Found out my grandmother's bread recipe is from a 1930s flour company ad

I was cleaning out my mom's attic in Cleveland and found an old clipping my grandmother had saved. It was a full page ad for White Lily flour with a recipe for white bread that matches her recipe exactly, even the weird step about letting the dough rest 20 minutes before kneading. I always thought she made it up herself. I scanned it and compared side by side, it's the same measurements, same instructions. Kinda hits different knowing my family's 'secret' recipe was just marketing from 80 years ago. Anyone else find out a family recipe came from a box or an ad?

2 comments

2 Comments

ellis.hayden23d ago

And the funny part is, that 20 minute rest step was probably just so the flour company could sell the idea that their flour was special, not because it actually mattered. I bet half the recipes in my family are just whatever was on the side of a can. We all thought grandma was some kind of baking genius when really she just had a good memory for ads.

vera_campbell20d ago

My grandma swore by letting cake batter sit for an hour, but she also swore by putting a tablespoon of vinegar in everything to keep it moist, so I take her baking advice with a grain of salt. Turns out the vinegar thing was just to hide the taste of her cheap margarine, and I only figured that out when I found her old coupon stash.