Feel Like Making (Bud-Up, Bud-Up) 'Kraut With You!

So a co-worker of TMOTH's gave us two heads of cabbage a while back. Don't ask.

I managed to use up one over the course of a couple of weeks, but that second cabbage was threatening to take up permanent residence in the fridge. I was stumped.

While perusing Simply in Season I came across the "Simple Homemade Sauerkraut" recipe and thought, why not?

So I sliced some cabbage...


And mixed it with some salt and spices.


Then I attempted to cram eight-plus cups of cabbage into a quart jar.


Success! I added some salted water to top it off...


And then placed it in an out-of-the way space on the cabinet to start doing it magic fermentation thing.


Itwo weeks or so we'll know if we made sauerkraut.

I guess I have until then to try to convince the girls that they might actually like sauerkraut.

--Rational Mama

Mabel's Kindness

Last week we had a supply of apples (some donated) that needed to be made into pies - quickly. I was faced with the dilemma of trying to prepare three pies while simultaneously working full-time, attending war-bond meetings, organizing the next scrap metal drive and providing wholesome, well-rounded meals to my family. What was a rationing mother to do?

Luckily, sweet little Mabel came to the rescue. Gray-haired Mabel lives down the block from us in a dainty white house. Her peonies are always gorgeous and she makes the most delicious caramel popcorn balls for the neighborhood kids at Halloween. Mabel is very active in the war effort, volunteering her time for several community organizations including the Red Cross and her women's church group, which sends care packages oversees to our boys fighting those Nazi monsters.

One day I came home to find Mabel on our doorstep. "I thought you could use these," she said as a simple smile graced her face. In her outstretched arms was a circular tin...and inside the tin (separated by sheets of wax paper) where six beautiful, supple pie crusts! "I heard from little birdies that you were concerned you didn't have time to get everything together to turn those apples into pies."

Behind me I heard Sissy and Eowyn giggle as they ran out to play. Those pie crusts represented an hour of work and several points worth of fat rations. "Mabel," I countered, "This is very generous of you, but..."

"Nonsense!" she interrupted. "You need these more than I do. Besides, you wouldn't need them if you weren't so busy trying to get our boys what they need. And the sooner they can get what they need then the sooner the war will be over." A little glisten coated her pale blue eyes.

How could I say no?

"Thank you," I replied, and we both breathed a little sigh of relief. "But surely I can repay you for this somehow. I have a bit of extra coffee that needs a home." Everyone in the neighborhood knew that a big reason why Mabel was able to do so much was a result of her heavy coffee addiction. Since rationing had begun she'd been forced to reuse coffee grounds, but even that didn't allow her modest coffee ration to last its full five weeks. By week four, out of coffee rations, Mabel was known to be irritable and shaky.

"No thank you, dear," answered Mabel, too proud and honest to accept the trade.

"Well, then..." I postulated, "How about I invite you over for coffee and pie once the pies are made?"

"That sounds like a beautiful plan."

*Based on a true story. Actual events may have included a mad-dash to the grocery store to by anachronistic pre-made pie crusts.

--Rational Mama

Of Macaroni and Ramen

So...

My apologies for the hiatus in posting. We're still on the rationing train, so to speak, but just very busy now that things are getting to crunch time regarding the houses. We're aiming to have our house officially listed on the market by September 10th, which means the next dozen or so days will be filled with lots of painting, floor installation, yard work and such.

In the meantime, I thought you might be interested to know about convenience foods available during rationing since, with all this home repair chaos, convenience foods could be very handy.

Basically, there aren't very many.

There are no frozen pizzas or lasagnas or much frozen anything beyond juice, fruit and vegetables. In true spirit of the rationing program I haven't even been buying those "steam in the bag" vegetables when I do by frozen vegetables.

There are no boxed muffins, granola bars, cereal bars nor boxed meals kits.

What we do have is macaroni and cheese. Kraft's iconic blue box dinner was a new and popular dining option during WWII rationing. Two boxes of macaroni and cheese only cost one red point, which means it was (and is) a very popular vegetarian meal.
Otherwise, the only other convenience food available during rationing were boxed cereals and canned and dehydrated soups. I've written before about cereals here. Canned soups were rationed, but dehydrated soups were not. If you look to the right side of the handy dandy chart you can see an ad for Aunt Jemima's Rich Pea Soup - a dehydrated soup that is proud of it's just-add-water-and-heat approach.

