It's a Stretch...

a story of hard times, food budgets, and scarce ingredients

even the once pretty affordable hydrogenated fat has been affected by silly, inflated pricing.

I’m sure I’m not the only one noticing the often ridiculous price increases in foods lately. I almost fell over when I went to the local grocery store to get some shortening - I’m testing some of the cookie recipes from my recipe box collection - can you guess what a tub of hydrogenated fat costs? A whopping $13.25. What!? How did that happen?

Ollie, the rooster looks quizzically on as the price of eggs soars to $10.00 a dozen. “What’s the big deal, my girls lay every day and sometimes twice on Sunday.”

The increases are not just limited to processed foods. Eggs - $10.00 a dozen. Bacon - $11.00 a pound. I’ve seriously considering starting a small homestead. But even feed and hay prices are out of control. 

I’m sure that these are some of the same feelings and sentiments that people were experiencing during war times and the Great Depression. Though there were more significant stressors occurring during those times than we have yet to experience. Fingers crossed!

cabbage, carrots and onions the saviors of many a thrifty kitchen

It’s times like these that we start to get really creative in the kitchen and turn to inexpensive, filling ingredients to stretch both our budgets and our weekly recipes. We start to rely more on ingredients like potatoes, rice, beans, oats, cabbage, carrots, and onions for their versatility and availability.

Waste-free cooking

Both of the World Wars and the Great Depression had a significant impact on “hard time” recipes some of which are experiencing a comeback today. Many of these recipes were developed by home economists who were charged not only with developing recipes that stretched available and rationed foods, but also addressed the nutritional needs of the family.

historically, casseroles have helped beleaguered homemakers put filling meals on the table.

Casseroles are a great example of these “hard time” recipes. By combining inexpensive ingredients including canned goods, rice, pastas, and vegetables this single-dish-recipe can feed several people very economically. Casseroles were particularly popular during WWII as they were easy to make ahead of time and heat when mom came home from her riveting job.

The use of rice, bread crumbs and oats as fillers would also become prominent in recipes during times of hardship. Think meatloaf, meatballs, and stuffing. Cook books published in the early and mid 20th century like 500 Delicious Dishes from Leftovers included recipes repurposing leftover coffee, eggs, crackers, cakes, and meats. Nothing could or would go to waste.

There is a sweet lining to all of this

a pie worth fighting for

We can actually thank hard times from some of our favorite desserts. 

• Bread Pudding - this was a popular dessert choice during the Great Depression because it made use of stale bread - which in many cases was the only bread that was available. 

• Carrot Cake - with the sugar rations of WWII, homemakers turned to alternate sweeteners for baking. And the sweetness of the carrots was the perfect foil for the limited amount of sugar on pantry shelves.

• Jell-O - because this popular gelatin brand already contained sugar, homemakers didn’t have to use sugar rations to create a tasty dessert. And the bright, jewel-tones of Jell-O added a little brightness to a rather bleak time in history.

• Apple Pie - this pie became a symbol of America and a favorite of soldiers during WWII who would tell journalists that they were fighting for mom and apple pie.

Limitation is so much more than limiting

Orson Wells once said, “the enemy of art is the absence of limitation.” And though, he was mostly likely talking about film making, there is a truth to that in the culinary world as well. Without the hardships of the past, many of the dishes we call comfort foods and icons may never have existed. 

So I raise my Rusty Nail, a cocktail made with whisky and Drambuie - though rationed, still available during WWII - to the steadfast home economists and homemakers of the early 20th century for the recipes that sustained the morale and health of many a country!

What foods do you turn to to help stretch your food budget?

Ok, so I’m a bit behind on the weekly part of The Weekly, so for the next two weeks you’ll be getting two “Weekly” articles from me. On Friday, we’re going to take a look at a desperate recipe that brightened dreary days.

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