What People Ate to Survive During the Dust Bowl

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 พ.ค. 2024
  • The Great Depression was an era of financial toil for nearly everyone in the United States. But those in the Dust Bowl were hit particularly hard - the Southern plains region of the US experienced a drought that led to severe dust storms. Farming grew difficult because of the lack of rain, and people who lived in the Dust Bowl became desperate for food, even more so than others who lived during the Depression.
    Dust Bowl meals focused on nutrition over taste.
    #TheDustBowl #Food #WeirdHistory
    0:00 Introduction
    0:51 CANNED TUMBLEWEED LEAVES
    1:39 Ball
    1:46 POPCORN WITH MILK
    2:37 CORNED BEEF LUNCHEON SALAD
    3:21 CARROT MARMALADE
    4:27 BACON GREASE
    4:45 TUSCAN OLIVE OIL
    5:10 DANDELION SALAD
    5:50 CASSEROLES
    6:41 DEPRESSION CAKE
    7:21 JACKRABBIT
    7:59 PICKLED FRUITS
    8:32 CORNMEAL MUSH
    9:09 BEAN SOUP
  • บันเทิง

ความคิดเห็น • 4.3K

  • @KateRambo
    @KateRambo 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3022

    Anyone else here thinking about Clara? She was TH-cam’s grandmother that survived the depression!

    • @zacharyrome3432
      @zacharyrome3432 2 ปีที่แล้ว +38

      I am now !

    • @furrymessiah
      @furrymessiah 2 ปีที่แล้ว +212

      Aw man, you had to remind me. I cried when I found out she passed away. RIP Nana Clara. 😭

    • @Grookyslime
      @Grookyslime 2 ปีที่แล้ว +28

      Yes!

    • @TruthNeverFade
      @TruthNeverFade 2 ปีที่แล้ว +64

      Aw man she was great! RIP

    • @my2commonsense476
      @my2commonsense476 2 ปีที่แล้ว +36

      She was great.

  • @brianabraham8726
    @brianabraham8726 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1836

    "Unlike popcorn in movie Theaters today, popcorn was affortable for families hit hard by the great depression." Just this sentence deserves my like 😄😄

    • @channel_---
      @channel_--- 2 ปีที่แล้ว +26

      Popcorn in theatres was successful mass mkultra experiment

    • @brosefmcman8264
      @brosefmcman8264 2 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      @@KAT-dg6el it’s you can’t bring your own popcorn to the theatre 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

    • @wesgray5832
      @wesgray5832 2 ปีที่แล้ว +70

      @@brosefmcman8264 you can if your wife's purse is big enough. :-)

    • @colleenlussier7106
      @colleenlussier7106 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      A

    • @kimb868
      @kimb868 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@channel_--- it so good 😊
      My favorite

  • @snakemanmike
    @snakemanmike 2 ปีที่แล้ว +398

    My mother grew up during the Depression, In fact, she got married at age 14 in 1934, mainly to escape the hard life on the family farm. She continued to cook these recipes the rest of her life. I grew up in the 1960's eating many of these. I considered them normal southern country food. I find it amusing that what I grew up eating is now considered weird history.

    • @jerrycummings2821
      @jerrycummings2821 2 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      Not so much amusing as confusing. Many times (weeks on end) our mom would make a big pan of cornbread and we'd wait until dad milked the cow so we could have our dinner of cornbread and milk - often we'd have had to shell the corn so it could be ground into meal - mush was and IS still good, try it fried sometime and you will find it is delicious.

    • @lindathomas2350
      @lindathomas2350 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@jerrycummings2821 we used to have our Sunday dinner as any kind of bread dipped in milk. That was the whole meal!

    • @jerrycummings2821
      @jerrycummings2821 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@lindathomas2350 God Bless you Linda - I truly can identify - I think the longest we went without ANY food was three days.

    • @luisar5755
      @luisar5755 ปีที่แล้ว

      The "casserole" as described in the video, doesnt sound bad really..

    • @katielou700
      @katielou700 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Sounds like hot water cornbread! Love it!

  • @sandramorey2529
    @sandramorey2529 2 ปีที่แล้ว +41

    A lot of folks survived the Depression. Tillie Olsen, the writer, used to tell us kids about Stone Soup. At dinner time in the migrant camps, a woman would put out a call. Everyone brought an ingredient, they threw them into a big pot and whatever was in the soup was what they ate for dinner. Fed a whole lot of folks.

    • @corneliusdinkmeyer2190
      @corneliusdinkmeyer2190 5 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      There’s a kids book called Stone Soup!

    • @Zombie_Chow
      @Zombie_Chow 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      ​@@corneliusdinkmeyer2190 All this time, I thought it was a metaphor about community.

    • @fsaldan1
      @fsaldan1 10 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

      When I was a kid my mother used to tell a story about stone soup. It happened in wartime. A peasant sees a soldier cooking something in a pot, and asks what it is. The soldier says "It is stone soup". The peasant asks "Is it good?" The soldier says "Yes, but it would be better with some carrots." The peasant fetches some carrots and the soldier adds them to the soup. This is repeated with potatoes, meat, and other ingredients. Finally the soldier tastes the soup, says it's ready, throws the stone away, and has the soup for dinner.

  • @lauriemarie6902
    @lauriemarie6902 2 ปีที่แล้ว +725

    I grew up hearing about the depression. My grandmother was raising 4 babies alone and would suck the marrow from bones to feed my father and siblings. She lived to 100 and was sharp as a tack.

    • @cb142
      @cb142 2 ปีที่แล้ว +40

      That's awesome! Mom was 92yrs when passed. She used turmeric,Knox gelatin,blueberries and never skipped breakfast. I'm 62yrs and hope I get there. I hope you have a long life also.

    • @texastea5686
      @texastea5686 2 ปีที่แล้ว +28

      My husband's grandmother was born in 1910 and died in 2017. She only had cataracts ... grew up on a small ranch in Mexico then they came to Texas. I'm sure all she ate during that time was rice, beans and tortillas.

    • @hrhtreeoflife4815
      @hrhtreeoflife4815 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Nice!

    • @DebbiesSanctuary49
      @DebbiesSanctuary49 2 ปีที่แล้ว +23

      Don't forget dandelion wine!!!When I was thirty a had a good friend that was 83. She taught me a lot about what to find to eat in the woods and how to cook or dry foods. Even saw her cook a fresh killed ground hog too. Bacon grease can't be made or recreated...it is perfect alone and to season wilted lettuce and most every thing else! Yum!!!

    • @remyjenney7103
      @remyjenney7103 2 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      Bone marrow is liquid gold

  • @kandreasworld4374
    @kandreasworld4374 2 ปีที่แล้ว +426

    We were dirt poor growing up. A family of four. We ate a lot of depression style dishes to survive. Rabbit stew was common. Spaghetti and tomato sauce was several days a week. Hot dogs were cheap and so was chipped ham. We ate a whole loaf of "butter bread" at meals to fill us up because bread and margarine was also cheap. We made "poor man's pot" often. It is layers of potatoes alternated with layers of onions until the casserole dish was full. Then you added a little milk and maybe some cheese on top, if you had it. Then it was baked. We often had baked potatoes at every meal as well. We made a lot of vegetable soup using canned vegetables because, again, it was cheap. Popped corn was a daily snack. We also fished a lot and would eat whatever we caught for dinner. Bacon grease and vegetable oil was always used. I didn't know what olive oil was until I was 16 or so. You get creative and you get by.