Apparently, the range of options available in the dehydrated soup section of the grocery store was a bit more expansive in the 1940s than today. Grocery store ads reference dried vegetable soups, chicken soups and various types of pureed pea and/or beans soups. Today the dehydrated soup section is smaller than a bread box.

Unless you count Ramen noodles as an option.

Even though Ramen noodles weren't available in the U.S. until the early 1970s we've allowed them during rationing to bring our dehydrated soup availability up to the WWII rationing level.

Historically accurate? No. Filling the void of missing authentic supplies? Yes.

So during these next few weeks when the house is torn up and no one feels like cooking, we will be eating lots of cereal, sandwiches, macaroni and cheese and Ramen.

What are your favorite convenience foods?

--Rational Mama

Roasted Garlic

One of my favorite ways to use our homegrown garlic (besides adding it to pesto) is to roast it. But rather than roasting whole heads of garlic, I roast garlic cloves in oil. By roasting them in olive oil you end up with not only roasted garlic, but a good supply of roasted garlic oil, too!

To accomplish this, peel a dozen or more garlic cloves and place them in a shallow, oven-proof dish (I usually use the glass pie plate for this). I then pour enough olive oil in the dish to cover the garlic cloves.Place the dish into a 370 degree oven for 25-30 minutes and you'll end up with a wonderful aroma in your house and this:

Slightly browned and roasted garlic cloves in bubbling oil. Yum!

Place the garlic cloves in a blender or food processor with a few tablespoons of their cooking oil and puree. This puree will keep in the refrigerator for a few weeks, as will the garlic oil.

The roasted garlic puree and roasted garlic oil can be used in recipes requiring either fresh garlic or regular olive oil.

One of my most favorite things to make with roasted garlic and roasted garlic oil is to use them in a feta cheese spread.

Ingredients
6 oz feta cheese (preferably NOT the low-fat variety)
2 TB roasted garlic oil
2 TB roasted garlic puree
2 TB lemon juice
1 TB minced fresh mint leaves (or 1 tsp dried mint leaves)

Puree all items in food processor or blender. A bit more oil can be added if the texture isn't quite creamy enough.
This spread is amazing on bread (regular or toasted), as a pasta topper or as a sandwich spread.

But I never make too many plans for one batch, because it never seems to last long in our house!

--Rational Mama

I'm In Love

It's probably apparent to any regular readers of Rational Living that I really love to research and look at historic photographs and print. I mean, I really really love to do that. All those hours turning the dial on the microfilm machine at the State Historical Library looking through the 1943 newspapers? Heaven.

But with my new and improved employment my days off are now exactly the same days that the State Historical Library is closed. Panic!

So I bit the bullet and decided to try my luck with some 1940's books on eBay. Since I'd like to attempt more period-appropriate recipes during these last few months of rationing I started looking at auctions for cookbooks. Now, if there's anything I like just as much as researching it's reading cookbooks. Really. I read cookbooks like other people read novels. Trying to bypass all that bidding crap I went the "Buy It Now" route and purchased this little gem:

It's Your Share: How to prepare appetizing, healthful meals with foods available today, by that faux every woman's woman: Betty Crocker. This cooking booklet was published in 1943 and is a guide specifically addressing cooking during rationing! I love this little booklet - all 53 pages of recipes, tips and patriotism. It even has that pleasant musty old book smell (Why don't they make one of those pine tree car deodorizers in that scent? Think of all the librarians that would buy them!). Of course, our scanner went kaput last week so the images are less than stellar, but you'll have to trust me that this is a great find.

Ponder these inspirational words from the inside cover:

Hail to the women of America! You have taken up your heritage from the brave women of the past. Just as did the women of other wars, you have taken your positions as soldiers on the Home Front. You have been strengthening your country's defenses - as plane watchers - as flyers - as members of the armed forces - as producers, in war plants and homes - and in Red Cross and Civilian Defense activities. The efforts and accomplishments of women today are boundless.

