USS Ling Vandalized

Last weekend, vandals opened the hatches of The USS Ling, a WWII Balao class submarine in Hackensack, NJ with power tools and stole the memorial plaques honoring the men who died in the 52 submarines and lost during the war. I can't speak much to the battle that was going on with the sub, the attached museum and impending construction of luxury residential area but it hardly seems unrelated. Construction is set to start in September. As of now, she's sunk in the mud with 10 ft of water in her which can't be emptied until environmentalists give the okay. 

There's a lot I can say about this. The fact that national treasures can be destroyed in the night with no repercussions or mass public outrage is so disheartening. I know it's difficult for communities to spend money on historical sites when the communities need so many other things in the short term, but in the long term these sites are so important. WWII is becoming a vague memory as veterans die off and more current conflicts are in the spotlight. The Ling was used as a training vessel until the 1960s so you can still find people with memories of training on her. When we visited this weekend there were 5 or 6 people saying their goodbyes. 

USS Ling during sea trials, in 1945 

It would be amazing if you could donate at Restore the USS Ling. 

If you can't donate, it would be great if you could post about this on your Facebook or Twitter. 

WWII Blueberry Muffin Recipe

Back from the WWII, Berwick, PA event hosted by the Stuart Tank Memorial Association! Despite the rain, everyone had a great time. I brought these muffins to share and while they were a little dry when I made them, they ended up moist after a day of being under saran wrap. Saran wrap didn't hit the shelves until after the war but the plastic used for saran wrap was developed during the war to make ventilated insoles for combat boots. I think a tupperware container would have the same effect. The boys ate them up at the event.

This recipe is from The Good Housekeeping Cookbook (1942.) In accordance with the wartime shortages, this recipe has less butter and eggs than we're used to in modern times.

WWII Blueberry Muffin Recipe

- 2 Cups all-purpose Flour
- 3 tsp Baking powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 2 Tbs Sugar
- 1 Egg, beaten
- 1 Cup Milk (or 1/2 Cup of Evaporated Milk + 1/2 Cup Water)
- 4 Tbs Vegetable Oil or Melted Shortening
- Canned or Frozen Blueberries, well rinsed and drained


Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Sift together dry ingredients. Slowly stir in the oil, milk, and eggs and mix until it has a lumpy appearance but no longer. Grease cupcake pan (I found it better to grease and flour it.)  Place 2 tablespoons of batter in each cup, cover with 1 tsp of blueberries and then top with 1 tablespoon of batter. Bake for about 25 minutes or until the tops are golden. Makes about 14 muffins.

WWI Era Graham Cracker Cake Recipe

Sorry for the lack of updates, it's been so busy! Lots of events coming up. Who will I be seeing at the Reading Airshow?

This was made as a birthday cake for WWI reenactor, Pavel[ @paveljay on Instagram,] who was more excited that the cake was a rectangle than that it was a WWI recipe.

The recipe is from American Cookery, the magazine of the Boston Cooking School, printed this recipe twice in differing formats. The defining characteristic of the cake is the graham cracker flour. Graham crackers were originally intended to be part of a vegetarian diet that minimized pleasure and stimulation in an attempt to live a more natural life. There's no trace of their early roots in this cake. It's tasty.   

 Although the version I started with suggested mocha icing, the other version suggested whipped cream icing and I thought that would taste amazing with the graham cracker and cherry.  I used an 8 x 4 inch bread pan an only think the 12 x 7 inch pan suggested would work if you wanted a very flat cake. I also added a layer of cherry filling on the inside.

The result was surprisingly delicious. The cake was very dense but moist and had a nice, light, honey, cinnamon flavor. The whipped cream topping was fluffy and complimented the graham cracker, cinnamon and cherry very well. This is one of the few recipes I've made that had multiple requests to make again. The magazine suggested to serve this with tea but punch would also compliment it well.

Civil War Era Snow Cream Recipe

I'm enjoying my snow day off after that busy weekend at Military Through the Ages.

This is one of those recipes that sounds like it's "modern but marketed as Old Timey" but it is actually a historical recipe dating back at least to the 17th century.

I foolishly thought I was going to have to wait until next year to share this recipe but as we are now on Nor'easter number 4, I thought this recipe needed to be shared. It's a very easy, Philadelphian recipe. :D I've also included a WWI Era recipe to show how the recipe has stayed fairly consistent over the years.

Snow Cream

Ingredients:

- 1 Cup Heavy Cream (you can use milk it is just not as rich)
- 1/3 Cup of Powdered Sugar
- 4 Cups of Snow
- 1 tsp Lemon Extract or Vanilla Extract

Instructions:

Mix together cream, sugar and flavoring. Mix in fresh snow until it is as stiff as ice cream. Enjoy!

There's not much to it. It would be something fun to do today with kids. I was hoping to post an update about Military Through the Ages but I still have photos to go through.

Fight the Gap Crud: WWII Era Chicken Noodle Soup

Everyone had a great weekend at the Fort Indiantown Gap Event!

But now it's here: The Gap Crud, The Barracks Plague, The Soldier's Sickness! Everyone is sick now. This post isn't going to be very in-depth because I'm typing from my bed, under a mound of crumpled tissues. I'm leaving it up to sleep and the science of Chicken Soup to fix this.


Chicken soup has been a staple in homes since chicken became a thing, although it wasn't until 1934 when Campbell's released their "Noodle with Chicken Soup" that Americans began buying and stocking their pantries with it. The 1930 and 40s were the start of being able to buy this previously homemade dish at the store, a luxury to anyone who has had to cook three meals a day from scratch.   
Although many people erroneously think a Campbell's Soup name mix-up on the radio in the 1930s is the origin of the name, the name "Chicken Noodle Soup" was in use at least since WWI. The mix-up did; however, prompt Campbell's to change the name of their soup to "Chicken Noodle,"  and it's a popular name for the dish today.

1947 Advertisement

Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients

- 4 Cups Chicken Broth
- 2 Carrots, peeled and chopped
- 2 ribs of Celery. chopped
- 1 medium Onion, diced
- Handful of noodles (fresh or store bought, we're sick so I'm doing store bought.)
- Chopped parsley, optional
- Cooked shredded chicken, optional

Instructions:

In a large saucepan, boil the carrots, celery and onion in the chicken broth until tender. Add the noodles and chicken, serve with a garnish of parsley.

Some recipes recommended making broth using a whole chicken. If you used a chicken to make broth, it was likely only a few shreds would find their way into the soup, the boiled chicken would likely be served in other dishes to stretch it. Chicken soup is a great way to use the chicken bones though.

Some pics from the Fort Indiantown Gap Event:

I wish everyone a speedy recovery!