Thriftlady's wartime experiment

thriftlady_2

Great photo Sproggi :T

today's menu

Breakfast bacon and baked beans

lunch kids+ OH -ham and tomato/salad sandwiches, eggless chocolate buns, strawberries

me -leftover cheese and veg pie,apple

tea not entirely sure yet, but something with mince. I've got a lb of mince out of the freezer. All the wartime recipes I've got use much less than a lb. But, I have no real need to make it stretch as we're quite happy to eat fish and veggie meals. Also it is only £2 of my £9 meat ration (according to Sproggi's Measuring worth site) so I may use it all. Might just have savoury mince and veg with lots of gravy -feel like gravy today

I've got leftover custard from Sunday so I'm going to cook some gosseberries in a bit of hm elderflower cordial ( I made some before the war, and it will save on sugar), sieve them and mix with the custard -gooseberry fool Although we might fell like something hot with all this horrible weather. We've got plenty of milk so maybe a milk pud with the gooseberries stirred in:think:


Thanks once again to everyone for all their fantastic stories :T I'm loving reading them :j

Agapanthus

A fascinating experiment, Thriftlady.

The National Archives have a 1942 film about Digging for Victory on their website:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/theartofwar/films/dig_victory.htm

and a humourous one about saving scraps for chickens:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/theartofwar/films/more_eggs.htm

The first one shows enormous queues at the greengrocers. I think the really tricky bit must have been organising the food. After your shift at the munitions factory, you'd have had to go and queue at the shops, buy whatever they had and use it immediately as you had no fridge or freezer. Growing food or keeping chickens was obviously a more reliable option.

What was available was seasonal - and imported things like oranges and lemons would be available only when they were in season and when a ship could get through the blockade. The quality often wasn't at all good, either.

People must have been hungrier then than now, as well, because they were more active - walking or cycling to school or work and doing much more heavy manual work, too. They'd need all those heavy, stodgy and fatty foods for fuel.

daisyroots_2

sproggi thank you so much for the wedding photo. I haven't worked out how to post a pic of Lofty yet.

For some reason, my parents rarely dated their letters, so I have to rely on internal evidence, in this case, the short English strawberry season. Lofty cannot manage much romance while writing from the office, so he writes instead abut his second favourite subject - food! Does anyone know what a "luncheon club" was ? I remember the ABC as a kind of second rate Lyons Tea Shop.

Billie my sweet,

I am writing this in the office, so forgive me if I am rather restrained - it's a queer feeling, writing to you from here, and although there is nobody looking over my shoulder, I feel embarrassed. Soppy, isn't it? There is no news, really. The raids are much less and the job goes along.

I have found a luncheon club in Finsbury Square, where I can get as good grub as the A.B.C. for a lot cheaper and in a better atmosphere. Yesterday we had strawberries and sugar. There is a hell of a lot of chat going on, and I can't get into the spirit of writing to you. They are moving us into another room on Monday and there is a great surge of indignation.

So, my dear love, this is all. Be a good girl, and be kind to (daisy) and dream of me
Lofty

Something that has really touched me about these letters, is the simple fact that my father loved me. I was 2 years and 4 months when he died, so don't really remember him, but after I was born, he mentions me in almost every letter, with pride and joy, and knowing how loved I was has permanently raised my spirits.

thriftlady_2

Quite Agapanthus ,they wouldn't have had a great big larder fridge and 2 freezers full of food like me, or enough time on their hands to be able to sit about nattering away on the internet :rotfl: I did have to queue at the farmshop the other day when the till crashed

Great links btw thank you :T

I gave the kids bacon and beans for breakfast (used up the bacon ration). It was proper butcher's streaky and loads of fat came off it so I cut up the end of the loaf into fingers and fried them in the bacon fat ! Kids thought they were in heaven. They were telling the 2 children I walk to school about their breakfast they had had cocopops. Which is healthier I wondered, cocopops of bacon fat ? There isn't any extra fat on my lot, in fact DD is a bit on the skinny side (she does not take after me). It'll be porridge for breakfast tomorrow- today was a bit of a treat (I saved the leftover fat in the pan btw in true wartime fashion).

recovering_spendaholic

As sweets were so rationed, have you thought about making honeycomb? DD2 and I made it last night and it is wonderful (I know it's bad for your teeth, but hey, it's fat free). I used 200g caster sugar, 4tbs golden syrup and 1 heaped tbs of bicarb. I just put the sugar and syrup in a large pan and left on a VERY low heat until the sugar had melted. It is important not to stir at all - just swirl the pan around a few time. When it is bubbling and all melted chuck in the bicarb and swirl again and like magic it froths up. Quickly pour onto an oiled baking sheet or swiss roll tin and leave to cool, before breaking into chunks. It was wonderful - and not too hard either - just like crunchie inside actually. I have to say that these quantities made far too much so if I made it again I would use only 100g sugar and 2tbs syrup and 1dsp of bicarb - I have three tupperwares full of the stuff!! Curshed up it's nice on porridge or mixed into yoghurt.

rosieben

Sproggi that’s a wonderful photo! and Daisy, brought tears to my eyes to read what you said about your dad loving you. I love your stories.

This thread keeps getting better! :T:T:T

I’ve been reading and enjoying ever since it started, but getting so enthusiastic now I’m just going to have to try some of the recipes! might start with the honeycomb (thanks RS) and thinking of topping with choc to have HM crunchie (one of my favourite bars)

Thriftlady, can you tell me which book(s) you are getting your recipes from please? I know you mentioned a Margaret Patten earlier – are you using any others?

thriftlady_2

thriftlady wrote: »

Marguerite Patten has written 3 books ;We'll Eat Again, The Victory
Cookbook and Postwar Kitchen. The first 2 are most useful for recipes on rations. The Postwar Kitchen deals with each year from 1946 to 1954 with recipes for foods as things gradually came off ration.

My books are in a box set called The Wartime Kitchen http://www.amazon.co.uk/War-Time-Kitchen-Nostalgic-1940-1954-Hamlyn/dp/0600611388/ref=sr_1_5/202-4560088-2422211?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1182419950&sr=1-5 Amazon don't make it clear that this is 3 separate books. Also there is a book called Feeding The Nation by Marguerite Patten which is a compilation of the 3 books but with some recipes missing and no index.

Rosieben these are the books I'm using mainly for baking recipes, but main dishes I'm just doing my own thing really based on what ingredients were available at the time.



Here she is- Dame Margeurite -national treasure and domestic goddess
http://www.celebritychefsuk.com/chefs.asp?id=17

djtonyb

I love this thread and am planning on making the pie.

Had to share the story of the first time my dad and Uncle Manus were given a orange.

My Pop worked on the docks in Greenock in Scotland. The docks were badly hit during the blitz but that didn't stop him working.

One day he was given a orange by one of the ships masters to take home for his kids. He took it home and gave it to dad and uncle Manus who proceeded to play football with it :eek: . They thought it was a ball as they had never seen an orange before .

Keep it up Thriftylady..

Amanda

P.S I have also nominated you for post of the month

thriftlady_2

djtonyb wrote: »

He took it home and gave it to dad and uncle Manus who proceeded to play football with it :eek: . They thought it was a ball as they had never seen an orange before .

:rotfl: :rotfl: Thanks :T

catznine

Hello Thriftlady!

Loved the pics of your rations, brings it all to life.

Thought I would post a pic of the spice cake from the Stork Wartime cookery book