But whatever else you do - you are, first and foremost, homemakers - women with the welfare of your families deepest in your hearts. Now you face a new and more difficult problem in the management of your homes. You must make a little do where there was an abundance before. In spite of sectional problems and shortages, you must prepare satisfying meals out of your share of what there is. You must heed the government request to increase the use of available foods, and save those that are scarce - and, at the same time, safeguard your family's nutrition. Never has there been such an opportunity, and a need, for what American women can contribute. So, to you women behind the men, behind the guns, we offer this little book, with it's daily helps for wartime meal-planning and cooking. And we salute you all!

Oh, Betty. You salute me? Really, you shouldn't. And you shouldn't negate all my other "boundless" contributions in lieu of my role as homemaker. But I digress.

The booklet contains 226 recipes and while I don't plan to make all of them before the end of the rationing year, I think at least a good dozen will show up over the next few months.

I mean, with such an awesome resource and the personal support of Betty Crocker, how can I not be victorious?

--Rational Mama

Historic Recipe (And a Life Lesson): Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

Egads.

Have you ever had a recipe that was more than just a recipe? Maybe a recipe with a strong nostalgic correlation, or a recipe that was a defining moment for your taste palate?

When I set out to make chocolate and peanut butter cupcakes with peanut butter frosting (both recipes from Grandma's Wartime Baking Book: World War II and the Way We Baked) I started out with the idea that it would be a nice, simple thing to do (and eat) on a day that the girls and I were home while TMOTH was at work.

I mean, what could be easier than cupcakes and frosting?

The recipe for the cupcakes was pretty basic, except that some of the fat came from the (not rationed) peanut butter. The recipe as written was for 12 cupcakes, so I greased up my dozen cup pan and equally poured the batter into each cup.

When they came out of the oven they looked like this:

This was not good. I had not greased the top of the cupcake pan, so I was now confronted with cupcakes which where hermetically sealed by a dome stuck to the pan surface. I had successfully baked cupcakes with built-in safety seals.

After sufficient cooling I used a butter knife to carefully pry the top edges of the cupcakes off the tray and then slid the knife along the outside wall of each cupcake. I then quickly flipped the pan over so the cupcakes could slide out.

It didn't go so well.

Did you know it's possible for a cupcake to be simultaneously moist AND crumbly?

Okay, what to do with this mess? Give up? Start over?

In true WWII homefront style I decided to be flexible and adapt my plan to what was on hand. I decided to press half of the "cupcakes" (I have to use parentheses because at this point I didn't think it was still accurate to refer to them as legitimate cupcakes) into a bowl. My idea was to then spread half of the frosting on this bottom layer, press down the remaining "cupcake" bits on top of this and then spread the top with the remaining frosting.

Now, I'll admit that when I think of frosting I think of something somewhat fluffy and containing only enough adhesive properties to stick to its destined cake. Oh, and most likely loaded with fat. I'm not a big German chocolate cake fan, so the fact that frosting can be a sticky, glue-like mess sometimes escapes my mind. When the frosting consists of sweetened condensed milk and peanut butter heated in a double boiler until it thickens, the frosting is especially sticky. Like, Shelob's web sticky.

So, I didn't so much spread the frosting on the bottom layer but instead poured and coaxed the frosting. I then topped it with the remaining "cupcake" bits and poured the remaining frosting on top.

In the end, it looked like this:

The cake was tasty and sticky but, in my opinion, nothing spectacular. I supposed if you were a 1940s civilian used to lots of sweets then cake of any kind would be something to be quite happy about. As it is, we're not a big sweets house so we usually have plenty of sugar on hand when the mood strikes. No need to beg your neighbor for a sugar ration stamp here.

But what did strike me about this cake was the lesson it reminded me of: that no matter how well you plan and follow directions, sometimes in life you end up with different results than you expected.

Fifteen years ago I was an undergraduate student in anthropology. I had plans to finish my PhD, get a professorship and raise a family while I continued my research.

What a nice, pretty cupcake that would be.

I didn't know that I would hate graduate school (except for the teaching part) and quite early, not have a lot of options for anthropological employment, and start a family sooner than anticipated. I didn't know of all the heartaches we would experience, including TMOTH's cancer.

This life has been one messy cupcake, indeed.

But you know what? Life can be messy and still be good, as long as you're willing to be flexible. I now work in public outreach and children's educational programming and I absolutely love it. Life might require you to think outside of the box at times, or occasionally compromise. But it will usually be worth it and sometimes might be even tastier than you expected.

