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Victory Kitchen — History
Victory Kitchen

Victory Kitchen is an exploration of food rationing in wartime America. Join author, historian, and vintage foodie Sarah Creviston Lee as she delves into World War II cookbooks, recipes and menu plans to discover how our grandmas got their food to fight for victory.

Copyright: © Sarah Creviston Lee

Latest Episodes:

Episode 33 - Deck the Halls Dec 24, 2023

Show notes

Christmas in 1940s America conjures up a healthy dose of nostalgia for a lot of people even today. For this special holiday episode, Sarah peeks into traditions celebrated and wartime shortages folks experienced on the homefront from Christmas trees to chocolate. Hanukkah is given a special highlight and adorable children's letters to Santa bring plenty of cheer!

Join me on Substack for supplemental posts featuring images, research, and recipes!

To see images, recipes and research conducted for this episode go to victorykitchenpodcast.substack.com. To learn more about Sarah and this podcast go to thevictorykitchenpodcast.com.

Episode 32 - Frozen Assets Jul 25, 2023

Show notes

Canning wasn't the only way to preserve food in the 1940s! In this final episode of Season 4, Sarah highlights the old community staple of freezer locker plants, how they served their community and why freezing was maybe more patriotic than canning. She tries out a meatloaf recipe enshrined in bacon and shares an amusing freezer story back when frozen food was still a novelty!

This podcast needs YOUR support! Become a Patron! Your generosity not only gives Sarah warm fuzzies of joy, it also helps her source the very best research materials to make each episode the best it can be. To share your love for her work and to sustain future episodes, go HERE.

Supplemental photos, recipes, and resources can be found on the Victory Kitchen Podcast Substack.

To see images, recipes and research conducted for this episode go to victorykitchenpodcast.substack.com. To learn more about Sarah and this podcast go to thevictorykitchenpodcast.com.

Episode 31 - Hospital Harvest Apr 21, 2023

Show notes

Hospitals in wartime not only provided vital medical treatments and short- and long-term care for their patients, they fed them as well – but where did they get their food, especially in a time of war? In this episode, Sarah delves into the vague and completely unexplored aspect of American wartime food rationing: hospital farms. She looks at what they were, how they served the hospitals they were attached to and how World War II impacted them. Finally, she tries two unhealthy, but delicious recipes from a "healthy" ration cookbook written by a doctor.

This podcast needs YOUR support! Become a Patron! Your generosity not only gives Sarah warm fuzzies of joy, it also helps her source the very best research materials to make each episode the best it can be. To share your love for her work and to sustain future episodes, go HERE.

Supplemental photos, recipes, and resources can be found on the Victory Kitchen Podcast Substack.

To see images, recipes and research conducted for this episode go to victorykitchenpodcast.substack.com. To learn more about Sarah and this podcast go to thevictorykitchenpodcast.com.

Episode 30 - Look What the Stork Dropped In Feb 13, 2023

Show notes

War goods weren't the only thing that "rolled off the production line" during WWII. Babies swelled the U.S. population creating bottle necks for all sorts of goods from baby bottles to safety pins. In this episode, Sarah discusses not just baby product shortages, but how the little tykes were featured in propaganda, hospital vs. home births, and which baby foods were rationed and why. (Spoiler Alert: there are some despicable characters in this story!) Finally, Sarah tries out an interesting prenatal recipe for expecting mothers and highlights the incredible career of Black midwife George Anna Saunders.

This podcast needs YOUR support! Become a Patron! Your generosity not only gives Sarah warm fuzzies of joy, it also helps her source the very best research materials to make each episode the best it can be. To share your love for her work and to sustain future episodes, go HERE.

Supplemental photos, recipes, and resources can be found on Sarah's blog www.victorykitchenpodcast.blog

To see images, recipes and research conducted for this episode go to victorykitchenpodcast.substack.com. To learn more about Sarah and this podcast go to thevictorykitchenpodcast.com.

Episode 29 - A Wartime Thanksgiving Nov 23, 2022

Show notes

**It's a special Thanksgiving episode!** With the world at war, America's typical Thanksgiving feast was a lot more subdued, if not more patriotic. In this episode, Sarah explores Thanksgiving attitudes from WWII, the heartfelt and the guilt-trippy. She gets the details behind turkeys, rationing and their price tags, and delights over the birth of our iconic cranberry jelly "log".

This podcast needs YOUR support! Become a Patron! Your generosity not only gives Sarah warm fuzzies of joy, it also helps her source the very best research materials to make each episode the best it can be. To share your love for her work and to sustain future episodes, go HERE.

Supplemental photos, recipes, and resources can be found on Sarah's blog www.victorykitchenpodcast.blog.

To see images, recipes and research conducted for this episode go to victorykitchenpodcast.substack.com. To learn more about Sarah and this podcast go to thevictorykitchenpodcast.com.

