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Post by pooka on Nov 18, 2015 22:40:08 GMT -5
Here's a recipe for Sicilian Fig Cookies. It's about the right time of year for them. It comes from ninety three year old Clara's kitchen. She says they only made them once a year for Christmas after the depression was over. She is or was a YouTube sensation that was followed by a book in her last few years of life. Sadly she past away in her ninety eighth year on November 29, 2013. She has a few videos in her series, Great Depression Cooking. This is just one in two parts . You'll have to watch the video or buy the book for this recipe. She has number of simple recipes that got her & her family through the lean times of the 30s.
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Post by vaporvac on Nov 18, 2015 23:26:41 GMT -5
Thanks for the link.
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Post by chipperhiker on Nov 20, 2015 12:41:49 GMT -5
Thank you Pooka! I've watched a bunch of her videos in the past, and loved them, but I'd completely forgotten about Clara. She was wonderful.
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Post by pooka on Nov 21, 2015 15:14:58 GMT -5
I especially like the Great Depression Cooking - Depression Breakfast of home made sugar cookies, wafer cookies & coffee with condensed milk. It's a comfort food meal that reminds her of when they had almost nothing, they had cookies & coffee on Sunday. For years my dad always insisted on using canned mild in his coffee. In later years he did switch to nondairy powder creamers. I always assumed it was because of his twenty years in the navy & those long hours, days & weeks at sea. Clara's Poorman's Meal sounds tasty too. Fried potatoes & onions with just a touch of tomato sauce & sliced hot dogs. She says how the neighborhood kids ask for it. It's funny that when she puts the pan on the stove to start, she says "turn on the gas" when it's an electric stove. The end is almost a tear jerker with her grandson & his friends reveling in grandma's cooking by not talking. It warms the heart to see.
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Post by chipperhiker on Nov 21, 2015 16:43:53 GMT -5
The first one I watched was the pasta and peas episode, and she won me over. I went out and bought canned peas, which I totally hate! I never did make the dish, but she got me that far, at least. I'll probably have to go buy another can in her honor, and actually try it this time.
I just ordered the cookbook on Overstock.com. They had it for just over $14, whereas it's going for $40 on up to the stratosphere everywhere else. Must be out of print already.
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Post by pooka on Nov 22, 2015 3:39:31 GMT -5
Goodness, you're right. $45 or so used, & up to $150 new as I just checked around. In checking, my local library system has four copies. Only one is checked out right now. I may have to make a trip to check it out & make some quick scans.
I think I'm going to have to try the pasta and peas. I love peas. I could heat up just a can of them with butter & a little salt & pepper. When I visited London years ago we went out to a fish & chips shop to eat & found peas seemed to be a common side dish there along with your meal.
The Poorman's Meal could be zipped up a bit by using breakfast sausage, polish sausage or maybe bratwurst. I'd have to use a second pan to cook them first before adding them though. Mom used to fry potatoes like that by them self in a little bacon fat. I always loved them that way.
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Post by karitx on Nov 25, 2015 18:24:51 GMT -5
Before we had decent internet speeds, I used to make Sporko download Clara's videos at work and bring them home for me to watch. I think the only recipes I have tried are the pasta with peas and the eggs with peppers, both of which I liked. I bought her book when it was first released. I need to dig it out and try a few more recipes.
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Post by pooka on Nov 26, 2015 3:53:55 GMT -5
She's such a card. She reminds me of some of my older relatives, all of whom are gone now. It was great when you got more than one of them together reminiscing about the past. Each one would remember different aspects of a story & once you got them going, it was hard to get them to stop, not that you wanted them to. It makes you wish you had a video camera or a tape recorder to preserve their voices & words about the hard times they lived through, but now looked back on with a smile & a chuckle. Sometime they were clearly gilding the lily with the details, but it was all in the fun of retelling an old story.
After pricing Clara's cookbook, I figured it's out of my price range, so I borrowed it from the library today. I'm going to have to scan some of the more interesting recipes to try. It only has six chapter, & their titles are representative comments of those times like "It's a Hot Meal - So Stop Complaining" or "A Chicken in Every Other Pot".
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Post by chipperhiker on Dec 4, 2015 16:38:01 GMT -5
Well, Overstock.com wasn't of much use. I got an email a few days ago that they had an 'inventory' mistake on Clara's cookbook, so no book for me! Wonder if they got wind of the price other folks were asking?!
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Post by sporko on Dec 7, 2015 13:04:45 GMT -5
I thought their business was based on inventory mistakes. I guess they are understock.com, now.
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