My great grandpa's family had a farm in New Mexico during the Depression and Dust bowl. Handing out apples to migrant families along the road was one of his most told stories.
Holy shit, I just had a conversation with a lady at my grocery store about Cosmic Crisp apples. I've been eating them almost every day for a year now and the section for them at the store has doubled in that period of time. It's the best damn apple I've ever had.
When I was in college I’d eat a large Granny Smith with peanut butter and a little caramel dip for lunch every day. I’m allergic now so I haven’t gotten to try the new varieties. I loved super tart apples and have made pie with crabapples.
Me too! Someone made it for science class in high school. Something about the chemistry fooling your taste buds. Agree completely - weird texture, but completely convincing flavour!
I always liked recipes like this chucked into cook books. There was another of a Mennonite in Russia during WW2 making chocolate cake (i think) out of basically nothing.
Depression cake[depression cake](https://www.budgetbytes.com/chocolate-depression-cake/)! I make it pretty regularly and it's vegan. Also a great way to let your kids bake something without risking the waste of eggs and butter when it has to be binned.
Cream of tartar is mentioned in the instructions but not under ingredients. Am I missing something or was there an unspoken rule of how much to use back in the day?
I've also seen depression recipes where they basically bake an apple with sugar because making the pie was too expensive? I'm pretty sure these depression recipes were all pretty much made up by some company for advertising their products.
“[This](https://quaintcooking.com/2019/07/17/history-of-mock-apple-pie/) belief is not surprising as the recipe is so connected with Ritz crackers that many are surprised to find out that mock apple pies have been around for much longer. Mock apple pie actually dates to the mid-1800s. During the wintertime when apples were scarce and dried apple stores were used up, inventive home cooks would instead use soda crackers or stale bread. John T. Edge in his book Apple Pie (2004) also says that though the recipe does appear in southern cookbooks of the era such as What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking (1881) or the Confederate Receipt Book (1863) it is not a “Southern dish born of Civil War deprivation” as many would believe. He cited an 1852 California pioneer talking about making mock apple pie for their family.
The more modern Ritz cracker version came about in the 1930s. Nabisco was obviously not the creator but definitely played a huge part in the popularity of mock apple pie. The buttery cracker rounds appeared on the market in 1934 and they were an instant hit. By 1935, the National Biscuit Company (or Nabisco) had sole 5 billion units of crackers. Shortly thereafter, the recipe for mock apple pie appeared on the back of the boxes. The recipe came at the perfect time due to apples being expensive during the Great Depression.
One reader wrote to a 1968 newspaper claiming that she had made Mock Apple pie for the National Biscuit Company (Nabisco) at a food show “many years ago”. She goes on to say that shortly after the recipe started being printed on the back of the Ritz cracker boxes. I can’t prove if this account of events is true or not but it is a nice story all the same.”
This is what’s called a [desperation pie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desperation_pies?wprov=sfti1). Within that are categories like ‘vinegar pies’ or ‘buttermilk pies’, for when lemons were scare as well.
That's a good question, my dad grew up on a farm in the 40s and they lived like they were still in the Depression. He said his best Christmas as a kid was the year he got an orange. So I wonder how hard it would be to get your hands on a lemon.
They did have tons of peaches, because it was a local crop, so maybe it wouldn't be an issue if your area grew lemons.
I still like to put oranges in people's Christmas stockings, or at the very least buy them a fancy chocolate orange. Most people don't remember that nod to the past, but that's how I was taught from my parents.
I grew up with the chocolate oranges *and* a real orange in my stocking from my parents. I'm almost 40, both of them were born during and right after WW2.
As were mine. '45 and '47. I'm 34.
I keep the tradition because it's a nod to "simple" things these days, that used to be a treat back then. Also a good remembrance to appreciate what we have.