Episode 28 - The First Lick Goes To Uncle Sam Sep 12, 2022

Show notes

Soda Fountains were at the core of American identity in wartime, representing so much of what we were trying to protect in our way of life: a sense of home, community, a place to relax & unwind, not to mention they were the dispensaries of our country's favorite sweet food: ice cream. In this episode Sarah digs into why Americans were obsessed with ice cream despite what the rest of the world thought of us and what unique challenges soda fountains faced in a time of war. She features some wartime-inspired soda fountain creations and highlights a couple soda jerks of Hollywood fame!

This podcast needs YOUR support! Become a Patron! Your generosity not only gives Sarah warm fuzzies of joy, it also helps her source the very best research materials to make each episode the best it can be. To share your love for her work and to sustain future episodes, go HERE.

Supplemental photos, recipes, and resources can be found on Sarah's blog www.victorykitchenpodcast.blog.

To see images, recipes and research conducted for this episode go to victorykitchenpodcast.substack.com. To learn more about Sarah and this podcast go to thevictorykitchenpodcast.com.

Episode 27 - Dinner in the Diner Jul 20, 2022

Show notes

Eating away from home was a fact of life for busy people in WWII, and that was especially true for people traveling by rail. Dining cars were an essential part of feeding these people, but railroads were affected by wartime restrictions just like everyone else. In this episode, Sarah digs into this little researched topic to find out how railroads struggled with rationing, how civilians and the military ate aboard trains, and who made all that food while getting it done in the tiniest of kitchen spaces. She discovers a revelatory military chocolate ice cream recipe and honors the legacy of Charles Johnson - Southern Pacific Railroad's first African-American dining car steward.

Supplemental photos, recipes, and resources can be found on Sarah's Substack. https://victorykitchenpodcast.substack.com/

To see images, recipes and research conducted for this episode go to victorykitchenpodcast.substack.com. To learn more about Sarah and this podcast go to thevictorykitchenpodcast.com.

Episode 26 - Three Cheers for Trailer Town! May 20, 2022

Show notes

Wartime housing shortages led Americans resorting to live wherever and however they could while following lucrative defense factory jobs. Many of these places were not ideal. In this episode, Sarah discusses what the government did to address the housing crisis and focuses on two specific living conditions: trailers and apartments - plus the small space appliances that made cooking in them possible. She also interviews Jesse Williams, Tennessee native and museum professional, to discuss the extreme living conditions of the 75,000 residents of the top secret city Oak Ridge, TN. And finally, she discovers an easy ration recipe for using up leftover cake that's worth hoarding for yourself. Or maybe sharing. It's up to you.

This podcast needs YOUR support! Become a Patron! Your generosity not only gives Sarah warm fuzzies of joy, it also helps her source the very best research materials to make each episode the best it can be. To share your love for her work and to sustain future episodes, go HERE.

Supplemental photos, recipes, and resources can be found on Sarah's blog www.victorykitchenpodcast.blog.

To see images, recipes and research conducted for this episode go to victorykitchenpodcast.substack.com. To learn more about Sarah and this podcast go to thevictorykitchenpodcast.com.

Episode 25 - By Rod, Gun, & Steel Apr 13, 2022

Show notes

Season 4 is kicking off its first episode in honor of this year's National Wildlife Week (April 5th - 9th) talking about hunting, fishing, and trapping in wartime! Sarah answers some pressing questions about ammunition rationing, goes over saltwater fishing rules, and discusses some hot wildlife conservation topics of the day fresh from WWII. She also highlights the hilarious, but very irresponsible, wartime cookbook by Lawrence A. Keating where ration-mindedness is thrown out the window.

This podcast needs YOUR support! Become a Patron! Your generosity not only gives Sarah warm fuzzies of joy, it also helps her source the very best research materials to make each episode the best it can be. To share your love for her work and to sustain future episodes, go HERE.

Supplemental photos, recipes, and resources can be found on Sarah's blog www.victorykitchenpodcast.blog.

To see images, recipes and research conducted for this episode go to victorykitchenpodcast.substack.com. To learn more about Sarah and this podcast go to thevictorykitchenpodcast.com.

Episode 24 - Captives: Part 2 - Japanese American Internees & POWs Jan 27, 2022

Show notes

Much like the wartime conscientious objectors, not a lot is commonly known about the vital work that German and Italian POWs and the Japanese American Internees participated in to save our nation's crops during WWII. In this episode, Sarah highlights the Japanese agricultural heritage in our country, contemplates the conflicted relationship our communities had with enemy prisoners of war, and examines just how complicated the intersection where society and agriculture meet during wartime can be. Sarah tries a delicious Raspberry Turnover recipe and interviews Roger Roop, the grandson of a local Maryland farmer who had POWs on their dairy farm during WWII.

This podcast needs YOUR support! Become a Patron! Your generosity not only gives Sarah warm fuzzies of joy, it also helps her source the very best research materials to make each episode the best it can be. To share your love for her work and to sustain future episodes, go to https://www.patreon.com/victorykitchenpodcast .

For supplementary photos, resources and recipes visit the blog HERE.

To see images, recipes and research conducted for this episode go to victorykitchenpodcast.substack.com. To learn more about Sarah and this podcast go to thevictorykitchenpodcast.com.

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