    • @dianheffernan2435
      @dianheffernan2435 2 ปีที่แล้ว +28

      Can't help this but you kept the value of close family meal time, plenty of hugs sent

    • @angele9375
      @angele9375 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      You're from Pennsylvania 😸

    • @suhtangwong
      @suhtangwong 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Oh wow, Ig I'm not the only one.

    • @thechickadeetree9384
      @thechickadeetree9384 2 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      I remember lots of “hamburger soup” and yes the bread and margarine too. Treat night was yep, popcorn and apples and if we were lucky cheese slices from WIC.

    • @DB-sy6xc
      @DB-sy6xc 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      This is normal food that we eat all the time. Lol we are technically poor though.

  • @charliedavis8894
    @charliedavis8894 2 ปีที่แล้ว +220

    I was raised by my grandparents who raised their kids during the great depression. I didn't have popcorn and milk but I had crumbled soda crackers and milk more than once. Bacon grease? I still have and use my grandma's bacon grease canister with the strainer. I use bacon grease for frying potatoes, eggs and making bacon/sausage gravy for biscuits, fried potatoes or SOS. I also make wilted spinach salad with bacon grease, using the grease, sugar, and vinegar cooked and poured over spinach, onion and crumbled bacon. Casseroles are delicious and filling and many families depend on them to this day to stretch their food budgets. Corn meal mush, oatmeal and cream of wheat are great cooked, cooled in a pan then fried the next morning with syrup or honey. Bean soup is still a staple in many families and I myself have survived a 6 month time period when that was my primary meal for the day, bonus if I could make cornbread, homemade bread or biscuits to go with it. This narrator sounds as if these foods are beneath him but they've kept hunger from many Americans doors even today and will in the foreseeable future given the dramatic rise in food prices in 2022.

    • @MelissaThompson432
      @MelissaThompson432 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Did you ever eat a casserole made from a can of cheap fish, saltines, and milk? It's surprisingly good, especially with a little butter dotted on the top.

    • @charliedavis8894
      @charliedavis8894 2 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      @@MelissaThompson432 No, but trust me, if grandma had thought of that, we sure would have! She canned the fish & game grandpa caught and we'd go to the coast during tuna season, buy a couple tuna off the boat and grandma canned it over a fire on the beach while we were camping. Good times, we always had canned fish and meat and crackers and milk were cheap then in comparison to wages, unlike now.

    • @lindathomas2350
      @lindathomas2350 2 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      I totally believe we're going to see a replay of many of these dishes as every the meals as inflation rises. I agree that casseroles are wonderful dishes that lend a lot of variety and can be made out of just about anything. A big thumbs up for your comments! 👍

    • @jazzwinsky
      @jazzwinsky 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I'm sorry but at the rate the Bidden regime is going egg, meat, milk and lots of different grains will be impossible to get. Just look up articles on the supply chain, governments cutting all meat from the shelves In the name of their climate scam. Also since Jan 1 2022 many of the food supply meat plates, granaries, etc are being burnt to the ground or a plane suddenly crashes into them. 18 I do believe have been distroyed across the USA and Canada. That's double the all of last year.
      The .market and the food crisis is being done on purpose and this will all be done either before the mid terms or before the next USA federal election. Oh a d do t forget Ww3 is around the corner

    • @charliedavis8894
      @charliedavis8894 2 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      @@jazzwinsky Don't be sorry, I believe you're absolutely correct. We are on the cusp of a major food shortage worldwide, by design. I can't remember the source right now but the quote is "Control the food and you control the people." That's why these recipes and learning how to "make something from nothing" is crucial to our survival. Destroying food processing plants is part of the plan no matter how many times "they" tell us it's just coincidence. Selling most of our pork processing plants to China is another example because when the nasty stuff hits the fan, China will ship the pork to their own people while we do without. Thanks for your comment.

  • @GraysonMiller69420
    @GraysonMiller69420 ปีที่แล้ว +88

    To be honest, the carrot-marmalade actually sounds good. I remember being a kid & my mom would mix shredded carrots into orange jello & it was pretty good.

    • @echognomecal6742
      @echognomecal6742 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      Sounds good...& I've been looking for ways to eat more carrots.

    • @corneliusdinkmeyer2190
      @corneliusdinkmeyer2190 5 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      I was thinking the same about carrot marmalade! It sounds quite good!

  • @kathrynmast916
    @kathrynmast916 2 ปีที่แล้ว +521

    As a child we ate a lot of so-called Depression Foods well into the 1950s. We always saved bacon grease. When Dad passed away in 2002, we found a jar of bacon grease in his refrigerator. My Dad and Uncle loved mush fried in bacon grease and the they poured Karo syrup over the mush. I remember assorted casseroles and still have my mother’s recipes. I still make a big pot of my own vegetable soup. There is nothing better on a cold rainy day than my soup. We also had Sunshine salad which was lemon jello with shred carrots which was a dessert. When had ham and beans for supper, which I hated thus refused to eat, my Dad would get after me. He sternly say, “If you lived during the Depression, you’d eat beans or starve! Now, eat!” My parents, especially my Dad, considered wasting food on par with high crimes and treason.

    • @CaseyUnderCovers
      @CaseyUnderCovers 2 ปีที่แล้ว +26

      I grew up poor in the 90s and early 2000s and ham bits and pinto beans was a meal I also hated and would refuse to eat. I knew that if my mom was soaking a pot of beans we had reached the back of the cabients and PB&J was long gone. She made biscuits to go with it most of the time so thankfully I'd eat those with a smear of Country Crock, jelly if we had any. On occasion I'd eat the biscuits with whatever canned vegetable we had and soak up the cooking liquid with the biscuits.

    • @Spongebrain97
      @Spongebrain97 2 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      My family which came from poor Mexican Americans also took to saving bacon grease, even my mom still does it because yeah it would be a waste to throw it away.

    • @MsSwitchblade13
      @MsSwitchblade13 2 ปีที่แล้ว +21

      In my poor Mexican-American household, beans were essential and went with almost every meal. So we had something similar to yours, but instead of ham it was cut up pieces of weenies. I loved it and still do. Another meal was a bowl of fresh beans with a slice of American cheese single to be eaten with slices of white bread. I'm getting nostalgic and craving this just thinking about it.

    • @squeegied3rdeye413
      @squeegied3rdeye413 2 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      @@MsSwitchblade13 i grew up middle class Mexican American but my parents both grew up in poor large families so sometimes we would eat like we were cause they still enjoyed some of the things they grew up eating which I still love to eat like spam and egg tacos, picadillo, rice and beans with cornbread and my mom would definitely use bacon grease when making refried beans which I still always do

    • @janiceharris5475
      @janiceharris5475 2 ปีที่แล้ว +21

      My mom was a WWII baby. My grandma talked about growing everything on the farm. They received rations to buy sugar, coffee and gas. My grandma,mom and aunts all grew up on a lot of beans and continued to cook them up until their deaths. My aunt had four big growing sons the size of football and basketball players. She cooked a pot of beans every day. My mom always felt like food wasted was a sin equal to murder.

