Casseroles and Economical Meat Dishes

Capitalizing on the casserole craze of the 1940s and '50s, this publication from the Vancouver Province was one of a series of eight booklets, perhaps available by order to the newspaper’s readers. Allowing the cook to “stretch” a small quantity of meat or use cheaper or leftover meats, casseroles were an economical choice for the kitchen. This book, notably, includes a recipe for a “Ham and Pineapple Upside-Down Cake,” not a cake at all, but a casserole based on the fad for upside-down cake. The booklet’s publication date can be estimated from the newspaper facsimile in the inside cover, which shows an issue from the Province’s fifty-second year. As the paper was founded in 1898, the cookbook can be traced to around 1950. This book belonged to a Saskatchewan native who moved to Vancouver in the 1940s.