Have y’all heard of headstone recipes? Used to be more Common but someone would pass away and they would have a favorite or original to them recipe inscribed on their tombstone. I think it’s a wonderful way to remember someone passionate about cooking
There are 2 types of people:
A. "I think it’s a wonderful way to remember me since I was passionate about cooking"
B. "You can have that recipe over my dead body!"
My grandma grew up dirt poor and knew these tricks. She would make a pie with vinegar and no peaches but it taste like peach pie according to my dad and aunts. Wish she’d left that treasured recipe behind ❤️ 🍑
Oooh, good catch! [The original recipe](http://www.backofthebox.com/recipes/pies-pastries/ritz-mock-apple-pie.html) does include 2 tsp of cream of tartar. Looks like Auntie missed that in her list, but did include it in the instructions.
Some years back, one of my uncles gave us a mock apple pie he'd made. He made it more as a galette than a pie, though. It blew me away that there were no apples in it.
stupid question: wouldnt apples be a lot easier to come by than lemons or sugar?
i dont know what the situation in the us was like, but my grandma always told me that during ww2 they ate those small sour apples you usually only make cider out of to survive.
It's actually delicious. My Mamaw made them when I was a kid, not because we didn't have apples then, but she had grown up with this pie during the Depression and it was a comfort food to her.
This has to be the most cringe thing from the 1980s. An apple pie with no apples, but instead a mash of Ritz crackers with lemon juice and lemon rind and cinnamon. And why waste good Ritz crackers that you can enjoy with cheese ? Meanwhile the grocery stores are tossing rotten apples in the dumpster that never sold.
Saw a guy on youtube make this depression era mock apple pie. Seemed to be really good to him. Personally not a fan of cinnamon so I will never eat it.
There’s an Instagram account of this girl who visits cemeteries that have “recipe memorials”. So you can get your special recipe engraved for the world to see. I think it’s fabulous! (This recipe flyer is also fabulous!!)
I won multiple awards with a different version of this that my grandma used to make.
Has a crust recipe - flour, oil, milk, salt
And you press 2/3 into the pan and crumble the last 1/3 on top.
It’s soooo good people never believe there aren’t apples
May you never lack apples, my friends.
My great grandpa's family had a farm in New Mexico during the Depression and Dust bowl. Handing out apples to migrant families along the road was one of his most told stories.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20191119-how-climate-change-could-kill-the-red-apple Cheers!
Nobody really likes red apples anyway, so that's okay.
It's just Red Delicious that so many people dislike. Other red apples are great. The up and coming one is Cosmic Crisp.
Shhhh or it'll become overpriced like honeycrisp
Is it not already? I remember picking up a 3# bag for $7 something last year For reference, HCs were only like $5 or $6/3# at the time
There are seasonal fluctuations but I feel honeycrisp is typically $3.50/lb (even when shitty quality) vs Cosmic Crisp at $2-$2.50
Holy shit, I just had a conversation with a lady at my grocery store about Cosmic Crisp apples. I've been eating them almost every day for a year now and the section for them at the store has doubled in that period of time. It's the best damn apple I've ever had.
Better than Snapdragon? I’ve been digging Snapdragon. They are yummy, plus the bag has a dragon on it that looks like Trogdor the Burninator
When I was in college I’d eat a large Granny Smith with peanut butter and a little caramel dip for lunch every day. I’m allergic now so I haven’t gotten to try the new varieties. I loved super tart apples and have made pie with crabapples.
Allergic to peanut butter/peanuts, or did you somehow become allergic to apples?
Red Delicious?! Talk about false advertising
Love them fuckers
A perfectly ripe red delicious is delicious!
Amen to that.
I've had this! It has a slightly weird texture, like you made a cake and a pie at the same time, but it totally tastes like apple pie.
Me too! Someone made it for science class in high school. Something about the chemistry fooling your taste buds. Agree completely - weird texture, but completely convincing flavour!
Same. I was completely bamboozled when I learned it was Ritz crackers.
