums started to cater to the middle class and explored the lifestyle of the "common man." But something was still missing. Museums have started exploring untold history- history from the perspective of the previously unrepresented. How to represent all voices in a respectful and meaningful way is complex problem in many museums. Many are asking "How do we decolonize this?"

Who has the privilege of telling our history at events?

People who:  

- Have or can get weekends off from work/family duties.
- Can afford to work for free. 
- Have vehicles and gas money to get to and from events.
- Have money for expensive gear.

I'm not interested in anyone's opinions about what is "affordable" as that is highly individual. The truth is, we all know that handmade, bespoke garments are pricier than a lot of our regular clothes. Yes there are ways to make it cheaper if you have the good fortune to be able to sew and have the time and resources to do so.)

- Are physically capable. Reenacting is demanding, and many historical sites and event spaces are not designed to host a variety of needs.

I could dedicate a whole blog post just to this and might in the future. I have seen people harassed for their age, size, and physical limitations. I've seen people mocked for their walker, wheelchair, glasses, their inability to walk long distances or sleep on the ground etc.   

- Are accepted by peers. Antisocial behavior should not be accepted. Discrimination is not acceptable.

- Feel safe. 

You might laugh at this but I know people who stopped coming to events because they encountered harassment, physical/ sexual assault, and stalking. There are also many disenfranchised people who are bullied out of sharing their viewpoints or personal experiences.

There are many people who are excluded. How can high standards be bad? The higher the standards, the higher the barrier to entry for disenfranchised people. The higher the barriers to entry the better chance we will end up with an old fashioned, one perspective, "by the wealthy for the wealthy" display and that is a disservice to everyone.

I am not a proponent of "bad history" and believe me, I've seen a lot of bad history. I only ask that people live and let live on things that are not a safety issue or life and death matter. Your standards are your standards and their standards are theirs. Teach from your example. Be passionate about accessible history. Recognize the privilege you have to be able to tell history.

We should not be working to silence people, we should be working to help people better interpret history. We should be teaching others how to research. We should be talking more about what an interpretation is and what it isn't. We should be refining the other areas of our craft that go beyond the material.   

         

World War 2 Era Bismarck Tea Ring

"OH NO! That looks nothing like the picture!" Yes, that happens sometimes but everyone said to bring it to the event anyway. It wouldn't be right if I didn't share the failures as well as the successes. It tasted fine but wasn't as pretty as it could have been.

I kneaded the biscuit dough about 5 minutes before I realized it was only supposed to be for 30 seconds. The damage had been done. It was near impossible to roll it out to a nice 1/8 of an inch dough. No pretty swirly rolls for me. The flavour was there but the result turned out to be kind of blobby. It wouldn't have been in the spirit of World War II if I threw it out and started over. All that flour and butter!

I ended up making and using apple jelly instead of raspberry as I had apples browning in my fruit bowl and was trying to keep the costs down. It might not look as pretty as it should but it tasted good. It was less sweet than we're used to but that could be fixed by an extra sprinkle of sugar over the jelly before rolling.

World War 2 Era Bismarck Tea Ring

 

Biscuit Dough

- 2 Cups sifted Flour
-2 teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 4 Tablespoons Butter or Shortening
- 3/4 Cups Milk

Mix flour, salt and baking powder and sift. Cut in the butter or shortening and add milk slowly until a dough is formed. Flour your hands and knead for 30 seconds or until all is combined. Roll out on a lightly floured piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet until the dough is a rectangle about 1/8 of an inch thick.

Filling 

 

-1/2 Cup Raspberry Jam

Glaze

 

- 1 Cup Powdered Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Milk
- 2 Tablespoons Raspberry Jam

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400° F. Spread a thin coat of raspberry jam on the dough. If you make it thick, it will slide out and make a mess. Starting at one long side of the dough, carefully roll it up until you have a log. Bend the two ends together to form a circle and cut 1 inch slices (leaving some dough to keep it in a ring). Twist each slice so the cut edges are facing up. Bake for 30 minutes on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Remove to a cake rack. Combine jam, sugar and milk to make a glaze. Drizzle glaze on the top with a spoon and serve warm.

A bunch of us looked at the original photo and aren't entirely convinced that the hole in the center wasn't cut out after it was baked. Some theorized it might have been baked in a bundt pan. My ring baked solid so I did what you're supposed to do when you cook a blob: covered it in gaze. I'd love to see what you end up with if you try it. If I make it again, I'll update with the results. This recipe is from 10 Steps to Perfect Baking (1937.)  