  • @Krimcl
    @Krimcl 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2704

    As someone who’s lived in the south it’s kinda odd that you guys never herd of cooking with bacon grease. It’s awesome amd adds great flavor.

    • @omegadubois6619
      @omegadubois6619 2 ปีที่แล้ว +200

      A jar of bacon grease is a must have

    • @charlesroberts3910
      @charlesroberts3910 2 ปีที่แล้ว +142

      I used to hate when my dad made our pancakes in bacon grease . Mom had a bad heart so sometimes dad would let her stay in bed and he'd make breakfast but dad liked to cook everything in bacon grease . To him
      It was liquid gold

    • @ftdefiance1
      @ftdefiance1 2 ปีที่แล้ว +24

      Or the West

    • @LALacey
      @LALacey 2 ปีที่แล้ว +39

      I'm from the north and my mother always uses at least a little for everything she cooks (unless it's vegan, of course)

    • @LESSspam80
      @LESSspam80 2 ปีที่แล้ว +69

      Ahh the horror lol. It’s a natural oil. Nothing natural at a store.

  • @wolfgirl8187
    @wolfgirl8187 2 ปีที่แล้ว +169

    I was taught to cook my eggs in bacon grease growing up, I thought everyone did it that way lol

    • @charleydraper8656
      @charleydraper8656 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      Bacon grease, is good for cooking everything.

    • @gregorymccullough3801
      @gregorymccullough3801 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Me too. I grew up with my grand parents. The generation before the WWII generation.

    • @getin3949
      @getin3949 ปีที่แล้ว

      My uncle did until his cholesterol was up over 500 and he had over 13 stents placed. Not something good for your body, only in moderation. Plus the nitrates and nitrites in bacon are carcinogens. If you would drink one ounce of sodium nitrite you can go to sleep permanently. It's a known death cocktail.

  • @freakinfrugal5268
    @freakinfrugal5268 2 ปีที่แล้ว +133

    I may not want corned beef jello, but I am all ready to make some carrot marmalade!

    • @rhiahlMT
      @rhiahlMT 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      I have a recipe for carrot cake jam that is really good.

    • @greywater3186
      @greywater3186 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@rhiahlMT going to google this right now

    • @rhiahlMT
      @rhiahlMT 2 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      @@greywater3186 Just ask. I have one for carmelized onion jam also. It's really good with meat. 😀
      Carrot Cake Jam
      1 can (20 ozs) unsweetened crushed pineapple, undrained
      1 1/2 cups shredded carrots
      1 1/2 cups of peeled chopped ripe pears (fresh not canned)
      3 tablespoons commercial lemon juice (acidity of commercial is consistent
      1 teaspoon cinnamon
      1/4 teaspoon cloves
      1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
      1 package powdered fruit pectin
      6 1/2 cups of sugar
      In large saucepan combine everything except the pectin and sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 - 20 minutes OR until pears are tender, stir occasionally. Remove from heat (at this point the neighbors think you are making carrot cake). Stir in the pectin.
      Bring up to a full rolling boil over high heat , stirring CONSTANTLY. A full rolling boil is when you can't stir the boiling down. Boil and stir for 1 full minute. Remove from heat, skim off any foam you can get (foam will crystallize in the jars. A little won't hurt anything.) Or, you can add a tad or teaspoon of butter to the mixture before you boil it. This recipe doesn't really create a lot of foam though.
      Ladle hot mixture in hot jars just washed in the dishwasher and on a heat dry cycle. Leave 1/4 inch headspace. Run a plastic knife down the sides of the jars releasing air bubbles (metal in a hot jar not a good thing, easier to break the jars). With a damp rag wipe the rims and put on lids and rings (if using Tattler lids remember to tighten and untighten by 1/4 turn per manufacturer’s instructions). Process in a water bath canner for 5 minutes. Please check the canning process time charts for your altitude. I'm at 4,000 and must process for 10 minutes.

    • @loriwyoming835
      @loriwyoming835 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I made some last year and it's really yummy.

    • @AZCanner
      @AZCanner 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Look up how head cheese is made.

  • @elijahhamilton4857
    @elijahhamilton4857 2 ปีที่แล้ว +746

    Truthfully I thought everyone saved their bacon grease, we still do it today! Maybe it’s just a southern thing, or a poor thing!

    • @missouribackwoodsadventures
      @missouribackwoodsadventures 2 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      My grandpa, and dad still save all theirs

    • @MeowVicious
      @MeowVicious 2 ปีที่แล้ว +42

      I vote it’s a delicious thing!

    • @bcaye
      @bcaye 2 ปีที่แล้ว +38

      Naw, it's an intelligent thing.

    • @SestraVixen
      @SestraVixen 2 ปีที่แล้ว +28

      screw Crisco bacon grease for the win!

    • @janiceharris5475
      @janiceharris5475 2 ปีที่แล้ว +27

      Shoot, I bet some new generation wealthy people in the south have a stock of bacon grease way in the back of the fridge sitting just behind the Dom and fancy bottle water. Shhhh, don't tell anyone.

  • @wandamedenwaldt8484
    @wandamedenwaldt8484 2 ปีที่แล้ว +142

    We always save our bacon grease here. It's a necessity in the state of Oklahoma. Fried potatoes and onions cooked in bacon grease is the best thing on the planet

    • @loriwyoming835
      @loriwyoming835 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Replace the taters with greenbeans and they're just as tasty.

    • @organicinohio5398
      @organicinohio5398 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      I save my bacon grease up North. Use it in my fried cabbage recipe among other things as well.

    • @Sandra-kv4vf
      @Sandra-kv4vf 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Amen! Florida here!

    • @kimbennett155
      @kimbennett155 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      I'm born and raised Canadian. My grandmother always saved her bacon grease to cook with

    • @alitlweird
      @alitlweird 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I can see that. 🥓 🥔

  • @frybry01
    @frybry01 2 ปีที่แล้ว +92

    Soup beans is still a staple in many houses in the south. It;s a cheap meal and we love it at least once a month with cornbread, fried taters and some type of fried greens.

    • @carrieporter3401
      @carrieporter3401 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Not just the South. I grew up with beans and corn mush and corn bread😂

    • @carrieporter3401
      @carrieporter3401 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      But I'd have to be pretty hungry to do popcorn and milk😂

    • @valiaudet3415
      @valiaudet3415 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Bean soup is popular in many countries and certainly not only for poor

    • @frybry01
      @frybry01 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@valiaudet3415 Soup beans and Bean soup are different here in the southern US. Soup beans are pinto beans only flavored with pork fat, nothing else which is what I'm talking about and those of us who grew up eating it weekly will admit it's a cheap meal for when your poor bcoz you can't afford anything else.
      Bean soup often has more than one type of bean, and often has ham or bacon and diced veggies in it.

    • @LB-eh5fz
      @LB-eh5fz ปีที่แล้ว +10

      HONEY ,,,,PINTO BEANS, CORNBREAD, CHOPPED ONIONS, POTATOES, IS FINE FINE EATING HERE IN KENTUCKY, THEN BLACKBERRY COBBLER GLASS OF MILK ,, 👍🏻♥️

  • @reneamos163
    @reneamos163 2 ปีที่แล้ว +65

    My family grew up on so much of this food! I was born in the 1960's, but ate eggs fried in bacon grease ( delicious) , casseroles, bean soup...don't knock it til you try it!! We're so very privileged now to be able to stick our noses up at the recipes that kept so many alive when it wasn't a time of plenty!!

