Wartime Wednesday: DIY Apple Corn Muffins

Wartime Wednesday: DIY Apple Corn Muffins

Let’s face it: America has a sweet tooth. We love our cookies, cakes, pies, and ice cream. Sugar rationing during WWII put a damper on desserts until folks started to experiment with recipes to find substitutions for the difficult-to-get sweetener. Honey, corn syrup, and maple syrup were common swaps.

Food companies took the opportunity to publish cookbooks and flyers that included recipes that omitted or reduced rationed items. All touted to be the answer for frustrated homemakers.

The following was on the back of the Rumford Sugarless Recipes pamphlet:

“When you view your half-empty sugar bowl with alarm…when your sugar ration runs short…when you pine for a good Rumford cake, shortages or not – that’s the time to dip into this little treasury of Rumford Sugarless Recipes. There’s not a spoonful of sugar in any of them – but they taste mighty good just the same! Baking without sugar is no secret of the wizards; it’s a little different, that’s all.”

The leaflet cautioned cooks to:

“Follow the recipes given here exactly. The experts have worked out just what happens when you switch to syrups, etc. and you will have the best results if you follow directions to the letter. Generally speaking, you can replace one-fourth the sugar in any recipe with corn syrup (although our recipes here use no sugar). Another thing to expect is slightly different texture from what you’re used to.”

Rumford Apple Corn Muffins

¾ C sifted flower

1/3 C cornmeal

3 t Rumford Baking Powder

½ t salt

¼ C sliced raw apple

1 egg, well beaten

1/3 C milk

¼ C honey

3 T melted shortening (remember butter was also a rationed item)

Sift together flower, cornmeal, Rumford Baking Powder, and salt. Wash, pare, and cut apple into eighths. Remove core and cut crosswise in very thin slices. Combine egg, milk, and honey. Add to dry ingredients, stirring only enough to dampen well. Stir in melted shortening. Fold in apple. Fill well-greased muffin tins 2/3 full and bake in a moderately hot oven (400 degrees) for 25 minutes Makes 12 medium sized muffins.

Enjoy!

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Set in 1942 and taking place in London, Under Fire tells the story of Ruth Brown, whose missing sister Jane is declared dead. Following clues from her tiny New Hampshire town overseas to England, Ruth stumbles resistance fighters, the IRA, and smugglers, all of whom want her dead for what she has discovered. 

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Wartime Wednesday: World War II DIY

Wartime Wednesday: World War II DIY

During the 1920s a large number of women set aside their sewing machines in favor of affordable ready-made clothing. The industry boomed, and little girls stopped learning how to sew.

Then came World War II when the War Production Board issued Regulation L-85 rationing natural fibers because domestic supplies of wool, cotton, linen, rayon, silk, and nylon were diverted to the military for uniforms and supplies (tents, parachutes, etc.) To save on fabric, the War Production Board even regulated style, limited color choices, and restricting skirt length and the fullness of pants. Cuffs were prohibited, and dresses were limited to one and ¾ yards of fabric. The number of ration stamps needed for clothing was high, and people were limited on how many items they could purchase per year.

The result? It was now considered patriotic to sew. Women dragged out their sewing machines and taught their little girls how to “make do and mend.”

Patched clothing became a fad, and women would piece together garments from remnants, mixing and matching colors and patterns. Feedsacks were popular sources for aprons, dresses, and children’s play clothes. House wives would swap with friends so each woman would have enough matching sacks to create an outfit. The pattern industry boomed. Hollywood Pattern Company put a star on the upper left corner of their envelope to indicate the pattern complied with Regulation L-85. Reminiscent of pioneer times, women cut down their cast off adult clothing to make garments for their children. There were even patterns for making slippers.

Women also used their sewing skills to support the war effort directly. Projects were created and raffled to raise funds for organizations such as the Red Cross. Items were also knitted and sewn for military members as well as victims of war-torn countries. One newspaper article touts the work done by a volunteer group in Texas that created 446 woolen garments, twenty-eight knitted garments, and two quilts.

My mother is an excellent seamstress, and now an avid quilter. She made nearly everything my sister and I wore as well as our bedspreads, curtains, and chair covers. Me? I gave away a pair of pants rather than re-attach the button that had fallen off.

How about you? Do you sew or shop for your clothes?

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Midwife Pia Hertz and her mother Sabine have been delivering babies long before the Nazis came to power. Now, the Third Reich has implemented mandates that require Jewish babies and other “undesirables” to be killed as part of The Final Solution. Is Pia’s new faith in Christ strong enough to defy the laws of man?

Despite the agony of the injury at the Battle of Drøbak Sound that took his arm, Dieter Fertig is relieved he’s no longer part of Hitler’s army. He returns to Berlin and discovers Jews are being deported by the thousands. When he realizes the Nuremburg Laws require his best friend’s baby girl to be killed, he must find a way to spirit the child out of Germany before the Nazis discover her existence. 

Inspired by the biblical story of Shiprah and Puah, the midwives who saved Jewish babies during Pharaoh’s reign, Love’s Belief shows how one person’s actions can change the world.

Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/2MB3Elo