1920s Sealing Wax Art Jewelry

Over the weekend we went antiquing and I found this really pretty booklet on sealing wax art. Sealing wax art involves melting sealing wax, originally used to seal letters, and shaping the softened wax into different beads and pendant shapes. I had seen wax flowers and pearls before but this was new and I never thought to try and make some myself.

DIY Your Own Vintage Style Jewelry with the whole book here: Sealing Wax Art

Some of my friends and I have been mailing each other letters with wax seals so I already had the materials and thought I might as well try and get some practice in before all those Roaring '20s parties start happening. I still need a lot of practice but it was fun to do. The book shows some very pretty, intricate examples. 

My attempt. I still need more practice!

The only advice I can give so far is that the harder, wax pellets that are melted in a spoon were giving me better results than the sticks with the wicks in them.

Advertisement from 1924

You can read the whole book here: Sealing Wax Art

If you try it out, I'd love to see photos of what you come up with!

WWII Era Sweet Potatoes in Apple and Orange Cups

This recipe came from the book 250 Ways of Serving Potatoes (1941) by the Culinary Arts Institute. Potatoes and sweet potatoes are easy to grow and very filling. By the end of WWII, American farmers were growing 3 billion pounds of sweet potatoes a year!

250 ways is more ways than anyone needs to know, but this way sounded so interesting I knew I had to try it. I was not disappointed. I love the taste of sweet potatoes but we really only eat them "Thanksgiving style."

 If their sweet taste is not enough to entice you, sweet potatoes are highly nutritious. They are high in vitamin C, niacin, magnesium, manganese, antioxidants, fiber, and sporamin. Sporamin reportedly has anti-aging and cancer fighting properties. In fact, some of the oldest living humans ate sweet potatoes as 60% of their diets!

Sweet Potatoes in Apple Cups

- 4 Medium Sweet Potatoes
- 3 Tablespoons Butter
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 2 Tablespoons Sugar
- 4 Red-skinned Baking Apples
- 4 Marshmallows

Boil sweet potatoes until soft then peel and mash. Add butter, salt, and sugar, mix and set aside. Core your apples, place apples in the nooks on a cupcake pan. Fill apples with sweet potato mixture and bake on 325℉ about 15 minutes or until the apples are soft. Remove from oven, top each apple with a marshmallow and return to the oven until the marshmallows brown. 

Sweet Potatoes in Orange Cups 

- 2 Cups Mashed Sweet Potatoes
- 1/2 cup Orange Juice
- 2 Tablespoons Butter
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 3 Large Oranges
- 6 Marshmallows, quartered

Boil sweet potatoes until soft then peel and mash. Cut each orange in half, juice, and remove the pulp. Add 1/2 cup of the juice, salt, and butter to the sweet potatoes and mix. Fill orange peels with the sweet potato mixture and top with marshmallow pieces.  Place oranges in the  nooks on a cupcake pan. Bake a 400℉ for about 15 minutes.



The orange was not bad but masked the flavor of the sweet potatoes too much for my preference but I could see it being a welcome change if you had a ton of sweet potatoes to eat. I very much liked the sweet potato in the apple. Maple syrup or honey would also be delicious substitutions in this. Hope you all enjoy!

Old City Seaport Festival 2014

Last weekend I went to the Old City Seaport Festival hosted by the Independence Seaport Museum at at Penn's Landing in Philadelphia. Ships in attendence were Gazela and Jupiter of Pennsylvania, Mystic Whaler of Connecticut, A. J. Meerwald of New Jersey, and the Pride of Baltimore II from Maryland.

Saturday was cold, wet and rainy but didn't stop some people from wanting to tour the ships. It really is a fantastic sight to see tall ships together. It makes you think about the times when tall ships were the form of shipping and travel and harbors looked like forests.

If you have never seen a tall ship in person, it is well worth it. We see them in movies but can't quite imagine the size or the smells or the motion of a ship. It's a direct link to the past.  All of the dangers of a ship are still real and all of the work to keep a ship floating still need to be done. Historical ships are not a hobby that can be put away once summer is over much like many historical sites that can close their doors until the weather breaks. They are special sites that are almost living. 

