My grandparents married during the Great Depression. They raised their five children through the Depression and a world war. Money was tight. They lived on a 1/3-acre corner lot, including the house and garage.
Grandad worked his job, fixed small appliances on his days off, repaired furniture, and was an air raid warden for his community. He took care of his car, washing off the coal dust that was ubiquitous in the Ohio Valley and waxing it to a shine you could see your face in. He could, and did, fix anything.
Grandma sewed, quilted, canned, gardened, cooked, and made a dollar stretch as far as it could go. I remember her reheating the morning coffee in a small pan before supper. She had saved the extra from the breakfast coffee pot. She saved the ends of bread for stuffing and bread crumbs. Her quilts often had material left over from other projects or clothes destined for the rag bag. She didn’t waste anything.
Four of the Grandmother's quilts.
She used material left over from other projects for most of her quilts. She worked on the piecing over the Summer and would set up her quilting frame in the 'front room' during the Winter.
My aunt remembers aprons made from some of the same fabric seen here.
There were lots of grandkids and we loved going to Grandma’s. We played in the basement, ran around outside, jumped on the big front porch swing, hid under the lilac bush, drank water from the backyard hand pump, caught lightening bugs in glass jars, had homemade root beer floats. It was magic.
When they died, my mother was stunned to learn how small their monthly income was and how they were making ends meet.
Grandma also put 3 hearty meals on the table every day. Her pantry/fruit cellar overflowed with canned vegetables and fruits, jams and jellies, ketchup, relishes and pickles. She stored apples down there, too. Her garden was just a little patch, but the soil was kept fertile with a large compost pile.
Grandma’s goal was to feed her growing family and make sure they left the table satisfied. She didn’t want a teenager raiding the refrigerator an hour after dinner looking for more food because they still felt hungry. That destroys the food budget.
Today, food prices are putting a pinch on all of our budgets and you are probably changing the way you plan dinner. More pastas and other starches fill out a meal with meat taking a much small role. Fruits are expensive in the winter and the garden isn’t producing vegetables yet.
What exactly did my Grandma do that made those meals delicious and filling on a tight budget and deal with rationing.
She was a master at making each meal satisfy the four tastes – Sweet, Sour, Salty, Savory.
· She had a starch (potatoes, noodles, rice) to fill stomachs.
· There was a meat/meat and gravy dish to add to the starch. The savory taste went farther when added to a pile of mashed potatoes or rice. Noodles would boil in chicken broth and be buttered for lots of flavor and some added fat.
· Cooked vegetable
· She had a pickle (sour) of some sort – often a small relish tray with pickles, a small selection of crunchy vegetables like celery or carrot sticks.
· There was always bread or rolls on the table with butter and jelly.
· She added garnishes like relishes, applesauce or canned fruit.
· She had dessert of some sort to meet the sweet need at the end of the meal. She made cookies or cake, maybe Jell-O with fruit in it or a pudding.
That seems like a lot of food, doesn’t it? Like Thanksgiving every night!
It really isn’t - those portions are smaller because there is such variety.
Look at a menu that is easy to put together using her method:
Shredded beef in beef gravy (Sunday’s roast leftovers or a cheaper cut of meat, cooked slowly and served in gravy)
Homemade or egg noodles, buttered and peppered
Sliced cooked carrots, lightly sweetened
Small relish plate of sweet gherkin pickles (1 or 2 per person), 1 stalk celery sliced matchstick-size, 1 carrot sliced in small sections
Applesauce with cinnamon sprinkled on top as a salad
Yellow cake with chocolate icing (known as ‘busy day cake’ in most cookbooks and only takes 10 minutes to throw together and bakes quickly.)
Coffee or tea at the end of the meal to wrap it all up.
The beef is shredded and stretched by a rich gravy so every bite of the noodles with beef gravy has some meat in it.
Use a wide noodle or cut your homemade noodles 3/8” wide for a more toothsome bite.
Chunky applesauce also gives a more satisfying mouth feel.
The relish plate is to provide the variety of textures and tastes. No dip for the veggies - they are to clear the palate and add interest as you pause to chew them.
There is no appetizer for this meal.
If you are planning a Mexican inspired meal, add more seasoned rice and beans to the menu. Sherbet or sorbet is a bright, sweet palate cleanser after the spicy seasoned meal.
