Trying something new is exciting, but there’s also a financial incentive behind the need to churn out unfamiliar dishes.

Depression-era food scarcities forced cooks to get creative and stretch their budgets, even during holidays. But some recipes are worth making even now.

From Georgia O’Keeffe’s suggestive cabbage to Andrew Wyeth’s cornbread of the everyman, the findings represent a treasure of art and culinary history.