  • @Lady_Chalk
    @Lady_Chalk 2 ปีที่แล้ว +646

    Dandelions are pretty good. There’s all kinds of common yard “weeds” that are edible. I wanna say herbicide companies were responsible for saying all these plans were weeds.

    • @stemartin6671
      @stemartin6671 2 ปีที่แล้ว +42

      Both Stinging and dead nettles are nutritiously good for you too

    • @MRHG126
      @MRHG126 2 ปีที่แล้ว +42

      Yes! Too bad they shiwed the flowers instead if the leaves while describing salad.

    • @robertmoore1123
      @robertmoore1123 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Makes good time

    • @robertmoore1123
      @robertmoore1123 2 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      Meant makes good wine

    • @bcaye
      @bcaye 2 ปีที่แล้ว +25

      @@robertmoore1123, well, good wine makes good time 😉
      My dad used to make dandelion wine, I remember hours picking them.

  • @embreyd4e686
    @embreyd4e686 2 ปีที่แล้ว +181

    Country folks still eat some of this stuff today. I literally keep a jar of bacon grease on the back of the stove, just like my parents, my grandparents, my g-grandparents, and so on.

    • @barkpeeler2000
      @barkpeeler2000 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      I keep mine in the fridge but yeah and I am city folk😆

    • @tiffanyjohnson3336
      @tiffanyjohnson3336 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I thought everyone kept bacon grease on their stove until I moved to Florida when I 21 (I grew up in Idaho). My roommates looked at my little jar of grease weird and one tried to throw it away

    • @embreyd4e686
      @embreyd4e686 2 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      @@tiffanyjohnson3336 *angry possum noises
      "Dont touch my grease!!"

    • @stevebrownrocks6376
      @stevebrownrocks6376 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Same here. Always keep your bacon grease!

    • @JoBlo321
      @JoBlo321 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I was going to write a very similar comment about my parents, my grandparents, my g-grandparents...however, I don't do it, my husband would have a heart attack LOL

  • @bettypearson5570
    @bettypearson5570 ปีที่แล้ว +33

    Cleaned dandelion greens (not flowers) would be quickly stir fried preferably in bacon grease. If you waited for the flowers to bloom your greens would be more bitter so you tried to harvest before the flowers emerged. Vinegar would be sprinkled on top to help counter the bitterness of the greens. If you were lucky you might fry up a strip or two of bacon cut into pieces before adding the dandelion greens. It was always a treat to find little bits of bacon in your serving. Pair that with some baking powder biscuits and you had a good meal.
    Once flowers did emerge you could pick them and as they showed in the video cook them up to make dandelion jelly.
    And after all of that you could dig up the roots to use as a poor man's coffee substitute.
    I'm surprised they didn't mention other wild greens that people would forage (and still can today) like plantain (not the banana) or lambs quarters to name a couple.
    Another great thing was stale bread. Because most poor people baked their own bread, which has a much shorter shelf life b/c no preservatives, mom would toast those dry ends up on top of the wood stove so until they were dry through and through and put them through the meat grinder (today you would put them in a food processor).
    When flour would be getting low and we were short on money those crumbs would be used as a flour replacement. My favorite way was to make pancakes with them. We even used them to make pan gravy, although you had to cook the gravy longer so to get it to thicken smoothly.
    It would be good to have families today to try things that people did to get through hard times. As soft as we all have become, if there were a true disaster most Americans would starve without ever realizing the abundance they had all around them.

    • @geoffpriestley7310
      @geoffpriestley7310 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      We have a local delicately called Dock pudding it's Dock ,oats, and onion it's fried for breakfast it seems to be limited to the calder Valley in West Yorkshire

    • @vaellyth
      @vaellyth ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I tease him for it, but this is why I'm thankful that my boyfriend is a geek about plants. When I first moved here I was ignorant and bought into the "desolate landscape" trope. We live in the AZ desert but there are so many cacti, weeds, herbs, and flowers that we could survive on if things were to ever hit the fan.

  • @mommas2470
    @mommas2470 2 ปีที่แล้ว +48

    I was raised in the 70s...by a depression baby and one of the first war boom babies...while I thoroughly enjoy your sarcasm and snark, I can tell that you personally have never eaten many of the meals that you made fun of. When you are truly hungry and poor, any well cooked and carefully prepared meal is not only appreciated but truly enjoyed...and yes, looked forward to.

    • @adcummings1224
      @adcummings1224 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      This guy sensationalizes and 'freaks out' at food that is perfectly fine and tasty. He seems to have been raised in a shopping mall food court, and has never seen a 'make do' day in his life.

  • @AMJava
    @AMJava 2 ปีที่แล้ว +87

    Well, that explains why my family always popped our popcorn in bacon grease. (It’s incredible by the way.) My grandmother got married in 1932 and moved to Ft. Worth, TX. It was evident that the impact of the Depression never left her. She saved everything…twist ties leftover from trash bags, rubber bands from the newspaper, ice cream and cool whip tubs (cheap Tupperware), newspapers (made great glass cleaning rags or wrapping paper). I do a lot of things in my own home because it’s what I saw her do.

    • @cartomancymesquite
      @cartomancymesquite 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      I drew the line at washing the paper plates.

    • @droolies7079
      @droolies7079 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Yep - my grandparents moved to Ft Worth too. I saved all those big blue rubber bands from veggies and made a back door mat last year like she used to have and showed me how. Hadn’t thought about it in years and years but my dogs kept tearing up what I bought and repaired a trashed one with rubber bands and it worked so well I made a big one. It’s amazingly durable and a pretty color too. So far it hasn’t gotten all crusty from the heat either. She would weave big pots out of rubber bands for growing herbs in too. lol

    • @MikaelaKMajorHistory
      @MikaelaKMajorHistory 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      You can also use newspapers as insulation if you want to save on the heating bill

    • @starababa1985
      @starababa1985 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Ooo! Popcorn popped in bacon grease. Thanks for the idea.

    • @starababa1985
      @starababa1985 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@MikaelaKMajorHistory Folks made quilts with newspaper for batting back then, if they didn't have the cotton wadding to go in between.

  • @darrylroederer2680
    @darrylroederer2680 2 ปีที่แล้ว +285

    Would I ever try any of this stuff? Hell, I was raised on this stuff. I wouldn't turn my nose up at any of it even today.

    • @janiceharris5475
      @janiceharris5475 2 ปีที่แล้ว +23

      Never forget where you come from, you may have to go back due to unforseen circumstances. Every one should live by this rule.

