Meals of the Depression

I too have had a bunch from this list. And I gotta tell you, deep fried chicken skin is delicious!

 

Having grown up poor, and technically by the federal income standards we still are, I will say that one advantage is that I can eat the same thing quite frequently and not get sick of it. Having only like 6 different meals for dinner each month doesn't bother me.

 

Grandma used to make something he called "Squinup" it was leftover biscuits broken up in a bowl with coffee sugar and cream.. a kind of bread and coffee pudding... it was tasty...

 

My mom does crackers in Ovsltine.

 

Spam = king of canned meat

 

Here, we glaze spam with brown sugar and soy sauce. Makes killer spam musubis!

 

Road kill here is most dog, cat and bird.

 

I never realized that we were poor, we always managed. Our clothes were always clean and mended, though maybe not as new as some and were handed down to siblings as we out-grew them. We had "Sunday" clothes, and "school" clothes that were not used as "Play or work" clothes. We didn't get allowances, money had to be earned and family needs were never to be even considered as an income source, you just did your part and a little extra, to maintain quality. There were always neighbors to provide revenue sources by mowing a lawn, cutting back brush, picking on shares, weeding gardens, painting a fence or a house, roofing, or other errands. We raised litters of Boxer puppies and when they sold, got to keep part of the sale for our special funds, maybe a bicycle or a new rifle. Small game hunting and fishing were always fun and shared by the family, and opening day of "Squirrel season" was almost a holiday. We saved all summer to buy hunting licenses, shotgun shells and rimfire ammo. A single box of ammo for the "Deer rifle" often lasted years. When my father would return from "National Guard Camp" every summer, he would bring home 7.62 and .45 acp ammo to plink with. He was on the rifle team and got all the ammo for those that he wanted but I was the only kid big enough to really enjoy shooting them much. My parents still brag about all the different ways I came up with to make dinner out of potatoes that I grew in a compost heap. Canning and freezing was SOP and we canned everything imaginable, don't even believe we owned a "can-opener". We made huge pots of stew in iron wash-kettles, in the Fall, from the last of the garden harvest and squirrels. Stew day was like a family reunion, and cousins and uncles and aunts would all come over and help and everyone would take lots of freezer bags of squirrel stew home to enjoy through the winter. I truly did not see much on your list that I didn't eat, haven't eaten, and still eat, on occasion. It made me smile fondly and feel a little sad at how much our world has changed. God Bless you.

 

Got any good cat recipes, Hanzo?

 

Cat
Wrap it bacon and put it on the pit ...
Put some tonyes on it and deep fry it it has to be good!!!!
If all else fails after its deep fryed dip it in raisings cains dipping sauce !!!!!

 

Most things slow cooked in an imu (underground pit oven) will come out really tender. Best I can do for roadkill.

 

My parents both grew up during the Depression and we ate many of the things on the list. One of my favorite memories was my Mother or Grandmother making us children some "cold collard biscuits". They were a real treat to this child!

 

There is something else that no one has mentioned, Poke Greens. I can remember my grandmother going out in earl spring with us grand kids with empty clothes baskets, produce baskets and brown paper bags to help collect the young shoots,

Now I know that the Poke plant in a mature state is inedible, but in the early spring the young shoots are boiled in three exchanges of water. They would cook up like your Collard/Spinach greens. She would can up to 50 or more quarts a years.

 

Contrary to what some would think, some fat in your diet is necessary. As is salt. A person could eat all the rabbit, and water they could stuff down their throats, and die of malnutrition. Many fish are fatty. The belly area like bacon on a hog is what to eat to get this fat. Many larger animals have fat to render or consume. Smaller animals, not so much.

 

Roadkill in my AO involves a winch and a flatbed trailer... A moose will provide 100s of pounds of very good eating. You just have to be careful that all of the "Pontiac" is removed...

While we weren't 'poor', as a kid my parents (both Depression babies) served much the same
Cornbread and white beans with pancake syrup
Fried mush (corn much that is)
grits and eggs (we had a neighbor that ran a small egg business)
SPAM and eggs
Cubed SPAM and scrambled aggs
fried bologna ( 2 x yum) - there a place in town that serves up a hamburger between two pieces of fried bologna...
rice casserole (rice and cheese soup) baked, then served hot
Potatoes 7 ways from Sunday.
and the best? Spare ribs and sauerkraut....over mashed potatoes

 

Grits and eggs ... yum love me some grits ... and as all self respecting humans know ... NO one eats instant grits...

Has anyone prised SPAM lately ????I dont think it is cheap anymore and i also belive it comes in different flavors now .....

Im far from a depression kid and so are my parents ... I wouldnt say we were poor growing up but my parents put 3 kids threw 12 years of catholic school ..{with out much money left at the end of pay day } but i also have eating a good amount of the things on that list and maybe i just didnt know any better but i thought it was good...