Something every prepper should acquire…

Heres a priceless addition to anyone in a survival situation.

“The American Woman’s Cookbook” by Berolzheimer, Ruth

This Cook book was published WAY before processed foods existed. The ingredients are basic staples, and it even has recipes for Opossum, squirrel, oxtails, pickled pigs feet, stewed kidneys, tripe, and head cheese! I’ll pass on a few of these traditional treats, but the point is that the book leaves almost nothing out.

“Opossum Roast
Opossum is very fat with a peculiarly flavored meat. To dress, immerse in very hot water (not boiling) for 1 minute. Remove and use a dull knife to scrape off hair so that skin is not cut. Slit from bottom of throat to hind legs and remove entrails. Remove head and tail if desired. Wash thoroughly inside and out with hot water. Cover with cold water to which has been added 1 cup salt. Allow to stand overnight; in the morning drain off the salted water and rinse with clear, boiling water.”


It has sections on caring for wild game, to wedding cakes. I’ve had 2 of these over the years, and so has my mom. They are generally found in fair condition, but with use tend to fall apart. If you buy one treat it with care, as this could make your life much more enjoyable after a SHTF scenario.

For that matter it will enrich your life before SHTF scenario if you take advantage of it. Here is a portion of the book…
chestofbooks.com...

And a few for sale here
www.amazon.com...

Search second hand stores, and you can find one for less than $5….

Cheers, and let me know if you try the Opossum!

nice find have you cooked anything out of the book. thanks for the post S/F

You can download free books for kindle and other formats.
The kindle software is free and you can put it on your computer /mac/ ipad/ iphone/ blackberry.

They have about a dozen free cookbooks as well as canning, preserving , gardening, processing meats and so on. There are more free resources out there as well.

Originally posted by badgerprints
You can download free books for kindle and other formats.
The kindle software is free and you can put it on your computer /mac/ ipad/ iphone/ blackberry.

this seems like a joke

reply to post by alaskan


You can print em out or put em on a flash drive and cover it in tin foil.

Originally posted by badgerprints
You can download free books for kindle and other formats.
The kindle software is free and you can put it on your computer /mac/ ipad/ iphone/ blackberry.

They have about a dozen free cookbooks as well as canning, preserving , gardening, processing meats and so on. There are more free resources out there as well.

Most E-books can be opened on any computer with 'Calibre' a open source e-book reader.
and they have programs for OS-X, Windows and Linux
calibre-ebook.com...
This saves having to deal with amazon

I agree. that cook book sounds good. I have a couple of old ones that use real ingredients instead of shortcut cooking that you get in newer cook books. I really hate that because I like to use the most basic ingredients I can. Thanks for posting.

reply to post by ANNED


uh huh..........and then when youre in a SHTF situation how are you going to read them.......??????

Mostly likely electricity wont be available, much less computers etc etc etc........


LOL I love this, if SHTF darwin will start kicking in

I used to work with a guy who'd talk about a book he had like that with odd recipes for odd critters. He referred to little birds as "squab", if I remember correctly.

Honestly though, give me some meat and veggies and spices and I'll manage regardless. I don't often cook with recipes. I just raid my massive spice cabinet and sauce array in the fridge and start pouring stuff in. When you know your spices it almost always works out. Except with Gumbo: it's like chemistry trying to make Gumbo correctly. When the garden gets going like this time of year I make mega-batches of everything. I finally ran out of the frozen zip-lock bag stack of gumbo I made a year ago...

Google Books: has endless frugal books in downloadable PDF from the turn of the 20th Century and all before.

I used to have an amazing wilderness guide and camping book from 1935 or so that had a whole bunch of recipes for everything from Johnnycakes to cooking with Game. Lost it in one of my moves sadly though. I suggest The Art of Shen Ku by ZEEK. I posted a thread on it and it has very many uses and recipes as well. Thanks for the cookbook though. Ill look for it.

reply to post by texasoutlaw


Yes I’ve tried many of them…all were quite yummy…

reply to post by meteoritics


thanks for posting. if you have anything else to add ill be looking forward to more posts.

reply to post by ManBehindTheMask


Or you could, I dunno, print them out? Not hard to do.

The spelling is not my fault - that's the actual title of this book : )
BUT, here is the link to a confederate cook book called
The Confederate Receipt Book

I've turned this information into a PDF if anyone is interested. U2U me your contact info and I'll send it to you.

A sample recipe:

PUMPKIN BREAD.-- Boil a good pumpkin in water till it is quite thick, pass it through a sieve, and mix flour so as to make a good dough. This makes an excellent bread.

I also have the link to a book called Prudent Food Storage. Its in PDF format:

Prudent Food Storage FAQs

For those with infants or those young enough for childbearing this information could be a life saver.

Recipes for Homemade Baby Formula

ETA: Homemade butternut squash baby food