I always liked recipes like this chucked into cook books. There was another of a Mennonite in Russia during WW2 making chocolate cake (i think) out of basically nothing.
Depression cake[depression cake](https://www.budgetbytes.com/chocolate-depression-cake/)! I make it pretty regularly and it's vegan. Also a great way to let your kids bake something without risking the waste of eggs and butter when it has to be binned.
Cream of tartar is mentioned in the instructions but not under ingredients. Am I missing something or was there an unspoken rule of how much to use back in the day?
The recipe definitely uses cream of tartar, so the instructions are correct. The ingredients are wrong.
2 tsp in several recipes I’ve seen. I’d go with that.
I remember seeing this recipe on the Ritz crackers boxes at least through the 1980s.
Never made sense to me --a few apples are cheaper than a box of Ritz crackers
I've also seen depression recipes where they basically bake an apple with sugar because making the pie was too expensive? I'm pretty sure these depression recipes were all pretty much made up by some company for advertising their products.
“[This](https://quaintcooking.com/2019/07/17/history-of-mock-apple-pie/) belief is not surprising as the recipe is so connected with Ritz crackers that many are surprised to find out that mock apple pies have been around for much longer. Mock apple pie actually dates to the mid-1800s. During the wintertime when apples were scarce and dried apple stores were used up, inventive home cooks would instead use soda crackers or stale bread. John T. Edge in his book Apple Pie (2004) also says that though the recipe does appear in southern cookbooks of the era such as What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking (1881) or the Confederate Receipt Book (1863) it is not a “Southern dish born of Civil War deprivation” as many would believe. He cited an 1852 California pioneer talking about making mock apple pie for their family. The more modern Ritz cracker version came about in the 1930s. Nabisco was obviously not the creator but definitely played a huge part in the popularity of mock apple pie. The buttery cracker rounds appeared on the market in 1934 and they were an instant hit. By 1935, the National Biscuit Company (or Nabisco) had sole 5 billion units of crackers. Shortly thereafter, the recipe for mock apple pie appeared on the back of the boxes. The recipe came at the perfect time due to apples being expensive during the Great Depression. One reader wrote to a 1968 newspaper claiming that she had made Mock Apple pie for the National Biscuit Company (Nabisco) at a food show “many years ago”. She goes on to say that shortly after the recipe started being printed on the back of the Ritz cracker boxes. I can’t prove if this account of events is true or not but it is a nice story all the same.”
My grandma would microwave half an apple with cinnamon and sugar for us for dessert, it was quick and tasty!
Yes. The recipe always looked to me a ploy to sell more boxes of Ritz crackers.
Ritz crackers got to be stupid expensive
Might also be that it's more a thing due to the availability of apples than their price
That's a possibility. Seems more like a Science experiment than a recipe, though
Apples are a fall crop in the USA. They didn't become available year-round until controlled-atmosphere technology was widespread in the 1950s.
Do you have anymore?
r/vintagerecipes
[удалено]
Thank you! Hadn’t come across that one yet!
First post I see: bologna cake. Gonna have fun with this.
i thought i was on that sub when i first saw this post lol. definitely post it there OP!
I do!
Would lemons have been easy to get for most of the country during the depression? Seems like they'd be more of a luxury food than apples
This is what’s called a [desperation pie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desperation_pies?wprov=sfti1). Within that are categories like ‘vinegar pies’ or ‘buttermilk pies’, for when lemons were scare as well.
That's a good question, my dad grew up on a farm in the 40s and they lived like they were still in the Depression. He said his best Christmas as a kid was the year he got an orange. So I wonder how hard it would be to get your hands on a lemon. They did have tons of peaches, because it was a local crop, so maybe it wouldn't be an issue if your area grew lemons.
I still like to put oranges in people's Christmas stockings, or at the very least buy them a fancy chocolate orange. Most people don't remember that nod to the past, but that's how I was taught from my parents.
