Depression Cooking With Clara...

I have often heard how in other cultures the elderly are held in really high regard. Where in the US...many of our elderly would be disregarded as being "out of touch" with the modern times...reportedly the elderly in many other cultures are listened to intently in an attempt to catch some of the crumbs of the great wisdom they possess.

When thinking on how we treat the elderly in the US I couldn't help but think of the words of Lloyd Christmas who said...

"You know, the elderly, although slow, and dangerous behind the wheel, can serve a purpose."

We should strive to have a better appreciation of our elderly than much of our culture...and that of Lloyd Christmas. We would do well to listen intently to learn the skills and attitudes that may get us through similar living conditions to that of which they lived through.

Here is a wonderfully warm elderly woman who is imparting wisdom that may be of great value to you. She has a variety of videos posted on youtube.

This is a description cut and pasted from youtube...

"91 year old cook and great grandmother, Clara, recounts her childhood during the Great Depression as she prepares meals from the era. Learn how to make simple yet delicious dishes while listening to stories from the Depression."

Enjoy your time with grandma.

Variety is the Spice of Life...

The diet of most Americans is pretty rich in flavor. If we were to be transplanted into one of the many countries that live on a diet of plain beans and rice...many of us would go nuts!...and yet...that is what many of us have stored in our long term storage...and plan on living on when times get hard. It is a good idea to figure out some ways now that can add variety to basic food dishes...to avoid becoming sick of eating the same thing over and over again. A great place to start is by taking an inventory of what is in your spice collection. Do you have a good supply of the basics like salt...and pepper? Do you have things that will taste good in sweets like cinnamon? Are your containers actually full? Are the spices still good!!? It is so easy to think...."Yeah...I've got good spices..." and yet they have become tasteless and gross with age. That spice you picked up a few months ago for that fancy cake...wasn't really a few months ago....it was years ago!!

It really is incredible what some good herbs and spices can do...to make even the plainest of meals more appetizing.

Back in High School I discovered something called "Spike" seasoning. As an unlearned in the ways of cooking teen I figured out how to make Top Ramen...and also discovered it tasted better with Spike on it. I graduated to egg noodles with a bit of butter...topped off with Spike. Yum! Nowadays I put it in soups...on meat...etc...etc. It really is an all purpose seasoning.

Spike's Seasoning Ingredients:

Salt and sea salt crystals, special high flavor yeast, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, mellow toasted onion, onion powder, orange powder, soy flour, celery leaf powder, celery root powder, garlic powder, dill, kelp, Indian curry, horseradish, ripe white pepper, orange and lemon peel, summer savory, mustard flower, sweet green and red peppers, parsley flakes, tarragon, rosehips, saffron, mushroom powder, parsley powder, spinach powder, tomato powder, sweet Hungarian paprika, celery powder, cayenne pepper, plus a delightful herbal bouquet of the best Greek oregano, French sweet basil, French marjoram, French rosemary, and Spanish thyme.

I like the little bottle that Spike comes in...because you can remove the lid...and refill it with the larger Spike box...to save money. I have multiple bottles of Spike in my storage...and even have one in my "bug out bag". Spike is available at many local grocery stores in the spice aisle.

Another thing to consider with regards to seasonings is to buy from Winco...or some other bulk bin shopping outlet. There can be a substantial savings when you buy seasonings without the fancy packaging...and put it into your own at home. You also avoid paying for the name brand as well.

What will we eat when the lights go out? Donuts!!

Every week I make bread from scratch for my family and the preschool that my wife and I run. We no longer have a need to purchase any from the store. Often when this comes up as a topic of conversation people look at me like I'm the greatest magician the world has ever known! "How do you do it!" they say. Or they say "I used to do that 20 years ago"...or "I love homemade bread...can I have a piece!!"

My response is "I learned it by reading a cookbook"..."You ought to do it again!" and..."OK".

I think that we all could agree that a lot less people know how to make bread now than just a short time back in history. Many of the people that do still "make bread" rely upon bread machines that have taken the place of their kneading hands...and packaged bread mixes have taken the place of measuring and mixing the ingredients. I guess the reason why most people don't make their own bread comes down to 3 major reasons. It takes time, they don't feel confident that they can do it, and it takes work.

So if we currently are having a hard time making our own bread...even while we have all the resources at our fingertips...how are we going to make our own bread when those resources disappear? When there is no store to buy bread or just to buy the ingredients? How about when the power grid goes down and we have no electricity?

I have a solution! It takes a ton less time to make than traditional loaf bread...it doesn't require a bunch of kneading and waiting...you don't need an oven to make it...you can make it from food storage basics...and it is soooo easy! The answer is....DONUTS! Well actually Indian Fry Bread.

Have you ever had Indian Fry Bread before? There are many recipes...but they are all basically the same. A small batter ball is put into a pan of frying oil...it puffs up...is removed with tongs to dry...and then can be made to be "donut-like" by adding sugar, cinnamon, jam...or whatever sweet thing you have to add. You can also add herbs to the batter or eat it with another meal like you would a bread.

Indian Fry Bread will be devoured by even the most finicky of children! Seriously...you won't be able to make them fast enough to keep up with people eating them.

While I do think that Indian Fry Bread is a great hard times/survival food...you should know that it is rich. Just like I wouldn't tell you that a diet of just chocolate cake is a good thing...I won't tell you that you should make fry bread your only source of food. Fry bread has come under fire to some degree because there is an issue with many tribes eating so much of it...they become overweight.

I recommend seeking out a frying oil that is low in saturated fats. Take note that olive oil...which is what a lot of us store is not the greatest cooking oil because it smokes at lower temperatures. I also recommend getting together the supplies needed to make Indian Fry Bread...namely...the ingredients found to the left on the "recipes for Fry Bread"...and a way to fry oil other than your stove...

Happy eating!