Modern Priscilla Tips from 1924

October's poplars are flaming torches
lighting the way to winter. ~Nova Bair

The tips today are from the Modern Priscilla Cook Book, published in 1924. It was a special subscription edition in hardcover. I like the tips about substitutions, mostly because I find it fascinating, but also because we can use them today in our own recipes. Remember, they didn't have a Walmart around the corner with spices, extracts or the other things we take for granted!

One often finds oneself without certain flavorings, but it is sometimes possible to imitate them. Vanilla and almond give pistachio. Orange and lemon peel may be used in place of the extracts. In steamed pudding or fruit cake, orange marmalade will take the place of candied peel.

Mushrooms are often unavailable and are always a luxury. Cooked celery cut in small pieces maybe used very successfully instead. Dried celery leaves as well as the salt and seed may furnish the celery flavor to cooked mixtures. It is an excellent plan to save the best leaves of every bunch of celery, dry them thoroughly and pulverize. The powder may then be kept in a salt-shaker and used in place of celery salt.

Crumbs of all sorts may be used to advantage for part of the flour in dark breads, steamed puddings, cakes and cookies. This substitution, by the way, furnishes an excellent opportunity for using the crumbs that always seem to accumulate in distressingly large amounts.

Cereals are excellent for thickening soups and gravies, the proportion depending on the kind of cereal and whether it has been previously cooked.

Cocoa plus fat equals chocolate, a fact which makes substitution very simple. Two tablespoons of cocoa and a teaspoon of fat will give approximately the food value of an ounce of chocolate. The flavor is almost duplicated.

Liquid substitutions: Potato water gives a moistness in cake and bread that is desirable. Rice water is often available and good in soups and gravies. Fruit juices may be used in cakes with very pleasing results as to flavor if the acid is neutralized with a little (baking) soda. (Usually 1 tsp. to a cup of juice will work.) Coffee is delicious in cakes, muffins and in place of part of the milk in desserts.