Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Great Depression Cooking videos

Times are tough all around... and a lot of us are wracking our brains trying to come with simple, economical meals.
So while browsing YouTube today, I came across "Cooking With Clara" which is a series of videos featuring Clara, a 93 year old woman who shows how to cook the actual meals that she and her family ate during the Great Depression.
Some of the recipes and meals sound pretty good, but they've also given me some of my own ideas about how to make the dollars stretch a bit further !!

Check out the entire series... there's some good stuff in there... and Clara is a joy to listen to!




15 comments:

Dana Clover said...

WOW those are GREAT~
where do you find all the cool stuff??
You rock!

I collect old cookbooks...
I read them like others read trashy Harlequin Romance Novels.

But to be able to see and hear em? GREAT!
Thanks!

Paula said...

Oh my gosh, I can't wait to listen to Clara! I love it when generations older than myself embrace new mediums of technology! My dad will be 80 later this year, and he can navigate his email and the web like a pro! Great post!

Joolz said...

Hi Tatersmama

Oh, don't you just love ol' Clara! She is such a treasure, I've watched most of her shows. Not sure I want to eat any of the food, though. I think she is pickled in salt and olive oil - thats her secret to longevity!

Regarding smoking, as I said, you have to want to quit. If your not quite there yet, perhaps it won't be long. When you've made the decision, do try hypnotherapy. The guy I went to said not to use patches and gum as it only puts more nicotine into your system and you need to eliminate it. He told us to focus on water by drinking a lot of it, thinking of water when we want a smoke, think of not smoking when you see a puddle, river, stream, rain etc. I think I kept a bottle of water with me for the first month, swigging on it anytime I felt the need.
I too loved a 6.30am smoke and it was the last thing I did before I brushed my teeth and hopped into bed at night. I do suck strong sugar free peppermints now and I think they helped. I have also hear citrus sugar free lollies are good.
Anyway, you'll know when the time is right.

Cheers - Joolz

Staci said...

oh my goodness what a great idea!! can you imagine?? thanks for sharing!!

Treehouse Chef said...

This was in our local paper today! How wild is that? I am all about frugal cooking. Can't wait to check it out!

Irene said...

tonights feast that I cooked up was half a kilo of chopped stewing steak, two onions, quarter small bag of frozen mixed veggies, two frozen cauliflower flowerets, some frozen beans some herbs and stir fry mix.
sweated the onions,sprinked the herbs in (sage, thyme, ginger, lemongrass, lemon,lime and origarno) then put the meat in and browned it then added the frozen veggies then the stir fry mix and dinner for two could have done four if I had added more veggies done in 30mins.
next time I might add dumplings.
All done in the electric fry pan.
I do have another one that uses pearl barley.

Libby's Library said...

I'll check these out later today.
Did she use a lot of Crisco?

Bz said...

Wow... I just loved sitting there listening to her. So many don't know how things were, thus they don't appreciate. This was a good one.

Robynn's Ravings said...

Awwwww......that just makes you say "awwwwww." Clara is so cute! Not sure I'll be making this recipe just anytime too soon (might have to go a little fresher, ya know?) but I want to watch more of these because they're so DEAR! Thanks for this!

Tatersmama said...

Dana, I think you and I think alike! ;-)
~~~
Paula, Lucky you! My dad wanted no part of this "new-fangled" stuff, so every time my son would put him on the web cam, he just kept saying "this isn't natural! Turn it off!"
It made me laugh, but sad at the same time... ya know?
But dad was 97 when he passed almost 2 yrs ago. :-(
~~~
Joolzmac, Yeah she seems to use a lot of olive oil, doesn't she! But hey, if that what it takes to still have skin like that in our
90's, it might be worth looking into!
And guess who's making an appointment with the hypnotherapist today !!!
~~~
Staci, She's just cool to listen to, isn't she?!
!!!
~~~
Treehouse Chef, Some of her recipes sound a little strange to me, but hey... we've gotta do what we've gotta do. And it didn't seem to hurt the older generation any, did it? ;-)
~~~
Irene, Where's mine? Oh never mind, I had Jello for dinner because the damn teefs are still bothering me.
~~~
Libby, Yes, she uses nothing but Crisco. In fact she's a walking Crisco encyclopedia and she even uses it for moisturizing her legs. Which is where I got the idea... *snort*
~~~
Bz, I would love to find more depression era stories - and I only wish my dad would have talked more about those years!
~~~
Robynn, Those were my thoughts exactly, but then I thought, maybe they couldn't "get" fresher in those days and had to make-do and use what they had. I know my mother said they had to sell their milk cow because the farm dried up (Oklahoma) so that's why they came to CA in the 30's.
Til the day she died, my Nana used to make "milk toast" with plain water, because she was just so used to making things stretch.
With this recession, Lord help us if we get to that point, but at least we have the Clara's of the world to fall back on! ;-)

The Blonde Duck said...

That's so cool!!! I love how everything old is new again.

Becky said...

She is adorable. I just have 1 problem, she put the raw steak in the olive oil, cooked it and put it back in the same olive oil. That's a big no no.

Tatersmama said...

Blonde Duck, You're right. I think that's why the world is in the shape it's in. We've just gotten spoiled, eh?
~~~
SassyDog, I know ! I thought the same thing! But I guess it hasn't killed her yet! Or maybe she changed the plate?
And another thought... they didn't use olive oil back in the Depression, did they? I would have thought it was too expensive. I think I would have saved the cost of the olive oil and bought me some meat!

The W.O.W. factor! said...

I'll come back to the video...sounds like Olive Oil is a hot item from reading the comments. O O is supposed to be extremely good for you! I was told by a dermatologist to rub on my dry skin! Haven't done it though as I might go racid before I'm ready to!

The W.O.W. factor! said...

Isn't she a sweety?? Reminds me of my Gram when she was alive. I learned to cook that way via her and my Mom. Sometimes I still do! I stretch our food as far as it can go! If we are short on our home grown meat..and it's awhile til butchering time, I become as frugal as those in the depression days. I ALWAYS have veggies (home canned) in my pantry to add color and variety.
Our daughter has remembered her growing up days too...and cooks frugal meals 1/2 the time.
They really are healthy, as there aren't the preservatives and artifical colors and additives etc. I make my own noodles too which is just eggs and flour!
I do enjoy this kind of cooking...
But...I crave a good greasy burger or pizza made to purchase..ALL the time! I NEVER get them!!! Homemade is one thing, but to have them made FOR ME?? Divine!


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