Wheatless Oatmeal Cookies and Victory Cabbage

World War I food conservation measures inspired homemakers to use pantry and garden staples to maximum advantage. Instead of using precious flour, fats and sugar to make cake or pie for dessert, the clever cook served a light and satisfyingly sweet cookie instead. These crisp and chewy cookies certainly fill the bill.

Cabbage is a Midwwestern garden staple. Harvested late in the fall, folks could put the heads down in an unheated basement or root cellar for use well into the winter. Many traditional red cabbage recipes use bacon -- an important food to be shipped overseas to our soldiers and allies. The Victory Cabbage recipe below substitutes the tiniest bit of cayenne pepper and nutmeg to fill in that flavor gap. It is easy and one of the best red cabbage recipes I've ever had.

Oatmeal Crisps

1 egg

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons melted butter or other fat

1 cup Quaker Old Fashioned oats

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat egg until thick and lemon colored and add sugar gradually. The mixture will look almost like cake frosting. Stir in remaining ingredients. Drop teaspoons of mixture on well greased baking sheet about 1 inch apart and spread into circular shape with knife dipped into cold water. Bake until just lightly browned, about 8 to 12 minutes. Watch carefully, they can burn quickly. Cool for a minute or two on the baking sheet then carefully lift off and place on wire rack. Enjoy plain or sandwich two together with date filling. Store cookies in a dry place. Makes about 30 single cookies or 15 filled with date filling

Filling for Oatmeal Crisps

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

4 ounces chopped dates or figs

Combine sugar and water in a medium sauce pan. Cook over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Add dates or figs and cook, stirring, until mixture thickens. Cool and put spoonful of mixture between cookies and press firmly together. Store leftover filling in refrigerator and serve as a jam or mix with cream cheese for a WWI-style sandwich filling for whole wheat bread.

Victory Cabbage

4 cups thinly sliced red cabbage

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon minced onion

1/16 teaspoon nutmeg

1/16 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons vinegar

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

Soak the cabbage briefly in cold water. Melt the butter in a large frying pan. Add the onion and seasonings and cook until the onion is transparent, stirring frequently. Drain the cabbage and add to the frying pan carefully as the water clinging to the shreds will tend to spatter. Cover and cook over low heat until the cabbage is tender, about 10 to 15 minutes, stirring from time to time. Remove lid, add the vinegar and sugar, stir well and cook for 5 more minutes.

Copyright 2010 Rae Katherine Eighmey. All rights reserved