Don't Blink!

We had winter this week.

Up until then winter had been mostly absent, only occasionally being found as a dusting of snow in some shaded, small crevice on cold-ish mornings.

It's been very strange. Based upon the last few years, for our first winter in the new house we anticipated snow days and sledding and looking for animal tracks and hikes out to the chicken coop in knee-deep drifts.

But this year? Nada. Zip. Zilch.

February is usually our bruiser of a winter month, when big snows are accompanied by cold temperatures that make the white stuff last for weeks.

For February this year we got what was honestly our biggest snowfall event in the last 12 months: 2 inches.

It was so little there was no chance of a snow day being called for schools. The snow began to warm and drip during the day, and our poor girls had piano lessons after school and so didn't have an honest chance to play in the snow until seven o'clock that night.

Quickly they made snowballs for throwing and feeding to the dogs and then this little gem:

Yoda-sized for easy portability.

They called him Sir George and made his eyes out of walnuts. Because there was such little snow he had bits of grass and leaves mottled into his being. Not a bad creation, considering what they were given.

Of course, with our typical Kansas weather poor Sir George didn't last 24 hours.

I guess he sums up our winter this year quite well: blink and you might miss it.

--Rational Mama

Convalescence

It's been a pretty low-energy, low-expectations kinda week. I had extensive surgery last week and so have spent this week at home recovering. It was my first experience with surgery and general anesthesia. All the good points make me think of the ideal approach to time-travel: a feeling of drunkenness, followed by a sudden shift forward in time with no awareness of the passing between.

I'm not used to having so much time around the house that doesn't involved chores or tasks and such. It's kinda weird.

I've spent a decent amount of time streaming Netflix. I have worked my way through the first season of the BBC series Sherlock (Martin Freeman is my new boyfriend), and am nearly finished with the first season of PBS's Downton Abbey. I highly, highly recommend both.

Crazy Cat thinks I should watch another episode. Why not?

I have a little table set up next to the sofa so I don't have to jump up and down to get lots of little mundane things. It hosts remotes, a current embroidery project, medications and some reading materials.

More on that embroidery project later...

The table is so handy it may become a permanent fixture.

When I've managed to pry myself from the sofa I've daydreamed about the upcoming planting season. So many lists...some more reality-based than others.

I would like one of everything, please.

We've been blessed (hopefully not cursed) by some amazing end-of-January weather. Highs in the 60s and plenty of sunshine. It has served as a nice excuse to get out and take short walks to build my strength and stamina back up.

There is still a nest in this little house from last summer. Should I empty it?


My companion.

We've also had very little moisture this winter, which makes me concerned for the farmers.

Picture perfect day.


We're now half-way between the winter solstice and the spring equinox.

Of course, by the time I come in from a walk I'm ready for a nap.

Or another episode of Downton Abbey.

--Rational Mama

Cyber Rational

For anyone interested, here's the link to the online version of the article about our rationing project that was printed in the most recent edition of XYZ magazine.

--Rational Mama

The Return of Artisan Bread

Crispy fall leaves. Brisk north winds. Stew on the stove.

And the return of artisan bread.

Nom, nom.

--Rational Mama

Brrrrrr!

It's November and the weather has finally realized that the season is currently autumn, not summer.

Up through the middle of last week we'd been experiencing a warm, dry autumn. In fact, the Rational Living household hadn't fired up the furnace until last Thursday - typically this happens around two weeks earlier in the season. Although our area had it's first official "hard" freeze last week, our own corner of the city did not, so we we still have peppers and basil (!) working their hardest to produce something worthwhile in the garden.

Now that the weather is more seasonally appropriate even the furnace doesn't keep the chill out of the house entirely. It's not that we have poor insulation or a faulty furnace - we have decent insulation and a modern, high efficiency furnace. It's mainly due to the fact that during the winters we keep the thermostat set at 62 degrees (higher if company is expected).

That is a full 10 degrees cooler than the wartime recommendation!

Why do we keep it so cool? Partly to curb heating costs, partly to conserve energy. On most days 62 degrees isn't too bad, especially if you're active (i.e., doing chores). If you're sedentary it does mean long sleeves, socks and maybe an afghan or two on the sofa. Nighttime typically isn't a problem since heat rises and the bedrooms are upstairs (the flannel sheets help, too).

Energy conservation during the winter was a big worry during WWII, since much of the coal reserves were needed for the war machine. There were multiple instances of families running out of coal mid-winter and not being able to secure more because of scarce availability.

Obviously, we don't have that problem today but we still feel a responsibility to use these resources judiciously.

So, friend...have you turned on your furnace? What is your thermostat setting?

--Rational Mama

Temper Tantrum

You know that howling three-year-old in the store, screaming at the top of her lungs, eyes red and wet from her emotional outburst? The one you can hear half-way across the store, exclaiming her certainty that the world is unfair and justice must be served to her NOW?

That's kind of how I feel about rationing right now.

I'm tired of the constraints and the rules and the can't haves and can't do's.

I was already feeling this way a bit (I think it's part of the natural stir-crazy feeling that comes at the end of winter) but it reared it's ugly head big-time in the past few days when we went on a mini-vacation with our good friends.

