[QUOTE= Here's one that was popular during WWII, there are several versions - make it with nuts or without as most times we didn't have nuts. It's also called Depression Cake.

WAR CAKE

2 cups dark brown sugar
2 cups hot water
2 tbsp shortening
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp ginger
1 lb raisins
1/2 lb chopped walnuts and/or almonds (optional)
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda dissolved in 1 tsp (5 mL) hot water

Boil together all ingredients but flour and soda in water, 5 minutes. Set aside to cool, stirring often, gradually mix in flour and soda. Batter is thick. Bake 45 minutes at 350°F in two loaf pans.[/QUOTE]

Thank you so much. My aunts used to make this cake with raisins and we loved it as kids. I made it often for my kids too.

We had Spam spread. Mom would grind the spam, not real fine, add mayo and sweet pickle relish. I still make it to this day. Love the stuff.
And then there were FISHSTICKS....You couldn't disquise....oh man, I'm gagging just thinking about having to eat those every Friday night...straight from the oven, no less. YUK !!!!!!!!! There was something incredibly wrong with eating those when you lived on the rockbound coast of Maine. Ya know?

Apparently Spam was a constant in the army rations during WW2. As a result, my father hated it. Once in a while my mom would serve it anyway. She would slice it, brown it in a frying pan and then make a "sort of" barbecue sauce from
Catsup, brown sugar and a little mustard, cook the slices in the sauce and serve. My husband had never had Spam but loves it this way. This was one of our frequent foods when we were in graduate school in Berkeley. We lived in married student housing with 11 other couples. On Saturdays, we would all bring what food we had left together, and make
tacos. Some pretty strange combinations. "survival food" might be another fun topic on this board.

I love fried Spam but have a horrific memory of my step mom serving us COLD spam sandwiches on the road one time. YUCKKKKK!

All that talk of spam reminded me of:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anwy2MPT5RE

There is a lot of handwaving about amounts in this recipe -- I watched my Mom make it to get a feel for it. It is really good!

This is Grandma's Casserole (that's the only name that I have ever seen)

1 med onion, diced
Butter
1 can tomato sauce
elbow macaroni (uncooked)
bacon

-- Saute the onion in the butter. Pour into a greased (buttered) 9" square pan and spread around.
-- Cover the onions with uncooked elbow macaroni -- a good solid 1 layer deep.
-- Pour the tomato sauce over the macaroni, then add enough water so that the macaroni floats a bit.
-- lay strips of bacon over the mixture
-- Bake 350 until all the liquid is absorbed and the bacon is cooked..
-- If desired, cook up some extra bacon.

DH makes this about once a month. Deliscious with tortillas!

We used to have a similar lunch -- ground spam, chunked cheese, pickle relish and a little mayo to bind it. Stuck in whole (not sliced) loaves of bread, sliced in nice this slices but kept the slices together and popped it in the oven to warm. Or, if it was summer and hot, would fix it like a grilled cheese. And, if we were camping, it was put in tinfoil (OK, aluminum foil) and set on the coals of the fire. The new ham or bacon style of spam works pretty good for this, or just fried (no need for oil/butter) to go w/pancakes.

Google for recipes from the 40s. You will find lots and lots. Also Google the lifestyle for that era. It was a good time for all, not like today.

Go to your public library and see if they have any cookbooks from the depression era (reprints). Also, try Spam, sliced, and cooked in pineapple juice and topped with slices of pineapple. You can also grind it up and add mayo and pickle relish for ham salad.