WW2 Rationing Recipes - American

[Marianne]

Defense Scrapple
From Meat in the Meal for Health Defense, 1942

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean pork
• 1 quart water
• 1 1/2 cups cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon celery leaves, minced
• 1/4 cup minced parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon sage
• 1 egg
• Cracker crumbs
• Lard for frying

How to Make It

Simmer meat until tender enough to slip from bones. Remove meat, cool, and grind. Measure remaining liquid and add enough water to make a quart. Bring broth to a boil. Add cornmeal slowly, stirring constantly. Add seasonings and meat. Pour mixture into a loaf pan and chill until well set. Slice, dip in beaten egg and then in cracker crumbs. Fry in lard until the slices are crisp and nicely browned.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Scrapple sounds a whole lot better than whales and porpoises!

 

[Marianne]

That's the truth!!

 

[Marianne]

It's funny how we still eat some of these recipes. Although I haven't made it in years, I have some dried beef and was planning on making SOS, S*** on a Shingle. You know, chipped beef/gravy/toast. I loved spoonbread as a kid. I never thought of it as a depression era or wartime food. My dad was from the south, my mom from the north, so we had a variety of dishes. Not that I thought all of them were good. Just sayin...

 

[Mini Horses]

We do practice a lot of these methods today. Many on the forum can attest to it! I do have the ability to make butter from a lot of goat milk available, cream, cheese, soaps, etc. My purchase of a cream separator last year or so ago was a definite planned item, found on CL at huge savings! Two pressure canners, cheese press, dehydrator, etc. were accumulated/bought with SS retirement in mind. Raising a couple pigs & goats for butcher fill meat needs, as do excess roos from the flock. I do render lard. Then there are eggs, too. Honey from hives for sweetener -- my DGD used to find wild hives. A decent veg garden. It's really a way of life that is still alive for many. I can live well for less, and do. I already use very little sugar.

Can you see -- I'm building up for a 2020 retirement?

I love the recipes and ideas. It helps extend these efforts, although I already eat a lot of veggies & home made "stuff". Nothing goes to waste -- if I don't eat it there are animals here that will. I even recycle cut grass to mulch and feed -- my pigs LOVED me to dump a bag of fresh cut grass to them! I use no chems, so grass is clear of all that -- manure fertilized. Plenty of animals provide this amenity.

At this point, I am trying to organize and concentrate all these efforts. Next year I will have more time to make it happen with less stress of what day I can be off & home. Jobs can be a real interference

 

[Marianne]

Depression Chocolate Cake

"Luxuries such as butter and eggs were scarce during the years of the Great Depression, but savvy cooks still managed to produce better-than-satisfying cakes. The ingredients lists of Depression cake recipes only vaguely resemble those of modern ones, with baking soda and vinegar doing the job of eggs and vegetable oil instead of butter.

This dish is sometimes referred to as the wacky cake because you can mix and bake it all in one pan if you want, this unpretentious confection brought the celebration to the table of many struggling households. The fact that Depression cake recipes have endured well beyond the country's economic recovery should vouch for their deliciousness. This makes a great cake for people with dairy allergies or who eat a vegan diet."

• 3 cups of flour
• 2 cups of sugar
• Pinch salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 10 level tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
• 2 cups cold water

Grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan and heat oven to 350F. Sift together all dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and stir with a large spoon until well mixed. Pour batter into pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool and frost with your favorite frosting.

 

[Marianne]

We do practice a lot of these methods today. Many on the forum can attest to it!

At this point, I am trying to organize and concentrate all these efforts. Next year I will have more time to make it happen with less stress of what day I can be off & home. Jobs can be a real interference

I LOVE your comment about jobs being an interference!
And you're correct, many of us do practice these methods. I no longer have hens , I miss the birds. I also miss all the eggs!!! So, I think I'm going to try a few of these eggless recipes...mostly because I'm one of those kinds of people that will try anything.

 

[Mini Horses]

I feel the adjustments made to work with what you had was not only necessary but, genius. In life we need to use what we have, when we have it (seasonally?) and "make do" more often. Cooking is just one way to improvise.

Repurposing is another. I picked up a large, undamaged, dog kennel from a trash pile just today. There is no need to fill our trash with such useable things. Heck, It's large enough for a German Shepard type and will save me the time, labor and material to make a hut for -- transporting goat kids, a warming box, housing broody hens, a nasty roo for butcher, a new cat & kittens, etc. People moved, house for sale. Score! No slacker here.

Sharing & bartering are other ways for people to share & spare, save money, live better.

Look at FEM... she has pigs, neighbor has land. She uses, he doesn't have to maintain. He butchers pigs she raised -- they share the meat. GREAT deal as far as I am concerned! If we all just looked around us I'm sure many "trades" could be arranged to benefit many. It isn't always "cash" that works, just some ways to save it -- even if none available.

 

[Britesea]

Cash is just a more convenient form of barter, after all

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Knox Gelatin Spread, a butter extender:

I'm trying this tonight. I don't think I beat mine long enough because it wasn't as smooth as the picture. But here's a tip I already learned - use a deeeeeep bowl cuz this stuff splatters everywhere!