Late Monday afternoon we went to a local indoor water park/hotel combo (using some of our saved-up miles) and got away from the everyday mundane, if only for a day.

No points. No counting.

Since both families were doing a vacay-on-the-cheap we both brought our own breakfast and lunch supplies for the second day. We did eat out at a restaurant Monday night, but our ration points for the week were reduced as a result.

No points. No counting.

And then back to reality.

I didn't want to leave vacation. I didn't want to be subjected to the rationing rules again.

We arrived back home early Tuesday evening and I didn't want to stop being on vacation. I didn't want to fix our ration-friendly meal and deal with the dishes and the clean-up and the work. So Sissy and I headed to the neighborhood Chinese restaurant (TMOTH and Eowyn had eaten enough junk throughout the day and weren't hungry for dinner).

This was a contraband meal.

I think it's even getting a little to TMOTH, who is typically a very easy-going guy. Last week his self-imposed rationing-year ban on liquid forms of caffeine came to a crashing end when he had two Cokes in one day (and proceeded to feel a little queasy).

Sigh.

I can only imagine that what I'm feeling was par for the course in 1943, as families adjusted to the new wartime rationing system. Granted, at this point in 1943 canned goods rationing had only been in effect for six or seven weeks and meat/fat/cheese rationing had only been enforced for two weeks.

This coming Saturday we will be entering our 13th week of rationing.

On the bright side, we will be 1/4 of the way through our rationing year. In 1943 no one knew how long the rationing would last (or who, more importantly, would win the war).

I can only hope that the next six months will be easier, as more fresh produce options become available and healthier menu plans can be accommodated. It will be nice to work in the garden and feel the sunshine on our skin and feel like we're making progress towards preserving a stash of produce for winter.

Until then, I might be a little pouty about this rationing thing.

So bear with me, folks, while I have my tantrum.

Like the three-year-old in the store, I'll be done with it in 15 minutes and get distracted by something shiny and forget what it was that I was upset about.

I promise.

--Rational Mama

Overheard at Rational Living...

From the mouth of babes:


"Lettuce is precious now."

--Sissy (who, prior to rationing, didn't much care for lettuce)


--Rational Mama

The Doldrums

Another week, another menu... *yawn*

I'm afraid we've reached the doldrums...listlessly shuffling from one rationing week to the next, counting our points, making the same meals with the same *sigh* seasonal produce.

Same, same, same...

Of course, in 1943 most food rationing didn't begin until late February, so folks didn't have to wait very long at all for the growing season to begin and thus quickly had colorful and tasty options for their menu. Plus, they had nearly a year to plan ahead and preserve that bounty so they wouldn't get stuck with only cabbage and carrots next winter.

Us? We started in late December, so cabbage and carrots we have.

Why, oh why, didn't we wait to start rationing until the end of February?

Anyhoo...after TMOTH rolled a five last week for the Randomizer I wasn't going to chance it again and gave the die to Eowyn for this week's scenarios. And she proceeded to roll a five (head smack!). BUT, at least two of the scenarios we pulled for this week we're favorable, unlike last week, so it wasn't too bad in the end.

• Beef - limited, only 1/2 the normal purchase amount available
• Fresh Vegetables - limited, only 1/2 the normal purchase amount available
• Canned Fruits - Victory Special! available at only 1/4 the usual ration points
• Nuts and Nut Products - none available for purchase
• Poultry - surplus, available for only 1/2 the usual ration points

Luckily, the only beef on the menu this week (Monday's meal) was leftover from last week - we ended up not making the meatballs last Sunday and so can use that beef instead of buying new for this week.

The fresh vegetable shortage is a bummer and I had to downsize several portions for the week.

The Victory Special on canned fruits allowed us to buy a few extra cans of peaches and pears and a much coveted jar of applesauce.

I usually try to have a spare jar of peanut butter in the house since it is a staple at Rational Living. That will come in very handy this week since we can't purchase another. Also, there is a pecan pie scheduled for a special meal with guests on Friday that was in jeopardy until I remembered that we still have a stash of locally-grown pecans we picked a few seasons ago hiding out in the back of the cupboard. Whew!

Since poultry was available for reduced ration points I bought a pound of chicken breasts for future use and then obtained a nice quantity of turkey deli meat for a yummy sandwich night on Saturday (all those Subway commercials during the Olympics convinced me we needed a yummy sandwich night).

So here's how our menu shaped up for the week:

Saturday: deli-style sandwiches and chips
Sunday: roasted turkey, gravy, canned green beans and homemade stuffing
Monday: cabbage, tomato and beef soup with fresh baked bread
Tuesday: out to eat (our once-a-month splurge)*
Wednesday: hot dogs and oven-roasted potato fries
Thursday: crisped lemon liver, rice and canned fruit
Friday: bacon-wrapped venison tenderloin, baked sweet potatoes and baked cabbage

*Since it is an eating out week our point allotments for the week were reduced by 1/14th.

