Half Way

Today is the six months mark for the rationing year project: we are halfway to our goal of living on the (modern equivalent) of WWII civilian rations for an entire year.

Standing at this midway point makes it tempting to wax poetic about the project so far. We've learned, we've changed. But there is still six months of the project to go. Six more months for challenges, surprises and lessons to learn.

So far we've learned (among other things) that liver is evil, cabbage is to be respected and there can never be too much butter and cheese in the house.

And what about the next six months? We'll figure out just how tolerant we are of a harvest schedule that demands frequent attention and canning. And we'll figure out exactly what it means to prepare for a winter under rations (hopefully we can avoid the green vegetable blight we experienced last winter).

And the next six months will be a countdown which, in a sense, is not very historically accurate. The folks in 1943 had no idea when rationing would end or, more importantly, when the war would end. So it seems odd that we would spend our last six months of rationing acting like we knew it was our last six months of rationing. Shouldn't we be acting like this is a long-term change?

Wasn't one of the points of the rationing year to make long-term changes?

What would we be doing differently if there wasn't just six months left of rationing? What would we be doing if, like our patriots in 1943, it looked like rationing was going to stick around for many years?

What should the next six months look like?

Looking back over the past six months I wish we had made more period-appropriate recipes. I initially wanted to make one once a week and that obviously hasn't happend. Between starting a new job and transitioning the girls from the school year to summer I've fallen off that wagon. So, I'm pledging to make more historical recipes during the next six months and share those experiences here on the blog.

We also need to address the chicken issue. A significant portion of rationing civilians were keeping chickens in the backyard for eggs and (occasionally) meat. I've wanted a few hens for several years, but TMOTH has been hesitant. When I mentioned the chicken issue again to TMOTH tonight he replied, "Shoot, if rationing seemed indefinite then we would probably already have chickens!" So, more on that later.

Someday we'll start thinking about what life is going to be like after rationing. What habits will stick? What will quickly fall to the wayside? What will I do with all the time not spent counting points, recording menus and blogging?

In the meantime, let us know if you have any ideas on what you'd like to see over these remaining six months of the rationing project.

Time's a tickin'!

--Rational Mama