    • @muzicaempathica6479
      @muzicaempathica6479 2 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      ‼🥰♥️my cornmeal mush, refrigerated, then sliced, fried, and eaten with pure maple syrup‼

    • @NorthernGreenEyes
      @NorthernGreenEyes 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Yep. I remember Sh*t on a shingle,corn meal mush, just plain old potatoes with maybe a sprinkle of salt or pepper if we had it.
      (Grew up poor in MI)

    • @NorthernGreenEyes
      @NorthernGreenEyes 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      @@janiceharris5475 so true! I believe it's people like us who may fair longer in bad times because we've already been there,done that. 🤷

    • @AshleyGodwin
      @AshleyGodwin 2 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      Exactly. I was so confused when he acted like these things were so unheard of! Lol! I was like… wait a second … casseroles? Yes. Bacon grease? Yes. Hoe cakes (corn meal cakes) with milk/buttermilk/“white sauce” … ummm yes absolutely.

  • @bobbie6468
    @bobbie6468 7 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

    Born and raised in central Oklahoma, I grew up eating all the foods and dishes mentioned in this video. One of my favorites not mentioned was cornbread and buttermilk (or water-whatever you had) mixed in a tall glass, add salt, pepper, and chopped onions stir and eat with a spoon. I loved it. Still eat it. Love the Depression era recipes.

  • @Katalinmason
    @Katalinmason 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

    My parents were born in Hungary and grew up during war time. The recipes my mother cooked were the ones she learned from her mother. They are what I learned also because they are very tasty and healthy. They’re great for feeding a family frugally.

  • @MsSwitchblade13
    @MsSwitchblade13 2 ปีที่แล้ว +177

    You should do a food history episode for (at least) every major immigrant group. The Irish, the Chinese, the Mexican, the Scottish, Indian, etc. Like how they adapted their cuisine to the American kitchen.

  • @Meh-hr7gq
    @Meh-hr7gq 2 ปีที่แล้ว +447

    My grandfather til the day he died would eat a “depression super” every week to remind him of how it was. Half a glass of butter milk filled with one piece of torn up toast. He said it had to be eaten with a spoon to make the brain think it was more filling that way.

    • @grannyfisher3863
      @grannyfisher3863 2 ปีที่แล้ว +57

      My dad always insisted on a glass of milk or buttermilk whenever my mom made cornbread, and he would crumble the cornbread up in the milk and eat it with a spoon.

    • @jeaniejbutler4911
      @jeaniejbutler4911 2 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      My dad loved that for his bedtime snack lol, he would eat it every nite if my mom would have let him.

    • @Mrburger-um8by
      @Mrburger-um8by 2 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      @@grannyfisher3863 lol my dad to...must have been a treat back then ...he still had it in today's time..

    • @bettyc.parker-young1437
      @bettyc.parker-young1437 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      My mom believed in buttermilk! We grew up drinking it!

    • @texanbill6032
      @texanbill6032 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      @@grannyfisher3863 My grandfather would eat leftover cornbread in a glass of buttermilk. He lived through the depression on a farm in West Texas.

  • @audrey5941
    @audrey5941 2 ปีที่แล้ว +107

    You just described my childhood. My mom was born in ‘34 and this is just the way she cooked, and I still use many of her methods to this day. Nothing wrong with it.

    • @308dad8
      @308dad8 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Yep, every culture and subculture has their own quirky foods that are unique to the geography and local resources and in some cases religious restrictions. I have traveled a lot from my beautiful home in TN and the local cuisine is different everywhere. Spaghetti in Cincinnati is different than spaghetti in TN which is different than spaghetti in Omaha. Same basic idea completely different execution. In fact growing up Grandma would frequently make spaghetti with bell peppers, and macaroni noodles, maybe my favorite way but my wife and kids love it with spaghetti noodles and no added veggies which is good too.

    • @SerenitynPeace
      @SerenitynPeace 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Darn right! Nothing wrong with it at all! ((hugs))

    • @mtadams2009
      @mtadams2009 2 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      Please be careful. There is a reason poverty is the leading killer and a poor diet is a big part of that equation. I was raised eating a lot of depression meals since my parents lived through it. When I grew up I moved on from that crap. My had had a triple bypass at the age of 58. He had had a massive heart attack. Fortunately my sisters and I did not end up poor and could eat healthy. My parents did what they had to do to make it.

    • @308dad8
      @308dad8 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@mtadams2009 well, sadly politicians are driving our ship straight for the rocks and we may end up eating as poorly or even worse.

    • @mtadams2009
      @mtadams2009 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@308dad8 You never really know. I have gone through some hard times over the years like most people have. Take care

  • @johnhanes5021
    @johnhanes5021 2 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    Carrot marmalade goes way back to Persia. There are many recipes before the depression times. It prevented scurvy on the old sailing ships.

  • @Dubngrub
    @Dubngrub 2 ปีที่แล้ว +389

    As a born and raised Minnesotan, your claim that noone gets excited over casseroles is blasphemy. Casseroles and hit dishes, genuinely not sure how they differ, are staples of the long cold winters. They're absolutely delicious and I look forward to them.

    • @karensiegel6669
      @karensiegel6669 2 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      Especially make the day ahead casseroles. My family always looked forward to them!

    • @ingridgallagher1029
      @ingridgallagher1029 2 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      It's the same in the south. Plus some are just American classics- tuna casserole, shepherds pie, c'mon.

    • @Klos1neMN
      @Klos1neMN 2 ปีที่แล้ว +18

      Casseroles and hot dishes are things that Minnesotans know and love (I'm from Duluth, MN). Tater tot hotdish anyone?

    • @rnupnorthbrrrsm6123
      @rnupnorthbrrrsm6123 2 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      I grew up in Oklahoma and my parents lived through the dust bowl and Great Depression, I moved to Minnesota years ago, so I didn’t know there were people that didn’t eat casseroles and hot dishes 🤷🏼‍♀️
      I love them too !!!!

    • @rnupnorthbrrrsm6123
      @rnupnorthbrrrsm6123 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@Klos1neMN heck yeah….I’m over here by Bemidji :)

  • @wainmundt8062
    @wainmundt8062 2 ปีที่แล้ว +200

    I live off soup and casseroles, I'm autistic and am on disability so I'm on a very low fixed income. but I'm a very smart shoper and hit up the marked down and redused priced parts of the store every day and find all kinds of good veggies, meat and bread!

    • @grumpynurple1919
      @grumpynurple1919 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Legend!!

    • @carolynmcintyre5645
      @carolynmcintyre5645 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      I too lately have been going to clearance. The boxed and cans you can keep for a while of course, produce items I eat within one to two days and they're fine. Sometimes I just might have to cut a section that is going soft off of it. Groceries are so ridiculously expensive and there's many people that don't know about these markdown items. I just got an idea..haa. maybe we should make a channel on this lol.

    • @mine332way069
      @mine332way069 2 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      At first I was reading comments and feeling very yuck to these foods but your comment brought me back to the humanity of people during these trying times. Thank you ❤❤

    • @wainmundt8062
      @wainmundt8062 2 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      @@mine332way069 if you tasted some of the soup that take me 5 days to make you'll be saying yum! 2 days for bone broth, 2 days for meat, and 1 day for veggies. I go threw alot of slow cookers

    • @mine332way069
      @mine332way069 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@wainmundt8062 I have only made homemade soup one time for my mom when she was sick once but I get bone broth from my fav Ramen spot and it taste like magic.

  • @PrimoLife2
    @PrimoLife2 2 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    I have to note that the dandelion clips shown here were to make jam/jelly since the bloom is used. The salad he describes uses the leaves. And you can roast and grind the root to make a coffee.

