We worked together for the National Digital Newspaper Program at the Wisconsin Historical Society. Our job was to digitize historic Wisconsin newspapers which entailed browsing thousands of pages of news publications. That’s when we started noticing the recipes hidden within these pages. We began taking note of them, sharing our favorite finds with each other, and eventually decided to try some. Since we both have a background in history, that’s how we approached cooking. It was as much a matter of studying the recipes’ historical context and interpreting their meaning as it was a culinary exercise for us.  

In contrast to cookbooks, newspapers had a very short turnaround time. They could capture even the briefest of cooking trends and were able to adjust or select cooking content based on the seasons or food shortages at any given time. Many printed recipes were part of governmental campaigns or based on the latest nutritional research. Some newspapers also featured recipes submitted by local community members.  

Randi: “Swimming Island” is definitely a strange one. I never thought I’d prepare a hard-boiled egg for dessert, but you add layers of deep-fried pancake batter, cinnamon, and sugar, then douse it in sweetened wine.It’s surprisingly tasty.  

Jane: “Barbecued Ham with Bananas” was a recipe we were both a little apprehensive to try! It was a questionable combination of bananas, ham, and jelly, but it turned out to be the perfect combination of savory and sweet. It was also one of the rare recipes that had a photograph accompanying it in the newspaper, so naturally we couldn't resist the appeal of recreating it for ourselves. 

We have been spoiled by standardization. Whether it’s temperatures or measurements, modern recipes allow for us to cook just about anything in any standard modern kitchen. Without thermometers and thermostats, historically, people really needed to know their stoves and the meaning of a “hot,” “quick,” or “slow” oven in their particular kitchen. They needed to be able to build a fire and keep it consistent. That takes skill and time. We were fortunate to cook some recipes on historic stoves at Old World Wisconsin, and it definitely made us appreciate modern technology more. 

Yes, it was our first time venturing into food photography and styling. We learned some tips and tricks from friends who have more photography experience, but it was exciting to be so deeply involved in the creative work of this book. For us, it was important that the pictures of the food showed only the edible elements we used to cook. There are a lot of tricks in food styling—it’s an art form in itself—to enhance different aspects of dishes, and we decided not to get into the depth of that. However, it was still a challenge to portray dishes that were unfamiliar to us and had, for the most part, never been visually captured because there was very little food photography at the time. Additionally, we strove to capture these dishes in a way that makes them appealing to an audience that is now constantly surrounded by beautiful food that takes color composition into account in the photography as well as the cooking process. 

We often think of historical cooking as using simple, local, and seasonal ingredients. While that’s true to a certain extent—there was a lot of making do with what was available—the culinary world of the late 19th and early 20th centuries was much more globalized than we think. Wisconsinites had access to coconuts and bananas or fresh saltwater seafood like lobster and oysters, and they could go to their local grocery store for all sorts of delicacies.  

We also hope that readers will see how recipes were often shaped by the current events of the time. Although they were often relegated to their own section, away from the reportage on “serious” national and world events, the recipes were intertwined with the world that was being reported on—for example, the introduction of “Meatless Monday” and “Wheatless Wednesday” during World War I.