Anyone have the Good Housekeeping Cookbook from the 1940s?

[totallyfrazzled]

Originally Posted by nomoresnow

OK, Totally, you may owe me on this one. My mom gave me her first cookbook - GH dated 1942, 1943. Here's the recipe from the "Cookie Press Cookies" section:

Peanut Butter Cookies I

Wow, powdered (confectioners) sugar, that is something I never saw before in the dough part of a cookie recipe! I'm going to try that one just to see how it turns out!!

It's weird you mentioned that Cookie Press Cookies had their own section because when I wrote my OP I was going to say that I thought there was a specific section for those but since I wasn't entirely sure about that, I decided not to mention it. Thanks for verifying that my memory still does work fairly well after all these years!

I notice that it's 'Peanut Butter Cookies I' .... was there also a 'II' in that same section? Just curious because of the designation and how the 'II' version, if there is one, differs.

Thanks so much to all who tried to help, I really do appreciate it!

[nomoresnow]

Totally, I did check on PB Cookies II, but they weren't spritz cookies, so I didn't mention them. They did some rather good. Let us know how they turn out. Oh, if you want the recipe for II, I'll be glad to send it.

[goh1221]

Does anyone know how many pages are in this old 1940s cook book? I have an OLD COOK BOOK it starts on page 93 and ends on 938 but no where in the book does it tell the name of the book I would like to find another one in better condition for my mom

[Jukesgrrl]

I love to buy older cookbooks at estate sales. I especially enjoy the ones that have hand-written notes in them. My current favorites are The New Orleans Restaurant Cookbook by Deirdre Stanforth (1967), Winterthur's Culinary Collection (a charity paperback published in 1983), and a 1971 version of Joy of Cooking that someone from Pittsburgh, PA, wrote helpful notes in. I thank her (?) every time I use it, even though I have no ideas who she was.

I also have my mother's 1962 Better Homes and Gardens ring-binder book. She's still with us, but she doesn't cook any more, so I hijacked it. It's stuffed full of yellowed magazine tear-outs, too. No peanut butter spritz recipe there. But she has the word "GOOD" written in huge letters beside this
cookie recipe:

Ginger Cookies

1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup molasses
2 Tbsp. vinegar
5 cups sifted AP flour
1.5 tsp. soda
0.5 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cloves

Cream shortening and sugar. Add egg, molasses, and vinegar; beat well. Sift dry ingredients; stir in.
Chill three hours.

Roll thin on lightly floured surface. Cut into shapes. Place one inch apart on a greased cookie sheet. If desired, sprinkle with sugar [time for the fancy sugar from King Arthur!]. Bake at 375 degrees for 5-6 minutes. Cool slightly. Remove from cookie sheet. Cool on rack. Makes 8 dozen medium cookies.

[My mother is an artist -- she probably liked the "cut into shapes" part.]