    • @heidimisfeldt5685
      @heidimisfeldt5685 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Absolutely 💯 % correct.

    • @VictoriaEMeredith
      @VictoriaEMeredith ปีที่แล้ว

      That bothered me, too. And I prefer to remove every bit of green before I cook the blossoms. I think the sepals make it a little bitter.

  • @glenysthomson5955
    @glenysthomson5955 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    I am Canadian born in 1933. We had depression too. My mother could cook and even during the war and rationing we ate well. Not rich and no one fussy. Back in those days, no one was fussy

  • @ryeguy54
    @ryeguy54 2 ปีที่แล้ว +185

    I lived next to a man that lived through the dust bowl as a kid. He told me a story about eating skunk. He was a tough dude

    • @IrishMike22
      @IrishMike22 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      That's a risky venture there mate, eating skunk that is. All the way from catching to cleaning to cooking.
      *I'm guessing 😉

    • @Alex_Richmond
      @Alex_Richmond 2 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      Damn, dude was borne as a wasteland survivor

    • @MoejiiOsmanTV
      @MoejiiOsmanTV 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      @@IrishMike22 u have to cut the glands underneath there tail/genitals or the stinky glands will soak into the meat, skunks are part of the weasel family. I saw a couple documentaries on TH-cam I think about people keeping them as pets n some ate them as well

    • @Benni777
      @Benni777 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Woah, that’s so cool! How old was he? ☺️

    • @bcaye
      @bcaye 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      I'd rather eat skunk than possum.

  • @graceandglory1948
    @graceandglory1948 2 ปีที่แล้ว +101

    My now deceased parents grew up during the depression. It's amazing that they lived such long lives considering what they endured. Bacon grease had its special metal container on top our stove, and was used everyday. At 73, I still save it for occasional use. Hard times are coming. Sure hope people learn how to cook from scratch.

    • @kinkane5566
      @kinkane5566 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Amen ma'am!

    • @joshjablonicky171
      @joshjablonicky171 2 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      Yeah unfortunately people don't cook like they used to and less and less people learn how to cook using alternate ingredients or whatever you can get your hands on to make a meal. I grew up poor my mom grew up even poorer and lived on a small farm always had a garden we didn't do much canning but she did as a child. Single parent of three boys would make us food using little ingredients but would always have a meal that would fill you up. My dad was a cook that's how I learned my food prepping we hunt and fish so we always have some kind of meat. I was single most my adult life taught myself how to cook and pride myself on being able to make a nice dinner out of what most would think you couldn't make a meal from. Can't be afraid to try new things and work with what you got you would be amazed what you can come up with. I turned so many people on eating fish who never liked it because it was always too fishy taste into them for one I only eat fish that I catch I've never and will never eat fish from a restaurant or a store. Like gave me if you don't know how to cook it it's very easy to make it not palatable. Next you going to make some squirrel soup today and the last few times I made it everybody just thought it was a chicken noodle soup until they finished eating and then I told them what they had just eaten most of the time it blows their minds that something that they didn't think would be any good to eat was amazing.

    • @graceandglory1948
      @graceandglory1948 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@joshjablonicky171 You have a rare gift. Perhaps God will use you and this gift to help those who have no idea how to survive when things get really bad. ✝️

    • @cb142
      @cb142 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I'm now 62yrs and I grew up with different family. My mom and step dad ran a country restaurant. Brother's wives cooked different. Sister's were simple. My husband's mom was a chef in New Orleans. I learned so many ways but I learned the most from my mawmaw. I'm glad too cause I remarried to a man that loves Southern meals. Funny story is I just learned how to make real cornbread that's not Jiffy 8yrs ago. I'm always trying new things and I love this video.

    • @kinkane5566
      @kinkane5566 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@cb142 How much better is it than Jiffy?

  • @lindsayhengehold5341
    @lindsayhengehold5341 2 ปีที่แล้ว +26

    The Dust Bowl and the Great Depression are events in history that never should be forgotten!

    • @meman6964
      @meman6964 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Very likely heading into similar depravation, as we see so many Preppers on UTube

    • @sixstringcity3931
      @sixstringcity3931 ปีที่แล้ว

      They’re back for 2022!

  • @PhantomLover007
    @PhantomLover007 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    Would I ever try any? Hell of eaten them. My grandparents lived through the depression and World War II. I actually grew up all the way until my teenage years eating dandelion salad with a white bacon dressing, the mush, meals, and definitely various bean soups. I have to say absolutely that bacon grease makes the best foods. This is probably why none of my eggs fried in butter or any of them that my mom makes with cooking oil turn out as well as the ones that my grandmother made with bacon, grease in a cast iron skillets.

  • @uthyrgreywick5702
    @uthyrgreywick5702 2 ปีที่แล้ว +209

    My parents went through the Great Depression too. There were two rules - don't waste money, and don't waste food. What we didn't eat the cats and dogs got. Just think how many tons of food is thrown away by restaurants every day. There needs to be a "just-in- time" plan for fast food production instead of wasting it.

    • @Stalkergames916
      @Stalkergames916 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Indeed we feed our dog meat and other leftovers if it’s gonna be wasted our dog passed back in June but we wasted no meat that we couldn’t use just gave it to the dog for him with his dinner

    • @Diddley_Squat
      @Diddley_Squat 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@hummingbird275 they can give old food away, but the restaurants throw it away, so nobody hangs around waiting for it.

    • @dbs555
      @dbs555 2 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      Spent time in France during 2019 and found the supermarkets there are required to get any food not sold but near expiration to their equivalent of food banks.

    • @uthyrgreywick5702
      @uthyrgreywick5702 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      @@dbs555 That makes too much sense to happen in this country.

    • @eddiesroom1868
      @eddiesroom1868 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Putin ate the dogs and cats.

  • @baylorsailor
    @baylorsailor 2 ปีที่แล้ว +255

    S.O.S, aka Shit on a Shingle, is actually pretty good. My mom made it in the 90s when money was tight.
    I can live on bean and lentil soups with depression bread. Delicious!

    • @letoubib21
      @letoubib21 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      What the heck is "depression bread"?

    • @SestraVixen
      @SestraVixen 2 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      Heck yes SOS is awesome!

    • @CptStankFanger
      @CptStankFanger 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      @@letoubib21 type that question one more time.. But in Google this time.

    • @CaseyUnderCovers
      @CaseyUnderCovers 2 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      SOS was one of my favorites that my mom made. Gravy toast for dinner, yes please!

    • @letoubib21
      @letoubib21 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@CptStankFanger I only asked once. the other two times must have been a flaw of the computer---today that artificial stupidity seems to be a bit lunatic *. . .*

  • @stevev3664
    @stevev3664 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Here in the U.K. I can buy cooked cornmeal sold as a couscous. It only needs boiling water and after soaking up the water it is ready. Takes about 5 minutes. I add sugar to it and stir it in to make a sweet food. It has a high calorie value so is helpful in maintaining my weight.

  • @freakinfrugal5268
    @freakinfrugal5268 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    I feel like he is just baiting us! 'Would we ever try any of these foods?' Well, I just don't know, I'll have to think about that notion of soup. I DREAD it coming to the point where we are pickling tumbleweed though.

