Hot Under The Collar, Little Woman? Cool Off Freezing Pies

As I said at my other blog, I've been collecting cookbooks and cook booklets primarily for the little cultural asides. One of these examples is 1952's Aunt Jenny's 12 Pies Husbands Like Best Recipe Book, a promotional cook booklet featuring Lever Brothers Spry "Homogenized" pure vegetable shortening). Naturally, the title was reminiscent of the 1950s "little woman cooking for Daddy" phenom, much like the premise of The Way To His Heart.

While equal parts amusing and frustrating, the vintage booklet also provides recipes and facts. The facts that currently catch my fancy revel in the "miracle" of freezing pies. Tips include when to cut steam vents in crusts and thawing pie shells in an oven (as this is before microwave ovens).