I started doing this blog seriously in January of last year. I am still amazed that there are people willing to come and read my nerdy little posts about the history of popular recipe, my love of vintage food ads, my random posts about movies, celebrity recipes and my weird personal quest into the gelatin dishes of the past. The Jell-O posts actually got my tiny little blog interviewed for the New York Post in November.

It also got me thinking of my early posts. One reason that I started this blog was that sometimes it is very hard to find out information about certain cookbooks and their authors even with all the information on the internet. I decided that I would use this blog to share the information that I was able to sniff out. My goal was to do this once a month but I kind of fell short last year. I did hit a lot of my other goals so I am not sad about this. My first post of this kind was about Aunt Sammy. I had come across Aunt Sammy through a book I have called Culinary Biographies and it immediately sent me down a path.

Aunt Sammy was a fictional radio character from the 1920s and 1930s created by the government to get important information to the more isolated parts of the United States. It was the recipes that became the most popular part of the program.  You can read more of the details about Aunt Sammy here. There is also a very easy and delicious raisin bread recipe on that post to that is easily adaptable to ones taste.

If you asked me for vintage cookbook suggestions, Aunt Sammy’s Radio Recipes Revised would for sure be on that list. Especially if you are interested in the 1920s and 1930s. The recipes are simple, easy and most importantly tasty. I guarantee that most people could find a handful of recipes that they could make without a trip to the store. Most of the recipes hold up to the test of time which is not always the case with old cookbooks.

I decided as a little celebration of my first full year that I would once again make a recipe from Aunt Sammy. I picked the recipe exactly the way I did last time. I just flipped through the pages to see what I already had on hand. I landed on this simple oatmeal muffin. I will admit I was supremely disappointed when I pulled them out of the oven as they looked boring and rock hard. Don’t let them fool you they are anything but. These have a slightly crunchy outside but is tender, chewy and hearty inside. The savory muffins are perfect warm with a smear of butter but they would also be great with a stew or Sunday roast sopping up all that delicious gravy or juices.

Lastly a big thanks once again to everyone who stops by my corner of the internet! I am super excited for another year on Quaint Cooking.