YouTube Depression Era Cooking

by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger

04 Feb 2009 07:27 AM

Many families today are looking back into the past to see what they can learn from generations before, especially folks who lived through the Great Depression. During the Great Depression, the unemployment rate reached 25 percent, and food as well as most everything was scarce. Feeding your family became a battle of creative ingenuity.

While we still have it a lot easier today, there is a lot that we can gain by practicing some depression era cooking. We can learn to make healthy meals and even treats for less. Sure there were a lot of beans on the stove, but there were also sugar cookies. There was also more meat and protein sources than you might think.

The big difference between cooking today and cooking during the depression is that people made everything from scratch and created meals based on what they had, not what they felt like eating that night. Cooking gear and utensils where also simplified and put to multiple tasks. A casserole dish might easily double as a mixing bowl for example. There were few small appliances, and you used whatever you had on hand to get the job done.

One interesting set of videos I came across on YouTube feature Clara, a 93-year-old cook who shares her depression era recipes, as well as stories of living through the Great Depression. There are quite a few videos to enjoy, and she shows you step by step how to great appetizing but simple and frugal food.

Hearing stories from that time, you can really appreciate what you have today. Back then, getting a treat such as an orange was a huge indulgence. As Clara says, having cookies was a big treat. They only had cookies on Sunday.

To check out Clara's Depression Era cooking videos, go to You Tube by clicking here.

Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, creating a home in the Home Blog, caring for little ones in the Baby Blog and now relationships in the Marriage Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here or subscribe to the blog using the subscription box on the right.

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Learn more about Mary Ann Romans

Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat.

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