York Hospital Benefit Cook Book a Big Hit
In 1916 the York Hospital Womens Auxiliary published a cookbook as a fundraiser. They gathered the recipes and household hints, and convinced hundreds of businesses from all over York County to buy ads in the book. Some national food related companies, such as Knox Gelatine, Arm & Hammer Baking Powder, Royal Baking Powder, Karo Syrup and Kingsford Corn Starch also took large ads.
The auxiliary printed 8,000 copies, but finding an original today is rare. John Zimmerman recently found a pristine copy in the collection of his late wife Kathryn. The Anstadt Printing Company did a marvelous job of reproduction. The only addition is a small flap that reads: “For people who have an interest in cooking and historical data and a fascinating presentation of advice. Found among the cookbook collection of Kathryn W. Zimmerman and reproduced by the John Zimmerman Family for the benefit of the York Community.”
The 240 page cookbooks are available for $10 each at the York County Heritage Trust Museum Shop and through the York Hospital volunteer office.
I’ll relate some of the wonderful historical information found in the advertisements in later posts, but this time I’ll concentrate on the recipes. Some make you realize how much more work went into preparation. They had to crack and grate the coconut and cut up, cook and mash the pumpkin. They fed the woodstove and kept it regulated–a bit more difficult than turning a knob
Some of the recipes just list ingredients without steps or baking temperatures, but anyone who has cooked at all can figure that out. Most of the recipes sound very good, just like grandma used to make–maybe grandma had a copy of the cookbook.
Two recipes are below. I plan to try the one for Cinnamon Flop. It sounds like a great breakfast or coffee cake. The other one carries making soup from scratch about as far as you can go. I do not plan to try that one.
Cinnamon Flop–One cup of granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon of butter, cream together, add 1 cup of milk, 2 teaspoons of Royal Baking Power, and enough flour, grease and dust two pie plates with flour. Then put in batter. Dust the flour on top of batter, then plenty of brown sugar and cinnamon, punch holes all over the batter and fill them with butter.
Bake in a moderate oven 15 or 20 minutes.
Calf’s Head or Mock Turtle Soup.–Chop the head in half and take out the brains. Let it lie in salt water for a few hours; put on the stove and boil until soft; take the meat off the bones and cut in small pieces. Chop 3 hard boiled eggs; make a dough with a lump of butter about the size of an egg and 4 handfuls of flours, add a little water, make into small balls and drop in the soup. Brown some flour and add parsley and a teaspoonful of cloves mixed in a little water. When the head it taken out to have the meat picked off, strain the broth and cut the brains into small pieces and put meat and all in together. One head will make two gallons of soup.
Fellow blogger Jim McClure has already referred to the cookbook in some posts. See below:
Variety of “tried and tested” recipes.
Arm and Hammer ad.