  • @johnhart3480
    @johnhart3480 2 ปีที่แล้ว +278

    You forgot to mention that dandelions are easily fermented into alcohol, my family used to make dandelion "wine" in the summer. Dandelions should not be called weeds so easily. 🍷🌻😀

    • @bethstearns377
      @bethstearns377 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Can you give me the recipe for dandelion wine? I’m serious!!

    • @johnhart3480
      @johnhart3480 2 ปีที่แล้ว +25

      Use dandelion petals only, no stems. Mix with 3 times the amount of water to the weight of petals. Use very hot but not boiling water. After 10 minutes throw out the petals, and mix in a few cups of sugar, the more sugar the sweeter it gets. Now stir in 1 ounce of wine yeast. Put it all in a large jug and keep it in a cool dark place for about 2 weeks. If it bubles and fizzes its fermenting. There will be sediment on the bottem, thats normal. Discard it dont drink it, just drink the liquid. Good luck! 😀

    • @dapdne4916
      @dapdne4916 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      I've made dandelion wine, going through my parents neighborhood finding flowers. Tastes like port wine strangely at least mine did. I sort of put together my own recipe. Funny that one of my two big glass wine bottles of fermenting dandelion wine actually blew up at 2am. This happened when my parents were home. Fortunately the bottles were outside in a small shed. Unfortunately the shed was next to my parents bedroom window. I had just woke up a few minutes previous.
      It sounded like a cannon. I explained about my project. Oops! I am making dandelion wine and one bottle blew up! 🙄😂 Lucky our neighbors did not call the police. We knew them pretty well.

    • @dondon8161
      @dondon8161 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@dapdne4916 😄

    • @michaelmiller5194
      @michaelmiller5194 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      My dad used to have us pick bags of dandelion so he could make the wine. It wasn’t bad. Actually had a bottle that was twenty years old. We uncorked it and it tasted pretty good.

  • @ErinoftheValley
    @ErinoftheValley 2 ปีที่แล้ว +161

    Regarding dandelion: “honey” can be made from the flower, the roots are roasted for hearty tea, and the leaves are used in salad or boiled. There are also medicinal uses for parts of the dandelion. I think that it is more likely that they used the entire plant rather than disposing of the leaves and roots. Great video, thank you!

    • @jolenethiessen357
      @jolenethiessen357 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Dandelions were brought specifically to the Americas as a forage plant for animals and for food/medicine. The entire plant is useful! My grandmother looked forward to them coming up in the spring... On the farm they existed on home canned food and whatever would keep in the ice house. Dandelions was their first shot of vitamin C in the spring!

    • @lelou12
      @lelou12 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      We call andelion honey "cramaillotte" in french. Delicious in tea and even coffee ☕

    • @terriemartinez9989
      @terriemartinez9989 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      I pick mine before they flower in the Spring and wilt them like bib lettuce..yum.
      Bacon grease is the best when making corn bread, frying eggs..taters...

    • @elultimo102
      @elultimo102 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Another use: The Russians used dandelion "latex" to make synthetic rubber during WW2.

    • @terriemartinez9989
      @terriemartinez9989 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@elultimo102 that is so cool..

  • @m.r.jarrell3725
    @m.r.jarrell3725 2 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    We've always saved and used bacon grease. And you can buy dandelion leaves in many stores as part of a salad mix. Cornmeal mush has always been around. It's good! And bean soup is a Southern and Appalachian staple.

  • @Shade_Dragon
    @Shade_Dragon 2 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    Young dandelion leaves are actually pretty good in a salad. Mallow, purslane, "lambs quarters"(red amaranth), particularly the young leaves, and, surprisingly, blanched nettles, are also pretty tasty.

  • @TysMommy609
    @TysMommy609 2 ปีที่แล้ว +113

    Flour, butter, milk and salt is basically the start of a gravy, roux or other white sauce (think Alfredo). There’s no reason it couldn’t be tasty.

    • @NefariousKoel
      @NefariousKoel 2 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      Cocked my eyebrow at that description mixed with "dreaded white sauce" in the same sentence too.

    • @teenietoad
      @teenietoad 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      i suppose because its bland. there was nothing to provide flavor in that spaghetti casserole

    • @akbrooks70
      @akbrooks70 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      My grandma grew up in Oklahoma during this period and I swear that’s all she knew how to make.

    • @christopherfreeman1340
      @christopherfreeman1340 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Bacon,hog jowl, and sausage grease makes better gravy.

  • @Randy_Butternubs
    @Randy_Butternubs 2 ปีที่แล้ว +364

    Popcorn and milk, distant ancestor of Pops cereal.

    • @abelq8008
      @abelq8008 2 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      Real talk a good sugary kettle corn makes an amazing breakfast cereal.

    • @morganschwery6250
      @morganschwery6250 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Me reading this comment as I’m eating pops😦😳 I thought the same thing though I was like now we got pops for that, we don’t need actual popcorn😂

    • @aaronrosales4344
      @aaronrosales4344 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Damn for real huh

    • @karensiegel6669
      @karensiegel6669 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      My grandma always gave us milk with popcorn and asked if we wanted sugar!

    • @Linusrox123
      @Linusrox123 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Yes, if there is Puffed Wheat and Puffed Rice, why not Puffed Corn? This was also eaten by the colonists.

  • @sharimullinax3206
    @sharimullinax3206 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Both of my parents grew up during the depression. I remember my dad saying that he was lucky because he got bread with butter and sugar, were his friend had to eat lard and sugar on bread. Mom's grandparents both had farms, so they always had food

  • @elizabethshaw734
    @elizabethshaw734 2 ปีที่แล้ว +19

    You've already talked about some of these recipes in another video. I grew up in Maine and many winter mornings I had fried cornmeal mush with butter and maple syrup and I make it now for myself and Friends.

    • @bettyc.parker-young1437
      @bettyc.parker-young1437 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Are these the same as Hoe cakes? We have made them from cornmeal and put maple syrup on them. Very good!

    • @EastSider48215
      @EastSider48215 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      I love fried cornmeal mush. Especially with maple syrup!

    • @forestrot666
      @forestrot666 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Oh and maple syrup snow candy!

  • @christaverduren690
    @christaverduren690 2 ปีที่แล้ว +260

    "Would you ever try any of these dust bowl foods?" Uh, I grew up in the 70s, 80, and even the 90s eating them! lol We were so piss poor broke, but we ate like kings from our veggie garden and fruit orchard (plus my folks knew how to forage and hunt, and taught us kids). Living through last year (and now with sky high food prices) with so few options, I was brought back in time! I started making yeast from potatoes, or apples, even raisins as well. With no yeast, baking soda or baking powder in the stores, I made our own breads. My son was floored at all I knew how to do. My Gramma grew up in the depression and taught me everything she knew.
    Bacon Drippings aka LIQUID GOLD!
    Acorn squash cut in half, deseeded and poked with a fork. Then add a good size spoonful of bacon drippings (if you can find maple flavored bacon go with it) I then add a bit of brown sugar and some salt, I roast it in a 350 oven for an hour (uncovered). So yummy!!!
    Just go ahead and google dandelions! Talk about using everything but the squeal, this little 'weed' has so much value! Medicinal is top of the list. Dandelion wine, jelly, tea, just google it lol

    • @homeuser5951
      @homeuser5951 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Yep, that didn't look like the dandelion salad we eat. We use the greens. Dandelion is 'said to be' a great cancer killer and a good diuretic. Not a doc nor do I play one on TV. Do your own due diligence. 😉

    • @NarrowPathDiaries
      @NarrowPathDiaries 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      That acorn squash sounds delicious

    • @christaverduren690
      @christaverduren690 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@NarrowPathDiaries I just had some tonight! It was a reheat of the ones I made last week. Yum!

