Grandma's Wartime Baking Book: World War II and the Way We Baked

What might have been merely a reminiscence of mediocre WWII-era foods is instead an interesting, thoughtfully rendered collection of comforting recipes for baked treats--from Butterscotch Squares and Banana Dumplings to Huckleberry Pudding and Apple Pandowdy. Many of the recipes in this volume exist because of shortages of certain ingredients such as sugar, shortening, butter, eggs; others employ ingredients to save them from being wasted. Hayes (Grandma's Wartime Kitchen) explains the background for each recipe--""Government warnings about waste made it a real necessity to use up those bananas that would soon be overripe""--in a manner that is educational without being preachy, and serves as a subtle reminder to appreciate the abundance that now exists in the U.S. Images from wartime posters and excerpts from advertisements of the day enhance the homey, nostalgic feel of this book and make it a fun read for those who lived through the war.