The Wartime Economy Book of Recipes for 1945 was published on April 10, 1945. The recipes were “selected from more than 8000 Maritime recipes” submitted for consideration. Over three hundred different communities from the three Maritime Provinces participated.
On pages 21 and 24 are recipes submitted by Mrs. Ronald Fleet of Ecum Secum. I believe this was Myrtle Alice Snow who married Ronald Murray Laird Fleet.
According to his birth record, Ronald Fleet was born November 25, 1911 at Ecum Secum, Guysborough County, NS, the son of Margaret Publicover and Jeffrey Fleet. He and Myrtle Alice Snow wed August 13, 1936 at St. Barnabas Rectory, Ecum Secum.
According to their marriage record, Myrtle was 22 years old, the daughter of Kathryn ‘Kate’ Fleet and Joseph Snow. She was born in Ecum Secum. Ronald was 24 years old.
Ronald passed away at his home in Ecum Secum in 1990. According to his obituary, he was 78 years old. Myrtle passed away on December 10, 1999 in Eastern Shore Memorial Hospital, Sheet Harbour, Halifax County. According to her obituary, she was 85 years old. Both were buried in St. Barnabas Anglican Church Cemetery, Baker’s Road, Marie Joseph, Guysborough County, NS.
The recipes Myrtle submitted to the Wartime Economy Book of Recipes for 1945 were for…
- Shadow Cake
- Shadow Icing
- Chocolate Cornflake Pudding
Check out the new page I created to hold Family Recipes to learn more about these recipes.
Wartime cookbooks put emphasis on substitutions and rationing. Although my parents’ families did not go without many food items because they lived in rural areas where they grew and raised most of their food, others were not as fortunate. Eggs, sugar, honey, butter and other items were in short supply. The first page of Wartime Economy Book of Recipes for 1945 provides tips on how to stretch sugar and butter to make it last longer. In many recipes, molasses was used in place of sugar.
The book contains recipes for the usual foods—cakes, cookies, rolls, chowders—and a few unusual—borsht, rarebit, rose hip honey, apple butter. Pasta dishes were not made in my household until the early 1980s, but recipes for macaroni and noodles are included in this book. At times, I find old recipes add too much salt, perhaps to compensate for the reduced amount of sugar, to add flavour. However, the recipes in this book don’t seem to be laden with the white substance that should be consumed in moderation.
Of interest to genealogists is the inclusion of the names of the individuals who submitted the recipes. Although many are noted by “Mrs” and their husband’s names, the addition of their communities help identify these wonderful women.
To browse the Wartime Economy Book of Recipes for 1945 (and to see if a relative made a submission), visit the Nova Scotia Archives website. If you try any recipes, note the measurement of 1 – 2 cup doesn’t mean one to two cups. It means 1/2 cup. The dash was used instead of the backslash.
Alphabetical Birth Records Search
Progress: Searching for surnames starting with the letter B: 1870
Baker, Simeon: Born July 17, 1870 at Liscomb, Guysborough County, NS, the son of Ann Curtis and Benjamin Baker.
Liscomb Mills 