And as long as you're willing to eat sticky cake instead of cupcakes.

--Rational Mama

Historic Recipe: Spring Casserole

Today's recipe comes from the May 29, 1943 Topeka Daily Capital. It's a simple recipe with on-hand ingredients so I couldn't resist. Here's what you need:

*1 1/2 cups dried macaroni

*1 1/2 cups milk
*1/4 tsp paprika
*1 tsp salt

*1/4 tsp celery seed or celery salt

*1/3 cup cream

*2 cups milk

*1 cup fresh peas, slightly cooked (we used frozen since fresh peas have been long gone)

*3 TB minced fresh parsley

*2 TB minced onion (I used green onion)

*3 TB green pepper, diced

*3 boiled eggs, sliced

*3 TB cream cheese, softened

1. Cook macaroni until al dente (the original newspaper recipe said to cook it for 20 minutes - blah!).

2. Combine flour, paprika, salt and celery seed.

3. Mix together flour mixture and cream in small sauce pan until smooth.

4. Add milk and stir until smooth. Heat over medium heating, stirring constantly, until mixture boils.

5. Reduce to a simmer and stir contents until they thicken (approximately 15 minutes).

6. Add noodles and stir until well mixed.

7. Pour into buttered 8"x8" casserole dish and top with egg slices (you can mix the eggs in, but since the girls are a bit hesitant about boiled eggs I made them easily accessible for removal).

8. Mix cream cheese with green pepper and spread on top of macaroni mixture.

9. Bake at 370 degrees for 20 minutes.

With a side of fresh green beans here's how it turned out:

The verdict: very plain but palatable. Eowyn happily ate her portion (she loves peas), Sissy declined (she "wasn't that hungry," sigh) and TMOTH and I ate hearty helpings with the addition of a fair amount of salt and pepper.

I like this recipe for it's simplicity (meatless, most ingredients are regular kitchen stock) and because it requires very few ration points. If you have fresh (or home preserved) peas the only rationed item required to make this dish would be the cream cheese - of which the amount used represents only around one red ration point.

But I'm afraid it does little more for me than to further my belief that the majority of 1940's cooking can be reduced to "Random Ingredient in a Doctored White Sauce," (click here and here for other examples).

But then, I guess a lot of recipes these days are really like that, too. Just think of how many recipes require a can of cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup - those are just the modern processed versions of a white sauce (albeit with a ton more sodium and preservatives).

But I admit I'm a sucker for cream of chicken and wild rice soup and also that traditional Thanksgiving green bean casserole. What's your favorite version of a "doctored white sauce" recipe?

--Rational Mama

A Grilling Dilemma

First off, let me say that I apologize for the lengthy 10 day delay in posting. I also want to shout out and say thanks to all who took part in the roll call (and it's not too late if you didn't, just click here).

It's been a busy 10 days of getting summer schedules set for the girls, finalizing planting plans and getting a new, improved job (yay me!). In the past 10 days we've also dealt with a dilemma that's been on the burner, so to speak, for a couple of years.

The dilemma is our grill.

Eight years ago when I was pregnant with Eowyn and Sissy was but a wee toddler we decided to upgrade from our traditional charcoal-powered college-years grill to a propane grill. I was tired of dealing with the briquettes and justified the expense by touting how much safer a propane grill would be (with an immediate "off" switch and faster cool-down period) with young children around. Our budget was tight, having just moved to our current burg and saving up funds for the new addition. So we went to Sears and bought a basic propane grill (I can remember that, with the sale and the mail-in rebate our cost was $109. Aren't I good at useless trivia?).

The grill had served us well, getting much use and decently holding up to our neglectful attitude (grill covers just seem too bourgeois). But last year it became painfully obvious that the grill was falling apart. Literally. Parts of it were disintegrating and causing uneven heating and flare-ups. But we didn't feel like we could dump the extra hundreds of dollars into replacing (and slightly upgrading) the grill because I was the receiver of one of the State's pink slips that went out last May because of the economic crisis.

But that's another (painful) story.

So we compromised and ordered a new flare guard (or, as I like to call it, heat shield) for the grill for something like 13 bucks. Not bad, eh? The burner was still experiencing it's own demise but at least with the new heat shield the food was only slightly scorched in places. With this purchase we could get through another summer and plan on buying that fancy new model next year.

