Double-Quick! Ten Oddly Delicious 1940s Beverages
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Can there be any woman in the Western world who hasn’t felt overwhelmed at some time by her daily responsibilities? How many of us are overloaded regularly? Sometimes when I feel buried under the load of a to-do list, I think of the women who lived during World War 2 and wonder how they managed.
Help with Double Duty
The 1940s saw dramatic societal change when millions of women entered the workforce to take the place of men at war. These women pulled long shifts at challenging jobs in offices and factories, yet still needed to manage work at home. This included standing in long queues for single grocery items, housecleaning with far fewer machines, and taking on extra work like knitting to support troops. It also included protecting the health of their families with nutritious meals during a time when few convenience foods or fast-food options were available.
Numerous cookbook authors sought to help women in what was called “a double life” by providing meal plans complete with ordered steps on how to prepare them. Double-Quick Cooking for Part-Time Homemakers by Ida Bailey Allen is a first-rate example. Her 1943 publication was written to help modern “pioneers—in industry, in war, on the home front” during critical days.
A Cookbook with Strategies
Double-Quick Cooking is as much a strategy guide as a cookbook. It instructs how to manage housework, organize tasks and plan a household schedule all the way down to staging a no-meal strike if family members won’t help! It includes details of setting up a time-saving kitchen and quick cooking methods.
Full breakfasts, packed lunches, and hearty dinners at the end of long days were on the radar of these women in war. Of course, these meals included beverages. There was no running out for a kombucha, mushroom elixir or caramel macchiato. Coffee and tea were rationed in many nations and rationed sugar meant fewer sweet drinks like sodas. Double-Quick Cooking supplied several options for refreshing beverages that could quickly be made at home. Here are ten that are surprisingly satisfying.
Molasses Milk Shake
“Into each glass of cold or heated milk stir one tablespoon molasses. Children like this combination, and the molasses is a good source of vital iron.”
This was good cold, with a light molasses flavor due to the molasses not fully dissolving in the chilled milk. When hot, I found the molasses flavor a bit too strong. This drink would be excellent prepared warm to dissolve the molasses, and then chilled.
Honeyed Milk
“This may be served hot or cold. In either case, for each cup of milk stir one teaspoon honey smooth in one-half tablespoon hot water; combine and serve.”
This was tasty both cold and hot but the honey flavor was more noticeable when the beverage was cold. Children would love it but honey isn’t recommended for very young children (less than one year old) due to the risk of infant botulism. Any older kiddos (or adults) would likely enjoy it.
Victory Coffee
“We call it victory coffee; our Latin American neighbors call it café con leche, and the French, café au lait. In each case it means the same thing, strong coffee served with an equal quantity of equally hot milk…As the coffee goes further by this method of service, enough can be conserved of the day’s ration to provide a demitasse for dinner or snack service.”
Who knew this delicious beverage had a war-related name?!
Iced Coffee
As the author notes, iced coffee is better when the coffee itself has been chilled rather than pouring fresh coffee over ice. However, if the iced coffee is to be drunk right away, the chilled beverage is delicious over ice with a bit of heavy cream added. If using sugar you should dissolve it in a small amount of hot coffee before pouring over ice, or at least in a bit of hot water. Whipped cream? Yes, puh-leez!
Spiced Apple Toddy
Ingredients
Instructions
- Heat cider, cloves, and half the lemon sliced, to boiling point.
- Strain into cups, and serve with thin slices of fresh lemon, each stuck with two cloves.
Tomato Juice Martini
“To plain tomato juice, add tabasco sauce, lemon juice, and a highly seasoned meat sauce, such as Worcestershire, to taste. Serve very cold in small glasses, with an olive in each.”
Similar to an alcohol-free Bloody Mary (missing only black pepper and celery salt) but delicious thoroughly chilled and with the olive…if you like olives, that is!
Wine Lemonade
“Into each glass put the juice of half a lemon, one-third cup sweet red or white domestic table wine and one teaspoon sugar or one-half teaspoon honey. Add one-third glass of ice. Fill with water and serve.”
This beverage really does need a sweet wine to balance the lemon juice. Knowing the sugar would not dissolve in the cold drink, I opted for the honey—which also did not dissolve. Either the sugar or the honey should be dissolved first in a tiny amount of hot water (the same method as in Honeyed Milk) or a teaspoon of simple syrup could be used instead.
Mulled Wine
Ingredients
Instructions
- Combine and heat almost to boiling point.
- Serve at once in glass cups with a slice of lemon floating in each.
Homemade Fruit Juice
“Delicious fruit juices may be homemade from strawberries, a combination of strawberries with rhubarb; raspberries; cherries; currants; a combination of pears and plums; or peaches with plums; grape juice or apple juice combined with any fruit.”
“Chop or cut the fruit fine. Place in an enameled kettle. To each pint add as much water, cider or apple juice; cover, bring to a boil, simmer five minutes, and strain through cheesecloth. Add sugar or honey to sweeten. If the juice lacks flavor, add lemon or lime juice to taste. Pour into a glass jar and keep in refrigerator not more than three days.”
After making this beverage, you can add a bit more cider or apple juice to the fruit in the kettle, along with a small handful of dried fruits such as raisins, currants, cherries or chopped dates. If desired, a splash of red wine could also be added. Then, simmer down to make a fruit compote. If it is not sweet enough, add a teaspoon or two of honey or sugar. The compote may be served warm, or chilled for the next day.
Buttermilk Fruit Drink
“Combine buttermilk with any fruit juice and serve very cold.”
Okay. The idea of trying this mixture sparked fear. Even the thought of buttermilk makes me shudder. I opened the container and poured two ounces, being careful not to inhale. Then, I added two ounces of apple juice, took a deep breath…and made my husband try it first. His comment was, “It’s oddly delicious.” What?! After he took another sip, I tried it. It is oddly delicious! We decided it might take on liquor-drink proportions and added a splash of amaretto. Even better. This odd duo of ingredients—buttermilk with any fruit juice—could become the base for an unlimited variety of beverages from breakfast to cocktails. Who would have thought?
Bailey Allen, Ida. Double-Quick Cooking for Part-Time Homemakers. New York: M. Barrows and Company, 1943, pp. 48, 52, 54, 87, 121, 157, 166-167, 221.
“Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Mt 6:31-33