Welcome back to another dive into culinary history! For Episode 18 of The Lost Cookbooks Show, we are opening up our trusty 1946 edition of The Joy of Cooking and turning straight to the “Luncheon & Supper Dishes – Hot and Cold Sandwiches with Hot Sauce or Cold Dressing” section.

If you’ve ever felt like vintage cooking is overly complicated, this chapter will completely change your mind. This section is packed with simple, quick recipes that are perfect for anyone looking to get a time-friendly meal on the table. One of my favorite discoveries here? Irma Rombauer included quite a few recipes that use canned biscuits as the base for a quick hot sandwich. It just goes to show that busy home cooks have always appreciated a good grocery store shortcut!

Going through these old cookbooks, you also quickly realize that some of the “latest trends” we see today aren’t new at all. Have you noticed all the fast-food places rolling out waffle sandwiches lately? Well, The Joy of Cooking beat them to the punch. There are actual waffle sandwich recipes right here in this 1946 edition! It’s so much fun finding out that what’s old is always new again.

Since this week is all about hot and cold sandwiches, I have a feeling Steve is going to be incredibly pleased with the recipe poll choices. The resident taste tester is always ready for sandwich week!

I need your help picking what I cook! Be sure to head over to the Community tab on my YouTube channel and vote on this week’s recipe poll. I can’t wait to see which vintage sandwich you all choose for us to try.