Did you see that on Thursday? It's a liver recipe. *shudder*

Liver seems to be a very generational thing, in that generations before mine eat it but subsequent generations don't. I tried to find a recipe that wouldn't be too anachronistic for our experiment but had a very favorable rating. I don't think I will tell the girls it's liver until I see their reaction - but more on that in a special "liver" post after Thursday night.

In the meantime - liver has such a reputation that I am curious as to if there was anything particular that your family cooked that you just couldn't bare to eat?

For me, it was these hamburger/shredded potato patty combinations...it seemed the potatoes were never fully cooked and made the entire patty a bit slimy. My stomach turns a bit just thinking about it.

Sorry, Mom.

--Rational Mama

Brilliant! Oczywiscie!

I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier...

If my undergraduate alma mater allowed non-education majors to have minors like other universities (really, KU, why not?), then I would have more than enough credits for a minor in Slavic Studies, with an emphasis in Polish language and literature. This may be news to some of you, and just genuinely weird to others. What can I say? I'm a Slav at heart.

Anyhoo, here I've been fretting over finding good recipes for our seasonal (and therefore non-rationed) produce, which right now consists mostly of cabbage, carrots, onions, potatoes and mushrooms.

And then I had an epiphany the other day, while calling my little cabbage kapusta, which is the Polish word for cabbage.

If you've ever flipped through a Polish cookbook then you will know that like 90% of the recipes consist mainly of combinations of cabbage, carrots, onions, potatoes and mushrooms, with modest amounts of cheese, butter or meats for flavor. Okay...maybe 90% is a bit of an exaggeration, but seriously - it's crazy high.

So I went to the library the other day and checked out a few Polish cookbooks.

Jackpot!

The cabbage dry spell may be over!

--Rational Mama

Historic Recipe: Hot Cabbag Slaw (and a Plea from the Rational Living Household)

Friends, we knew there would be times during our year of living on WWII rations that we would be discouraged, discontent and otherwise dissatisfied with the situation in which we had put ourselves. Little did we know such a circumstance would arise so quickly within the year.

Lemme 'splain.

Remember how one of the limitations we're working with is that the only fresh produce purchased must be seasonal? That means for the months of January through March the only fresh produce items allowed are cabbage, carrots, mushrooms, onions, parsnips, potatoes, turnips and winter squash.

Now, the majority of the household has a fondness for green leafy things and as such we've been eating far more cabbage than the average modern American family. Cabbage salad, coleslaw, Asian cabbage salad, cabbage vinaigrette and so on. One of the recipes we tried was the "Hot Cabbage Slaw" recipe in Joanne Lamb Hayes' Grandma's Wartime Kitchen: World War II and the Way We Cooked.

Ingredients:
1 small head (1.25 lb) green cabbage
1 large red bell pepper (stems, seeds and ribs discarded)
1 cup water
2 TB bacon fat or vegetable shortening
2 TB all-purpose flour
2 TB lemon juice
1.5 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

*I substituted 1 large carrot in place of the unseasonable bell pepper

[Warning: the following pictures contain images of over-cooked, slimy vegetable products. Children and the squeamish may want to look away.]

Directions:

• Rinse and shred cabbage. Thinly slice pepper (carrot) lengthwise.

• Combine cabbage, pepper, and water in a heavy 4-quart saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook 10 minutes
• Pour into a colander and drain very well, reserving 1 cup liquid. If necessary, add water to liquid to make 1 cup.
• In same saucepan, melt bacon fat; stir in flour until smooth. Gradually stir in 1 cup reserved vegetable liquid, the lemon juice, sugar, salt and pepper.
• Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

• Stir reserved cabbage and pepper (carrots) into thickened sauce and return to a boil. Cook, stirring, until vegetables reach desired tenderness, 5 to 10 minutes.

• Transfer to a bowl and stir.

I believe the culinary term is...ewww. Sadly, this recipe did not work for us; it was a combination of slimy cabbage, bacon flavor and lemon that no one found palatable. The children wouldn't touch it, The Man of the House and I ate our allotted serving and then I'm afraid, my friends, that the remainder ended up in the refrigerator and, after a week, went to visit trash mountain. So sad. One of our goals is to not waste food this year. So sad.

And it also makes me feel very thankful that this type of meal is a choice - not a necessity.

And this brings me to the plea: please oh please oh please oh please oh please if you have any fabulous, ration-friendly recipes for cabbage, carrots, parsnips, potatoes, turnips and winter squash can you please post them? They would make the Rational Living household happy and renew our faith in seasonal eating.

From the bottom of my stomach,
Rational Mama

Cabin Fever

Another weekend with 12+ inches of snow on the ground and -20 degree wind chills. The girls had two days of school cancelled this week because of the weather. We are all getting a bit squirrelly and need to get out, but it doesn't seem likely to happen.

At least the girls were able to have a sleep-over at their grandparents last night while The Man of the House and I went to a movie. I'm sure the change of scenery was good for the girls, and since we only see about one movie a year in the theater the movie was a nice departure from the ice and snow.

Now, The Man of the House is at work and the girls are still over at their grandparents. I'll have to brave the elements in a bit to go get them, but in the meantime I have homemade cinnamon rolls, coffee and seed catalogues. Not a bad start to the day.



--Rational Mama