Italian – Add lots of vegetables to the sauce – I use onions and green peppers. Serve a robust bread and then a chocolate dessert to round out the menu.
Pork chops can be breaded and pan fried before baking. This keeps them moist and adds another layer of flavor. Sweet potatoes are inexpensive right now – we eat them like baked potatoes with butter and sour cream – and can be baked the same time as the chops.
Hot baked apples or apple crisp go especially well with pork and balances the flavors well. Look for apples in the discount area of the produce department, it won’t matter if they are a little wrinkled.
Every meal doesn’t have to be a culinary masterpiece but keep the principles of the 4 main tastes in mind when you are meal planning.
That’s how Grandma fed her busy, growing family on a very limited budget. It’s a good skill to add to your repertoire.
Busy-Day Cake
1/3 c. shortening
1 ¾ c. sifted cake flour
¾ c. sugar
2 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 egg
¾ c. milk
1 ½ tsp. vanilla
Place shortening in mixing bowl. Sift in dry ingredients. Add egg and half the milk. Mix till flour is moistened. Beat 2 minutes at medium speed on electric mixer. Add remaining milk and vanilla. Beat 2 minutes longer. Bake in greased and lightly floured 9x9x2-inch baking pan at 375° about 25 minutes or until done.
From Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chicken Troubles
The chickens are finally laying again. If your chickens haven’t started laying after their Winter vacation, try a few of these tricks:
· Add a light at night. We started using a Milwaukee Light Stick with a large battery. Bob hangs it about 7p and takes it out in the morning to recharge the battery.
· Add hot oatmeal or sprouted oats to their diet. We sprout oats in a quart jar and add it to their vegetable scraps. If you can’t find whole oats, take oatmeal and soak it in hot, hot water for an hour until softened and then give them the mash.
· Fresh warm water seems to help, too.
· Improve their feed. Grain prices have gone up and your manufacturer may have changed the grain mix in the feed you have been buying forever. Dig out one of your old bags, cut out the nutritional information and take it with you to the feed / farm store next time. Compare the ingredients and make sure the feed balance hasn’t changed. The protein percentage may be the same but that doesn’t mean the grain mix is. Manufacturers are adding more soy protein and decreasing corn and oats. You may need to change feed or supplement.
· Add fresh vegetable and fruit scraps to eat – they will pick through them, adding nutrients to their diets. Your grocer may have old produce for you. (Potatoes and skins must be cooked.) They also like leftover bread and pastries.
· Allow them outside for fresh air and natural sunshine. We have a screened area for them since I don’t like free range birds loose on the farm.
· Create some roosts for them in the chicken house. Our house has roosts built in but you can use sticks or branches to make some simple roosts.
· We often have leftover milk products or extra milk for ours. Ask your grocer about getting their expired milk – the chickens don’t care. This can supplement their feed.
· Keep rodents and predators out of the chicken house. Rats, possums, ferrets, foxes etc. upset the chickens, steal eggs and cause damage.
· Give them a dry spot to settle – our chicks can get outside in a screened area, but their wet feet and feathers cause the bedding to get and stay damp. Bob beds our chicks down with either fresh bedding or straw.
· Free choice oyster shell available to pick at as desired.
· Keep them calm. The breed we have now, Giant Brahmas, are sweet as can be but are easily upset and they will stop laying. Bob moved their pen daily in the Summer without any issues until he moved them across the driveway into a pasture. Boy, they freaked out and we didn’t get eggs for a week or so.
· Remember the average chicken will only lay about 500 eggs in her lifetime. She may do it continually or will take a break, usually in the Winter. If she lays continually, her laying-life is much shorter. You can decide if you want to force her to lay more than her nature.
Spring is on the way!
Polly
SAVE THE DATE!
The 2022 Homestead Rendezvous is on May 21st, in Bergholz, Ohio. 9a – 4p
This is a small farm field day for local farmers, homesteaders, craftsman, and businesses to meet customers looking for local food and products.
Last year we had local beef and lamb, farmstead items, shearing services, a blacksmith, sharpening services, a fresh vegetable market, baked goods, bee products, maple syrup and much more.
It’s free to attend – check out The Homestead Rendezvous on Facebook for details AND highlights of the vendors we will have.
Comments