But see, we didn't know then that we'd be rationing this summer (isn't that very historically accurate of us?). Buying new appliances during rationing wasn't necessarily a no-no, but it was to be done in emergency situations only. And we had already had one close call with the oven, remember?

But with the burner assembly literally falling apart, using the grill was about as refined and effective as using a Bunsen burner to cook a hot dog. What were we to do?

Luckily, the interwebs came to our rescue! We were able to order a new burner assembly and have it shipped to us for only $23. Within a week of ordering TMOTH had installed the new burner which, combined with the almost-new heat shield, has made our grill an evenly heated cooking machine.

I think, with the new parts, we'll be able to get at least two to four more years out of our grill.

The only problem is I now have to adjust to cooking with a fully-functional grill. I had memorized the hot spots before the repairs to avoid burnt food. Now grilling is so easy and simple it makes me feel, well...

...a little bourgeois.

--Rational Mama

A Tisket! A Tasket! Our First CSA Basket (of the year)!

Friday was the first pick-up day for our CSA subscription through the local natural food co-op. Here's what it contained:
Just in case you can't tell from the photo, that's a half-dozen farm fresh/free-range eggs, a bunch (literally) of carrots, a bag of dried Nameko mushrooms, a bag of salad greens and a bag of spinach. This collection is a little bit smaller than the usual weekly pick-up (the growers had a hard time harvesting with all the rain we've had), so they charged us a bit less than the normal weekly fee.

Yum! All fresh, all local and all un-rationed! One of the best parts, though, is the newsletter that comes with the weekly bag. This week's newsletter explains that, "each week's bag holds gastronomic treasures and culinary mysteries for you to behold." Seriously. Is this not the most awesome food newsletter ever?

With the fresh greens available through our own garden, the farmer's market and our CSA subscription we've eaten a ridiculous amount of salad in the last week. This makes me very happy.

Not tonight, though. Tonight's dinner is very fitting for the cool, rainy day we've had here: chicken pot pie. Eowyn requested it late last week and so I just took my second attempt at making pie crust (you can revisit my first attempt here). I used a different pastry recipe and the results are much more aesthetically pleasing. The contents of the pie also include a homemade white/cream sauce, which replaces the store-bought can of cream of chicken soup I would have used prior to rationing.

And if tonight remains cold and dreary I might just need to make a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies - no cookies from a tube here.

Ah, how some things have changed!

--Rational Mama

Easy as Bread

Ever notice how often "fresh baked bread" and/or "homemade pizza" show up on the Rational Living menus?

They're both frequent visitors because of the genius folks behind Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Their book has been out for a while, but I first read about their recipe and technique in Mother Earth News. They also have a blog where they share tips and recipes and an ever-expanding list of creative ways to use their dough.

The idea is simple - create a very wet dough that can happily live in your refrigerator for up to two weeks. While it waits for you the yeast chemistry is creating a nice dough that will be fluffy and tender upon baking.

When you're ready to bake just remove a grapefruit size portion, follow the shaping and no-hassle rising instructions, and then bake on your baking stone with a little water added to an oven-proof dish to keep the loaf from drying out during the baking process.


That's it. What you end up with is artisan-quality bread straight from your oven. It's so good our girls actually ask for the heal pieces.

The dough also makes a great pizza crust. Just take out an appropriately sized portion, roll it as thin or thick as you like, top and bake on the pizza stone. I like a very thin, crisp crust and this dough delivers as long as my pizza isn't too loaded with toppings and I use the baking stone. I've found that rolling the dough out on parchment paper and then transferring the parchment paper and pizza en masse onto the baking stone makes the entire process much more user-friendly (anyone who has had their pizza flip and land topping-side down in a botched transfer attempt will appreciate this advice).

I haven't yet tried some of the other basic recipes they offer for the same technique (including a sandwich bread and french bread). With the warmer weather approaching I'm sure we'll be baking less, but in the meantime we'll be enjoying a weekly dose of freshly baked bread!

--Rational Mama

Video: Two Cooks and a Cabbage

I had to wonder while watching this 1941 film from the BFI National Archives...

If I grow cabbage this summer do you think Eowyn and Sissy would be so excited about cooking their own?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2evv45stEHw

Not sure why the embedding isn't working anymore...

--Rational Mama