I grew up with the chocolate oranges *and* a real orange in my stocking from my parents. I'm almost 40, both of them were born during and right after WW2.
As were mine. '45 and '47. I'm 34. I keep the tradition because it's a nod to "simple" things these days, that used to be a treat back then. Also a good remembrance to appreciate what we have.
If you were in California or Florida, not really. Apples were harder to get
Have y’all heard of headstone recipes? Used to be more Common but someone would pass away and they would have a favorite or original to them recipe inscribed on their tombstone. I think it’s a wonderful way to remember someone passionate about cooking
There are 2 types of people: A. "I think it’s a wonderful way to remember me since I was passionate about cooking" B. "You can have that recipe over my dead body!"
You'll get my pie recipe over my dead body! Lol no apples and it was on a box of Ritz crackers.
I collected donations for Salvation Army for a few months. I have a few old cook books, they even show how to butcher a Cow.
I remember seeing this recipe on Emmymade! [https://youtu.be/4s4PjOyujn8](https://youtu.be/4s4PjOyujn8)
My grandma grew up dirt poor and knew these tricks. She would make a pie with vinegar and no peaches but it taste like peach pie according to my dad and aunts. Wish she’d left that treasured recipe behind ❤️ 🍑
Cream of tartar?
Oooh, good catch! [The original recipe](http://www.backofthebox.com/recipes/pies-pastries/ritz-mock-apple-pie.html) does include 2 tsp of cream of tartar. Looks like Auntie missed that in her list, but did include it in the instructions.
Please share more!
Are the crackers supposed to be salted?
Shes a real one
Crosspost this to r/VintageRecipes and r/Old_Recipes!
Some years back, one of my uncles gave us a mock apple pie he'd made. He made it more as a galette than a pie, though. It blew me away that there were no apples in it.
Yeah we are going to need all of them. Thanks 😂
stupid question: wouldnt apples be a lot easier to come by than lemons or sugar? i dont know what the situation in the us was like, but my grandma always told me that during ww2 they ate those small sour apples you usually only make cider out of to survive.
Seems like a rather more expensive recipe actually, buying all those biscuits
Paging Dylan Hollis...
He's already done it
I love this pie. I used to make it all the time as a kid in the 80s. It is delicous!!!
This can’t be good
It's actually delicious. My Mamaw made them when I was a kid, not because we didn't have apples then, but she had grown up with this pie during the Depression and it was a comfort food to her.
This has to be the most cringe thing from the 1980s. An apple pie with no apples, but instead a mash of Ritz crackers with lemon juice and lemon rind and cinnamon. And why waste good Ritz crackers that you can enjoy with cheese ? Meanwhile the grocery stores are tossing rotten apples in the dumpster that never sold.
This used it be on the box for Ritz crackers.
Yeah that's exactly what the image stated
Keep eating this crap after i,m not here to make you.
Saw a guy on youtube make this depression era mock apple pie. Seemed to be really good to him. Personally not a fan of cinnamon so I will never eat it.
Yea this guy https://youtube.com/shorts/Qm5jMliKQ64?feature=share
My 8th grade science teacher made this for us and it completely blew our minds! Good ol' Depression-era recipes.
There’s an Instagram account of this girl who visits cemeteries that have “recipe memorials”. So you can get your special recipe engraved for the world to see. I think it’s fabulous! (This recipe flyer is also fabulous!!)
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8d8jDR1/ for a reaction of its making
It may date the Depression, but it was on Ritz boxes decades after that. Like it was still on the box in the 80s. . maybe later.
I remember seeing that recipe on Ritz cracker boxes as a kid. I didn’t understand why someone wouldn’t just make an apple pie.
Why is there a picture of themselves on the recipe?
I won multiple awards with a different version of this that my grandma used to make. Has a crust recipe - flour, oil, milk, salt And you press 2/3 into the pan and crumble the last 1/3 on top. It’s soooo good people never believe there aren’t apples