Modern Meal Maker

In 1935 the Sperry Flour Company published Martha Meade's Modern Meal Maker. I must say that at the time (heck, even now) it was indeed, quite modern. Spiral bound cookbooks were not that original, but this cookbook had a stiff wire coil at the top, allowing the cookbook to stand on its own. There have been a slew of these "new" cookbook designs featuring an easel presentation. Who knew they were not new at all but very retro. Modern Meal Maker was tabbed with each month receiving its own chapter, making it a "seasonal" cookbook decades before it was all the rage.




As one can see from the cover, there are 1115 menus and 744 recipes which covers three meals a day for 366 days with a few menus to spare. Since this cookbook was published by the Sperry Flour Company, the recipes make full use of the their products, but, with 744 recipes the vast majority of them use no flour products at all, so it really doesn't seem overwhelmed with advertising.

For the first Saturday in March:


If you are a follower of our other blog, Lucindaville, (check out the pulled pork pancakes) you know that we love embellished pancakes. So a recipe for Ham Sandwich Pancakes immediately caught our eye.

Ham Sandwich Pancakes

2 cups Sperry Pancake and Waffle Flour
1 1/3 cups milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 teaspoon prepared mustard
Sliced boiled ham

Add milk and lightly beaten egg to Pancake and Waffle Flour, and beat until smooth. blend in butter and mustard. Dip ham slices in batter and cook on hot pancake griddle. Cheese slices may be used instead of ham for a different "sandwich."

Or, perhaps, ham AND cheese may be used.

While the recipes are pretty straight forward, the Modern Meal Maker is wonderful look at how much food has changed and how much it has stayed the same.