Victory Kitchen

Americans faced scarcities of their favorite spices and flavorings during WWII while shipping was threatened by U-boats and enemy aircraft around the globe. In this last episode of Season 2, Sarah digs into newspapers to piece together a timeline of spices' disappearance from American pantries and discovers how science saved the day. She finds some toast recipes that have changed her breakfas...

The 1920s song "Yes, We Have No Bananas" was a popular anthem of WWII, especially in the United States. Because Americans were obsessed with bananas. But were there actually no bananas available? Anywhere? In this episode, Sarah dives into newspaper headlines to find out what happened to the bananas and what Americans did to keep that magic banana flavor in their diet. She also tries som...

1940s Americans were no strangers to the social (and governmental) pressure to be trim and in peak health. In this episode, Sarah uncovers miracle pills, magic weight loss food, and liquid diets along with healthier approaches to losing weight in wartime. Sarah enters a showdown with a chowder recipe and we hear echoes of New Year's Eve past in a California woman's personal diary from 19...

American housewives in WWII had a dizzying task ahead of them - they not only had to make their food dollars stretch, they also had to figure out how to spend their ration points in conjunction with any sales going on at their local grocery. Add to that the government's push to utilize "the Basic 7" food guide to strengthen the health of their families, and they had a headache in th...

With 40% of young men being turned away at the draft for malnutrition, Uncle Sam had to do something if he wanted a strong, healthy fighting force and nation of civilians. In this episode, Sarah explains the start of the National Nutrition Program, how merchandisers got involved, and what the deal was with "the Basic 7". She tries a weird nut loaf recipe and laments her candy making skil...

If there was anything Uncle Sam wanted the American people to know, from war plant worker to school child, it was that eating a good, healthy lunch was their patriotic duty. In this episode, Sarah talks about the Victory lunch box - why it was a thing, what it looked like, and what went inside it to keep Americans in top form. She tries out three tasty ration recipes from a Victory lunch box cookb...

With all that Victory garden bounty, no one wanted it to go to waste. Women learned or brushed up on canning skills in order to preserve the harvest and stock their pantries to save on ration points. In this episode, Sarah examines wartime canning, especially within communities, and dives headlong into the touchy topic about why we should never use vintage canning recipes. She sings the praises of...

Prisons, church yards, department store displays... WWII Victory gardens were planted in some pretty interesting places!  In part two about Victory gardens, Sarah discusses the nitty gritty details of the actual Victory garden - what U.S. citizens planted, what tools they needed, and all the gardening helps available, including the discovery of the second most important aspect of Victory gardens a...

Victory gardens may be one of the most iconic aspects of WWII. In this first episode of the new second season, Sarah explores the various aspects of the National Victory Garden campaign, what makes a garden one of the official "victory" variety, and why these gardens were so important to the war effort. Sarah experiments with a couple 1943 vegetarian recipes, and one Indiana preacher set...

By the 1940s, Americans had come to rely on the conveniences of canned, dried, and frozen foods, but wartime needs and restrictions changed all that. In this episode finale for Season 1, Sarah explains everything that went into the rationing of processed foods including a national "pantry census." She features two wartime cookbooks with contradictory messages and the homefront farm kitch...

With the rationing of dairy cream, Americans had a difficult time getting their hands on their favorite dessert: Ice Cream. Sarah gives the "scoop" on the headaches and the heartbreaks of ice cream rationing and experiments with a Victory "half & half" frozen treat combo.  {Happy V-E Day! This episode commemorates the 75th anniversary of kicking Hitler's rear!}   To vi...

Wartime dairy farmers were no strangers to milk dumping, distribution problems, and irate customers. Sarah lays out the problems dairies faced during WWII and what American consumers had to do without. (Oh, sweet butter!) Two ration recipes for cheese dips are praised and "Nostradamus McLemore" has his say about food rationing. To view the pictures and resources for this episode please v...

In March 1943, Americans loved their meat enough to go on carnivorous shopping sprees before official meat rationing began. In this episode, Sarah explores who got most of the good meat (you know, the kind everyone actually wanted), which exact meats were rationed, and she uncovers a "dastardly" government meat conspiracy that no one seems to be complaining about. Plus - Hot Ham Rolls ar...

If you're one of those that have been drawing parallels between our current global pandemic situation and World War II rationing, you're not alone! In this special episode, Sarah talks about the differences and similarities, offers ideas and suggestions from wartime wisdom, and features a special wartime cookbook. You may or may not want to ignore her wartime/virus pandemic sandwich fill...

Fat was arguably the most valuable commodity in WWII. In this episode, Sarah lays out why fat was so important, explains the logistics of the Fat Salvage Program, and a special wartime animated icon learns why her bacon grease shouldn't go to feed her dog. Check out the supplemental material for this episode and all other episodes on the podcast's blog HERE ! To see images, recipes and r...

In this episode we find out the lengths Americans went to ensure they had their daily cup of coffee (and we thought they were crazy about sugar!) Sarah and a guest try out a homemade coffee replacement, and Sarah tries out a weird Victory Apple Pie recipe. For more content related to this episode, visit the podcast blog HERE . To see images, recipes and research conducted for this episode go to vi...

With a lot of the world's stores of sugar tied up by wartime, America had to figure out how to satisfy its major sweet tooth. Sarah dives into all the details behind sugar rationing and discovers why corn syrup should best be left for making candy.  For more content related to this episode, visit the podcast blog HERE . To see images, recipes and research conducted for this episode go to vict...

In this first episode, Sarah introduces the nitty gritty details of American food rationing during WWII (yeah, it's confusing!). She also reveals with one ration recipe that there's more than one way to eat a graham cracker. For more content related to this episode, visit the podcast blog HERE . To see images, recipes and research conducted for this episode go to victorykitchenpodcast.su...