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What we know now is that bone broth is actually so very good for us! So much of the Depression molded my family (grandparents and parents). Today's younger generation just has no idea.
In the US, that is probably true. My SIL was shocked when she saw me grab her turkey carcass off of the Thanksgiving table, placed it in a pot of boiling water with celery, onions and carrots and let it cook for 3-4 hours. She was surprised how good it was.
In November, when it cools down here, I will go to the local Asian market and I plan to take my first shot at making a good stock for pho. I will first go with a beef version and then a pork.
The website is called Depression Era Cooking. I thought it might offer some actual recipes/ideas on what to cook...
Clara was featured in a whole series of Youtube videos that were produced by her grandson, called "Great Depression Cooking". She did recipes in some & reminisced in others. They're a few years old now, but were charming.
My late mother grew up during the Depression and it shaped her life forever. Her father died in October, 1929, days before the stock market crashed. They went from living a normal life to surviving poverty.
She learned a lot of frugal ways and never was able to spend money freely. She used to buy food on sale and stock up as if it was going to be taken away from her.
Some of those ways of living, especially the recipes, should be revived by the struggling younger generation, as someone here already said.
My mother cooked frugal dishes like meatloaf, shepherds pie, pot roast, stews, macaroni and cheese (made with Velveeta). Nothing was thrown away. If she cooked meat (an inexpensive cut, of course) the leftovers would be put through the meat grinder to be used in another recipe.
There must have been 101 uses for stale bread. Use it in meatloaf, make French toast out of it, bread pudding, grilled cheese sandwiches, chipped beef on toast. How about melted cheese over Saltines?
We could afford to eat better but once you've been traumatized as Depression era kids were, it didn't matter. (She used to unravel our mittens every year and knit a few more rows from the same skein of yarn to make them bigger!)
However, her mother, a great cook from days on the farm, had kept the family alive by her cooking. She took in boarders and fed them well! Everyone wanted to board at her house because of the wonderful food. So it was possible to have delicious food if you knew how to make it--pies were especially popular.
Just after dad's 10th birthday, his father died in September of 1929. He didn't talk about it often, and none of the other relatives would. Mom told me a bit more.
Nana and granddad grew up on small farms just outside of the small city. As a widow, she started a garden and raised chickens behind the nasty cold water apartment she'd had to settle for. I wonder how many nights she stayed up late watching them?
She taught my mom how to cook. My maternal grandmother wouldn't let (slap dash, haphazard) mom near the food supply.
The two of them made the best chicken soup and apple pie I've ever eaten in my life.
BTW, this was NOT during the Depression. We had that meal (and many others described in this thread) as a matter of course when I was growing up. 50's, 60's and 70's.
BTW, this was NOT during the Depression. We had that meal (and many others described in this thread) as a matter of course when I was growing up. 50's, 60's and 70's.
The photograph was shot in 2013 based on menus from the 1930's recipes and menus. This was done for a meeting of culinary historians as part of the Greater Midwest Foodways Alliance.
My late father was born in 1914 in Crockett, Texas. Sometime during his childhood they moved to Oklahoma where his family had a ranch. Or lived on a ranch at least. My grandmother was notorious about pinching pennies and she made her "egg money" go very far. Of course there was a big garden and big hot meals during the day for the ranch hands. Light supper at night and cornbread at every meal.
I have some wonderful quilts made from feed sacks and I remember getting clothes made from feed sacks when I was a kid.
My father was horribly scared by the depression. He would not throw away anything. I mean nothing. Rubber bands, paper clips, pencils (he kept them down to the stubs) and most of all tin foil. (My family makes fun of me because I was out zip loc bags and tin foil.)
He was an educated man and always had a good job but he never bought anything "on time" except real estate. He had his shoes resoled over and over again. I remember very few vacations and even fewer restaurant dinners. We always lived below our means and when he died even my mother was amazed to see the size of his estate.
If your parents were raised during the depression it is only logical my generation would know how to be frugal as well. I've read that is one reason we have so many possessions nobody wants. China, furniture, linens are all hard to get rid of. It is a common complaint of my generation. Our kids don't want things which have been passed down from generations. Our kids want crap from Ikea!
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