A Peek at 1940's American Cooking

This past weekend, while visiting my son at the College of William & Mary, I paid a visit to his favorite used book store - Mermaid Books - and found some cookbooks I just had to have.  The Kitchen Collaborator (pictured at left)  was published in 1946, when foods were often cooked in a "moderate" or "slow" oven for an unspecified amount of time, and tuna casseroles became all the rage.   The book was compiled by the American Association of University Women in Long Beach, California (my old haunting grounds!).   Over the next few weeks, I plan to make several of the dishes in it (mainly the appetizers, casseroles,  desserts, and breads since beef and liver, which are no-no's in my diet, figure rather prominently in the "main dish" section) and will share them with you (complete with photos).  I hope you will join me as I take this step back in time to the days of our mothers, grandmothers, or - sigh - even great-grandmothers.  Until the first installment, happy and healthy eating!