The Old City Seaport Festival is special because it is an event for kids. It is pirate themed so you can expect lots of cheery pirates. There are games for kids to play, scavenger hunts, crafts and comedy acts.  Many sailing events are not designed for child audiences as many maritime events are focused on and run by, well, sailors. :)

 

Father teaching his son to climb in the rigging.

The festival is a lot of fun and it is an opportunity to see a lot of ships in one place. Wooden ships don't last forever and are constantly under threat so it is great to see them while you can. As many know the Bounty sank in 2012 and Argus (click to see horrible photo of poor Argus) sank back in January, while waiting for the same work that Gazela has been waiting for for years but costs hundreds of thousands of dollars.

 

Maritime Heritage funding has been cut recently and the National Maritime Alliance is fighting to get the funding back to its original levels. I'm not asking everyone to write their committee members but if you know someone who really likes boats, please send them this link.

Timeline Event 2014 at the Colonial Pennsylvania Plantation

Last weekend I went to my first timeline event which was held at the Colonial Pennsylvania Plantation. Timeline events were never attractive to me because it seemed like more of a joke, like it was the answer to sarcastic reenactor comments about how all of the reenactors from different time periods should fight each other.

I was pleasantly surprised that this type of event doesn't trivialize the time periods but instead offers spectators a little something of everything. It's interesting to see groups from each time period and make comparisons between them. This type of event also really lent itself to specialty impressions that are normally out of place at time-and-place-specific event, opening up educational value to people who normally see and hear about the same thing at each event. I also liked that unlike at a time specific event where half of the people present are reenactors and half are spectators with a clear divide, at a timeline event the modern spectators almost seem like the final addition to the display, bringing the past into the present.  

The weather was fantastic, it was spring weather with a cool breeze. It was the perfect day to be outside. For those of you who have never been to the Colonial Pennsylvania Plantation, it is truly a place stopped in time.  

Demonstrating the sharpness of their swords.

I didn't get to move around and take photos of everything because I was helping cook a meal in the farmhouse kitchen as well as learning to milk a cow. Surprisingly this was my first time.

The corn at the farm has gotten so big! If you know Jeff, you know he's about 6' 4". You can read his description of the event here.

It was great getting to see a lot of people I haven't seen in a while as well as see some new faces at the farm.

Peterson Magazine's Princess Capote Hood Pattern from 1862

This hood is a pretty alternative to the Red Riding Hood that I posted last Friday. Both hoods were published in Peterson's Magazine in 1862 and are constructed similarly.

The ruffles, braid and tassel make this hood an intricate and pretty accessory.

Of course, I am very interested in any headwear that allows me to lay down while wearing it. Farby, I know. But there's nothing like walking a few miles in your corset and heavy dress and sneaking into your tent for a few minutes of temporary relief. You fluff up your blankets and try to lay down for a few minutes, and your bonnet or hat are in the way, making laying down impossible. By the time you get your bonnet or hat off, it's generally time to start cooking. :) 

This is a pretty hood and would be a nice thing to have come the colder events. Enjoy the nice cool weather we've been having. 

Two Events, Two Days: Greenbank Mill and Whitehall, Camp Geiger

As is increasingly the case, this weekend I found myself attending two different Civil War events. Greenbank Mill Civil War Days in Delaware, and Camp Geiger in Whitehall, Pennsylvania.

The event at Greenbank was smaller than last year but still had a nice charm to it. There were Sanitary Commission displays, heritage dancers, Civil War era games, and a nice picnic.

Some of the goods sent to the soldiers.

The ladies had this lovely peach pie stolen by a Yankee scoundrel.

The conspirator, gives himself away. :)

But it was retrieved after a high-speed chase. 

Thank goodness, the rain stayed away until after the event on Saturday. It was a good time and I got to hang out with people I only see a few times a year.




On Sunday, I ventured to the Whitehall event, which was pretty rainy. But I do  have to say, the boys looked pretty spiffy:

I got to see a few people I haven't seen in a while, but I did not watch the battle for very long. Everything was wet and my feet were soaked but everyone seemed to be having a good time.

There are a lot of big events this year, so I hope to be posing more than I have been. I can't wait to see everyone at Gettysburg, let me know if you will be there!

Open Letter to the Boy Who Found My Blog Twice, Using the Query "Do Girls Think Reenactors are Lame?"

Dear Deeply Misguided (possible) Reenactor,

No. Girls don't think reenactors are lame. Really.

