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Depression Cooking with Clara

by · October 12th, 2008
Food History, Grocery, Leftovers, On The Web, Vegetables, Video, Women

Over the last 30 years, Americans have grown accustom to food being (falsely) cheap and abundant – so the recent sticker price hikes have likely come as a shock. But one doesn’t have to look very far into the past to find other times in our country’s history when food was neither cheap, nor abundant.My 85-year old father, for example, grew up during the Great Depression of the 1930s. While he does not recall ever feeling overwhelmingly hungry (his father, a minister, was often paid in eggs and other food, and his mother was known for making a chicken stretch in twenty ways), he does remember the backyard garden his family relied on for a substantial portion of their fruits, vegetables, and other food.

Like my dad, 91-year old Clara (in the video above) was a Depression kid. Unlike my dad, Clara learned how to cook “Depression meals” that made due with what the family had…which meant serving potatoes at almost every meal and in just about every form imaginable. The video above shows Clara making a potatoes and hot dogs dish and, just in time for the harvest holiday of Sukkot, giving her hilarious personal thoughts on “gleaning” (around minute 4:25). Two other videos demonstrate pasta and peas (featuring potatoes!), and egg drop soup. The videos are touching and sweet and who knows? With food prices continuing to skyrocket and the stock market continuing to crash, her advice might turn out to be useful.

Related Posts
A Penny for your Potato Bugs
Fallen Fruit = Fruit for All
Glean
Photo Essay: Wasted Food

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7 Responses to “Depression Cooking with Clara”

  1. Judy Says:
    February 27th, 2009 at 7:55 pm

    Is there a site with Clara’s receipes printed on it ??
    Thank-you,
    Judy

  2. Diana Grazia Says:
    February 27th, 2009 at 8:27 pm

    Dear Clara,
    You are a wonderful example for all of use in how to cook great meals on a shoe string. Bless you:-)
    Sincerely, Diana Grazia

  3. Pattie Says:
    March 5th, 2009 at 1:09 pm

    Dear Clara, I have just finished watching the “Hot Dog, Potato and Onion” video. It brought back memories of when I was a kid, (early 1950′s). My uncle lived with us at the time and it was a special treat on Saturday mornings when he took the leftover potatoes out of the fridge and made a skillet full of “Breakfast potatoes and onions”. He would then fry an egg and put it on top. He and I would sit at the kitchen table and talk while we ate. It was so good you would think we were eating Filet Mignon. I have put this site in my favorites and am eagerly waiting for a Cookbook. Some of the younger generations have no idea what it is to streatch a dollar. Thank you so much for sharing.

  4. jo kritz Says:
    January 11th, 2010 at 1:22 am

    Clara was on The Doctors and talked about pasta as
    depression meals. Where can I get her book or some of her recipes. Don”t know her last name. It was the wek of January 4, 2010 Thank you

  5. jo kritz Says:
    January 11th, 2010 at 1:24 am

    Name of book or her last name.

  6. jo kritz Says:
    January 11th, 2010 at 1:25 am

    previous 2 emails.

  7. Leah Koenig Says:
    January 11th, 2010 at 7:30 am

    here’s the link to her book – Clara’s Kitchen

    http://www.amazon.com/Claras-K.....038;sr=8-1

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