Old community cookbooks often contain lots of items in addition to recipes. They often have household tips, and may include poems or even humor. For example, the 1926 Pennsylvania State Grange Cook Book had a short, humorous piece about measurement “exactness” when making cakes:
Exactness
When you wish to try a new recipe, or in using an old one, always follow it to the letter. One often hears the remark: “The first time I made it, it was just perfect, but I have never been able to get it like that again.” Is it not because you changed a little from the exact recipe?
Like old Aunt Milly, when asked if she was willing to give her recipe for a nice cake, replied: “Why, certainly. It’s just as easy as nothing to make it. I just take as much flour as I think I’ll need and quite a little dab o’ butter, and a pinch or two o’ creamy tartar, an’ sev’ral eggs, if they’re plenty, an’ less if they ain’t, an’ mabbe a mite of salt, an’ stir ’em until I git tired an’ bake it in an averidge oven until I think it’s done. That’s all there is to it.
By the 1920’s, standardized recipes were commonly used. Most cookbooks contained recipes with a title, list of ingredients, baking temperature, and directions. Women’s magazine (as well as commercially published cookbooks) often stressed the importance of accurate measurement when making a recipe. As standardized recipes became common, it became humorous to poke fun at cooks who still used less precise cooking methods.
Since this cookbook was compiled by Grange members in rural Pennsylvania, and many residents of the state in the 1920’s were Pennsylvania Dutch (German), I’m guessing that the author of this short piece was trying to imitate the accent of someone who had a Pennsylvania Dutch accent.
I had to laugh when I read your final comment, because as I read the piece, I was hearing my Pennsylvania Dutch grandmother’s voice. 😀
So funny!!!! Sounds like me when making a loaf of bread or a pan of biscuits!
It must have been hard to cook without exact recipes.