That's the short answer. I can personally vouch, once you go reenactor, anything else seems too normal (read: boring.) And while, I am not all girls, there are plenty of girls totally into it.

 

There are a lot of reasons that girls like reenactors. Here are some possible reasons below:

1. Guys who reenact tend to like history. People who tend to like history tend to read books and research. People who read books and research tend to be smart. So many reenactors (the variety  that is invested in history) tend to be smart. Smart guys impress the girls. 

2. Guys who reenact have a passion. Guys with passions are far more interesting than guys who just "hang out" or like "stuff." 

3. Not only that, guys who reenact have a passion that girls can understand. Many girls will be impressed by your understanding of the evolution of fashion and your ability to perform basic alterations. If you can't sew and she can, she'll be happy to help you out. If you can sew and she can't, you can sew for her. It's win-win.

4. Girls like gentlemen and guys who reenact have a chance to perfect their mannerisms and many do. This is a big deal. Girls like honest gentlemen who know they will respect them at all times. 

5. Reenactors dance, ladies love to dance. Plus, you can take her to a ball. What other kind of guy can do that?   

6. Reenactors tend to travel all over the country. Traveling makes people more interesting and more aware. She might even want to go too. 

7. Reenactors are tough. They have a hobby where they sleep on the ground in the cold, eat food not suited to the modern palate and wear wool in the summer. 

8. Reenactors are adaptable. This comes from long strings of events where everything goes wrong. Important tools are left behind, important people don't show up, and tents fly away. This adaptability is an awesome relationship skill. Car break down on a date? A reenactor will keep a girl laughing and in good spirits. 

9. Reenactors hang out with people of all ages. They can get along with a lot of people. They fit into families quite well. At Christmas dinner a nice reenacting guy can chat up a girl's grannie and play soldiers with little Tommy, instantly becoming a family favorite. Girl's value guys who get along and are well liked by her family.

10. Reenacting tends to be family oriented. Ladies like that, at least the ones worth pursuing like family oriented activities. Many of them want families someday. Family values are a major plus.

11. Reenactors have interesting stories that are pretty out of the ordinary. They spend their spare time doing interesting things. Interesting is good. 


That's the long answer. Obviously these are generalizations and it's unfair to generalize people but I thought about all of the reenacting men I know, which is a lot, and these are the traits a lot of them have in common. I also know that these won't apply to all girls. I clearly don't know your situation, but if reenacting is something you love, then you should only worry about girls who respect it, even if it isn't their thing. In addition, if any girl tells you reenacting is lame, she probably secretly knows that it's awesome. 

"But What is it Worth?" (and Why You Shouldn't Answer It) The Price of Antiques

As a person in the history field, I hear this question a lot. Sometimes I explain to a tour group that we can't touch anything in the rooms, because most  of the furniture is over 200 years old. Someone, either adult or child, will invariably point to an object and ask "What is it worth?"

"This object gives historians a lot of information about how people lived in the 1700s. This information was not recorded in books and therefore it is of considerable value to historians."

That's not what they want to hear. They will then clarify their question as if I didn't understand, "How much money is it worth?"

I don't know if it is today's economy, but lately historical artifacts seem to be about the money that can be made. Shows like American Pickers, Pawn Stars, American Digger and many others put an emphasis on the price tag of antiques instead of their educational, historical and cultural value. It is an even more grave situation, when people are prompted to loot historic sites, like what happened in Gettysburg two weeks ago.

It's really important for history educators to go over the basics of archeology and the importance of artifacts and antiques to our understanding of history. Tell your listeners the importance of the information gained from archeological sites and how the artifacts collected are not the goal, but a result of archeologists excavating for information. Try to bring the focus off the antiques and artifacts and try to emphasis how important these things are for learning about the past.

It's almost never good to put a monetary value on an antique in front of a crowd. Many people have the notion that antiques are worth huge sums of money, and some are. But, most antiques are pretty modest in price compared to the impression many get from Antiques Roadshow. If you tell your crowd that your dug Civil War Eagle Coat button is only monetarily worth about $6.55, many will be surprised at the low "value" but many more won't have an interest in holding it because it's no longer special in their eyes. Putting a monetary value on these things breaks the connection with the past that each individual can make when touching and passing them around.  

Has anyone else noticed this at events and in museums? If someone asks you about the "value" of something, what do you say?