r/oldrecipes

This sub always inspires me to look through my old recipe cards passed down from my mother. If you are fortunate enough to have your own rhubarb patch, it should be in season soon, so here are a couple recipes for rhubarb jam that you might try. They are basically the same except for the amount of rhubarb and sugar, so I guess you can choose depending on how much rhubarb on hand.

One note of caution: Be sure to remove every bit of the leaves. As much as I fondly remember eating rhubarb as a child, I remember one bad experience and I suspect that I ingested a piece of leaf. My mother was a busy woman and always in a hurry in everything she did. I’m thankful that she took the time to make us homemade treats and pass down the recipes. These bring back joyful memories. ( except for that one time 😆)

Enjoy!

I stumbled across this book from another post recently that completely changed how I think about food.

We’re so used to fridges, supermarkets, and next day delivery that I honestly never stopped to think about how people actually ate before all that existed. This book is basically a collection of old recipes that were designed to last months or even years without refrigeration. The same kind of food our great grandparents (and great great grandparents) relied on.

What surprised me most wasn’t even the recipes, it was the mindset. Everything was about making food stretch, using what you had, and not relying on systems that could disappear overnight. Reading it made me realize how dependent we are now compared to even a couple generations ago.

I’ve tried a handful of the recipes so far. Some are definitely outside my normal rotation, but a few were genuinely good and oddly satisfying knowing they’d keep without power or fancy storage.

It’s less of a cookbook and more of a little history lesson disguised as one. Made me appreciate how resilient people used to be, especially when it came to food. I wanted to make this post as a bit of a shoutout to the creators for putting it together and the person who shared it here a couple months back (I couldn't find the old post to go back and comment).

Here's the website I bought the cookbook from, it's a pretty niche book so I don't think it's available on any mainstream platforms - survivalsuppers.com

From the decade of big hair, big shoulder pads and when it was hip to be square, here’s my collection of recipe cards from the 80s. Found some good bangers on here.

"Oatflake" instead of oatmeal. "Sweet milk" instead of just milk. Sweet milk was just regular milk, you had to say so because buttermilk was common enough in baking that "milk" alone was ambiguous. I've seen that phrasing on maybe a dozen cards now, and they all seem to be pre-1950s.

At the top, underlined once 'Best'.

EDIT! Apologies - cookies not cake! I hadnt had any coffee!

I got a box stuffed full of old recipes from the thrift store for $1, will be posting them to the subreddit here as I go through them!

Beef Bourguignon. A full bottle of red wine, salt pork, fresh mushrooms, serves 12-16. This card has been in a kitchen — the stains prove it.

I wondered what 'salad oil' was. Its was a more common way to describe vegetable oil in the 60's

"Boiled Salad Dressing" "Butter size of egg."

That's it. That's the measurement. No tablespoons. No grams. Just — you know the one.

Probably 1940s, found folded up in a box of recipes from an estate sale. After a bit of research i discovered boiled dressing is also called 'cooked dressing'. It's not a vinaigrette. It's not mayonnaise. It's a cooked emulsification of egg, milk, vinegar, and flour, thickened slowly over a double boiler and finished with butter.

Anyone ever made boiled salad dressing?

**BOILED SALAD DRESSING**

2 tsp. salt | 6 T sugar

2 tsp. mustard | 1½ c. milk

3½ T. flour | 1 egg

½ c. vinegar | butter size of egg.

Mix dry ingredients. Add milk, beating in with egg beater. Add egg & continue beating till combined. Add vinegar and cook in d. boiler till thickened. Remove from fire and add butter. Makes about 1 pint.

Hey everyone In this post I wanted to thank all those who hit me up during the month of January situation (the Iranian people's protests where the government massacred its own people) through dms, telegram and email and wanted to help in different ways and give a special shoutout to all the lovely people who helped anonymously and showed extra special support and say that I owe them forever and will never forget their kindness. I hope to soon meet all of you beautiful people in a free Iran and be able to return all your kindness. Love you all ❤️❤️

I need to talk about a dish that literally made my dinner guests go quiet mid-conversation not because something went wrong because something went very right

It's called Parde Polo and there's a good chance you've never heard of it the name translates to Veiled Rice in Persian and yeah the rice is actually veiled wrapped inside a golden, crispy, buttery dough crust, hiding a filling of saffron rice, shredded chicken, toasted almonds, pistachios and barberries you bake the whole thing in a mold, flip it upside down and bring it to the table as a dome. then you cut it open like a cake

That moment the knife going through the crust, the steam rising, the jeweled interior being revealed that's when the table goes silent every single time

A dish with 500 years of history behind it this isn't something someone invented last year parde polo has roots in the Ottoman royal courts and for centuries it's been the centerpiece of weddings in Siirt, Turkey and the Azerbaijani regions of Iran every ingredient carries meaning the dough represents family privacy, the barberries symbolize the bitter and sweet moments of life together, the almonds represent children and prosperity It was never meant to be an everyday meal. It was designed to make people feel something

The part that will stress you out the flip you bake it you let it rest 10 minutes you place a large platter on top of the mold and then you have to commit no hesitation Just flip it

When that golden dome slides out intact almond decorations and all it's one of the most satisfying moments you'll have in a kitchen. I'm not exaggerating

"Next Best Thing to Robert Redford" A recipe named after Robert Redford. Written in cursive. Layered with cream cheese, instant pudding, grated candy bar.

The moms that moms in the 70's. They were onto something.