My mom gave me an old cookbook from 1924 and we read it together.
And laughed until we cried.
So…I felt as though I should share with you. Let me introduce you to Priscilla. She told me I could call her by her first name.
I hope it is okay that I print some of the recipes here because this little darlin’ was copyrighted in 1924 in Great Britain AND THE COLONIES. (How cool is that? Or am I just a nerd?)
Priscilla has some advice for you to keep you from adding considerable strain to your busy mind:
Are you “pretending” to keep eggs on hand even though your cupboard is destitute?
What about the luxury of mushrooms? No biggie–just substitute celery, no one will notice! (?!?!?!!?!?!?!)
Okay here comes the REALLY fun part. Check out the great recipes included in this book:
This is not to be confused with COOKED peach soup, which I’m sure would be just as disgusting.
Why did I not think of combining those ingredients?
Yummy, right? Make sure you leave it in the salt and ice long enough!
Can someone explain to me how this is different from….bacon? Please tell me you didn’t need a recipe for this!
I have no words.
Like cranberry sauce in a can…only peaches…and frozen!
In case you don’t like peaches. But don’t forget the oil dressing, grated cheese, paprika and saltines.
I actually kind of want to try this one….
I want to like it…sugar…butter…but I just can’t!
Again–maybe this one is worth trying?
There are plenty of others that make me raise an eyebrow. Or two. Because I can’t just raise one. I’ve always wanted to but my face won’t cooperate. Anyways…
Are those anything like cow plops?
Two words that should never go together?
“Hey baby, I’m a little strapped for cash–can you pay for dinner?”
Yep, no words for this one either.
But no alcohol?
So not PC.
Better than what?
Desitin?
I’ll let you make your own caption for this one.
Are you wondering where the PRUNES are?
Are you thinking, wow I wish I had some prune recipes?
Don’t you worry! Priscilla has you covered!
Isn’t that great? Definitely keeping this one around for a while. Who knows, maybe you’ll see that carrot fondant pop up again sometime.
Do you have any old-school recipes that you love or your family members love? Do any of the above recipes sound appealing to you?
{ 33 comments… read them below or add one }
This book is equally hilarious and disgusting, thank you so much for sharing. It has brightened up my morning considerably!
Haha this is incredible! Frozen cheese salad? You know I think I might pass…
Classic. I love it. Thanks for sharing this gem!
I collect old cookbooks so I can totally relate! I love reading through them and getting a good laugh. I wonder what the people of 2112 will be laughing at when they read our books (or our blogs!)
I got a great chuckle out of reading this post. Most of those recipes sound pretty gross..lol. I can understand the bacon curls. They probably didn’t have bacon in slices then just hunk of meat. But still…do you really need to be told to cut a piece off and fry it? LOL
This is hilarious! It reminds me of some old church cookbooks I have read. I once read a recipe for “taco salad” that had you mixing all the typical ingredients for taco salad into LEMON JELL-O. We’re talking ground beef, corn, beans, and salsa. There was a similar recipe for “chef’s salad”. (Lutherans do like their Jell-O!)
Omg, I needed a good laugh this morning! I agree some hilarious and disgusting recipes. Have a great weekend! lol
this is awesome! i have a box of my Nany’s recipes, and these remind me of a lot of hers. tuna loaf? no thanks, Nany
This is great! Thanks for sharing. I had the same thought as the wicked noodle – what will people be saying about our recipes 100 years from now?
This really has me wondering if the Priscilla lady actually tested any of her own recipes, or if they somehow just sounded good in her mind. I love her instructions… “Cook a little”…. oh, thanks, that’s a helpful guideline! I also enjoyed the spelling errors like “succcessfully” and “cocoanut”…..
This sounds like a fun cookbook with lots of different and unique recipes. Which ones were your favorite so far?
Bahaha! I think my favorite is Yum-yum sticks. What?! I kinda want to try the carrot fondant too. It sounds interesting.
Um…I kind of want to make the pork cake. It sounds like a spice cake, but with pork fat, which in my head means bacon fat. Maybe I’m reading it wrong.
I LOVE THIS! Three of my most prized possessions are the 121-year-old cookbooks my grandmother gave me
This book is hilarious! Kind of strange, but an awesome thing to have – a real piece of history!
I got the biggest kick from this. What a find and definitely a keeper as silly as it may be.
LOL – I love this! My column for this week deals with a comment in one of my mother’s old cookbooks.. “if you care about pleasing your man, bake him a pie.” And that was just in 1969. The difference of life is so dramatic and incredibly cool to read. I am going to search for more!
desitin! ha! You know you want to try the pork cake. Aren’t old cookbooks so fun! I’ve yet to find one as old as yours.
This was freaking hilarious!
I love looking through old cookbooks! The recipes are so…random. Your comments here are perfect
Thanks for the smile.
pork cake? well well, why didn’t I thin of doing that before now? LOL! This book sounds so fun and interesting. I love old cookbooks- I have a ton and you have made me want to pick them all up and read them asap!
Love it!! Old cookbooks are the best – although I’ve never seen one this old. How funny!
Pork cake? The salty cheese weird thing…white salad with whipping cream?! Holy heck! These are some doozies. What fun to read though.
Hilarious! Oh man! Wonder if our great-grandchildren will laugh at our cookbooks this way, something tells me no. My mom and I had a great time going through my grandmother’s HUGE collection of weird cookbooks when she passed- some of it is just too good to pass up. Thanks for sharing.
I totally needta get a can opener that opens 1″ below the top so I can make those fancy salads. They would totally impress my mother-in-law. BAH!
This is hysterical! My mom actually recently found a book from the same time period for pregnant women which had some stellar advice. My favorite was not to quit smoking when you become pregnant because it will make you an unladylike beast. Instead just cut down on the # of cigarettes you smoke. LOL
This is hilarious–and stomach-churning! I feel like my Nana HAS to have some things like this lying around…
LOVE! I collect old cookbooks and adore seeing some of the oddities in them … that pork cake is something. But don’t stone me — the Peach Soup has me intrigued. I might have to try that.
My sister still has this old cook book, it belonged to our Mother. If I may say, we enjoyed many a great meal from my Mother and this cook book. The Yum-Yum Sticks were my favorites.
I too have a Modern Priscilla Cookbook from the 1920s.Yours looks to be in better shape,as mine had been apparently well used.
I’ll look through it for the Squirrel Potatoes. Prune Whip and Prune pie were popular back then. Bagdad Frosting probably had chopped nuts and chopped dates and or figs mixed in with the frosting. The Strapped Date Pie, probably had a lattice work dough on top,like you see for apple,cherry,and peach pies today.
They just called them straps, hence the name of the pie. Interesting for a novelty, though I may actually try some of the recipes some day.
Fun! Thanks for all the great info!
i have this book it is really torn up it is my aunts maybe my granmothers. I was surpised to find your webpage. I really enjoy reading it
Thanks Linda!