    • @NarrowPathDiaries
      @NarrowPathDiaries 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@christaverduren690 Try some bacon-fried okra sometime, season however you like (but IMO it’s not needed) That’s good eating too!

    • @kathymcmc
      @kathymcmc 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      I wish you were my neighbor.

  • @jlshel42
    @jlshel42 2 ปีที่แล้ว +49

    The canning part reminded how one of my grandfathers kept shelves upon shelves of canned food in his basement…but if you asked to cook any of it, you were told “No, that’s the emergency supply.”

    • @kara431
      @kara431 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Same. My grandmother was born early 40's and she kept an entire cupboard of canned vegetables from her garden. She wouldn't even let us touch the cupboard itself 😂

    • @SnowflakeHenri
      @SnowflakeHenri 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Unfortunately my mom's will have to be thrown out someday when she goes to be with the Lord. 😔

    • @mariedebris
      @mariedebris 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      the entire store room of canned produce my grandpa left behind when he passed...my god. he canned food when it was so unnecessary, being a comfortable homeowner in the 60s, but the depression left a lifelong fear of food instability clearly. it was never needed. my mother diligently uncanned and dumped everything to save the beautiful canning jars and sanitized them, so i have some beautiful blue ball jars that i treasure.

    • @kara431
      @kara431 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@mariedebris i bet those are lovely!!

    • @stinkybritches4540
      @stinkybritches4540 2 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      Here in my part of Kentucky canning has always been a big thing. Something we did/do every year.
      Ya can’t just can it and forget it. Gotta eat your food up and replenish. Even canned it won’t last forever. Them seals break over time, so ya gotta be mindful of botulism.

  • @shelbymclendon4009
    @shelbymclendon4009 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    My great grandmother on my mom’s side was a child of the Great Depression (Born in 1930), learned from her mother to always save any sort of cooking grease and can it in a jar for later, my grandmother does the same thing and so does my mother and aunt. I plan on doing it once I start frying food every now and again myself and one day pass it on to my children as well. In the beginning it was out of necessity and now it’s in a sort of common sense list of family traditions.

  • @willthomas4286
    @willthomas4286 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Dad was born in 1910. That's 2 years before the Titanic sank. He had said that during The Great Depression food was obviously scarce and wild game (here in Kentucky) had been quickly depleted. Many times for them a meal consisted of cornbread, wild green onions and water.

  • @morgant6660
    @morgant6660 2 ปีที่แล้ว +238

    I'm super confused by his disdain for bacon greese, white sauce and rabbit

    • @karensiegel6669
      @karensiegel6669 2 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      That was an awesome meal for us growing up with green beans.

    • @laurelherold1956
      @laurelherold1956 2 ปีที่แล้ว +27

      In French cooking, white sauce is called béchamel sauce and people don't disdain it.

    • @tayinabyss
      @tayinabyss 2 ปีที่แล้ว +23

      He comes off quite pretentious w his tone about these things for sure

    • @paulwolf7562
      @paulwolf7562 2 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      He obviously didn't know what good eatin was? Hot dandelion with bacon dressing and baked fish and potatoes was a staple around our house, when we were kids. Boy, I miss that.

    • @grizzzelda2712
      @grizzzelda2712 2 ปีที่แล้ว +24

      I'm from the south and we save our bacon grease to season greens, cabbage, and other vegetables. You can make gravy with it. Fried eggs are delicious cooked in it. It's great to grease a cast iron pan when making non sweet cornbread.

  • @annafandel9983
    @annafandel9983 2 ปีที่แล้ว +58

    My mom called me a weird child for eating things like dandelions. Can’t wait to tell her that I was just channeling the lives of my ancestors💆🏼‍♀️

  • @MsMadmax1
    @MsMadmax1 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    While my grandmother and great-grandparents didn't live in the areas affected by the dust bowl, they survived the depression. The had a small farm in Michigan and they were able to grow enough food for themselves, their chickens and a milk cow. Northern Michigan was sparsely populated at the time so my great grandfather would also hunt & fish. My great grandmother and grandma canned or dried just about everything they grew. They even foraged for things to eat like dandelion greens, burdock, nettle, morel mushrooms, wild asparagus and fiddlehead ferns. My granny's chickens (when they stopped laying) were small enough to be canned in extra large mason jars. for the winter. That's right, they didn't have the "Jurassic Park" sized chickens we have today. They were lucky to have what they had.

  • @qwq203
    @qwq203 5 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    My daddy was raised in the dust bowl era. Popcorn in powered milk was something i remember him eating in my early years. He used to do this for us kids to be able to have real milk and cereal. Sometimes, even bread with water and a little sugar. He was an amazing Man. Serving WWII and overcoming the depression. So much in a lifetime to be such an amazing father, not to just his kids, but to any child that needed a role model and mentor. I mis him so😢

  • @bradleyschlarb2549
    @bradleyschlarb2549 2 ปีที่แล้ว +48

    I grew up with about half of these, mom's favorite Sunday all day meal was a giant pot of ham and bean soup with cornbread. We had neighbors come and visit through the day and the sit and have a bowl with us. My mother was raised to never turn down a guest.

    • @Viewsx-tw5sz
      @Viewsx-tw5sz 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Thank u n ya mom for feeding people

    • @joytotheworld2100
      @joytotheworld2100 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Yes me too. I was raised eating some of these foods as my mom lived through the depression. I still use all her recipes " out of poverty comes a wealth of ideas".

  • @squirreltailsurvival4529
    @squirreltailsurvival4529 2 ปีที่แล้ว +120

    Hold on now, “S.O.S” is awesome

    • @NefariousKoel
      @NefariousKoel 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Hell yeah!

    • @tiffanyjohnson3336
      @tiffanyjohnson3336 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Any military brat loves SOS!!!! I know this one does!!! I make it for my 10 year old. He’s been eating since he could eat solid food!!! I have to make triple just for him now and there’s only 3 of us!!!!!

    • @spooniesarah
      @spooniesarah 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@tiffanyjohnson3336 that's how come I even know what it is. Mom is an army brat. She made SOS on occasion, and she still loves to eat creamed chipped beef on toast (which is a cousin to SOS)

  • @oduls
    @oduls 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Reminds me of buddae jiggae. It’s a Korean dish and has an interesting story. The Korean War left South Korea very short on food so people had to get creative. Leftover canned food from American army bases were combined with Korean ingredients and made into a Korean stew called budae jiggae. Usually there are spam cubes, string mushrooms, gochujjang, kimchi, noodles, baked beans, and cheese. It may sound weird but it’s really good when you try it! It’s still quite popular today. Some restaurants even specialize in buddae jiggae.

  • @Bobbied100
    @Bobbied100 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    People still eat Dandelion salad here in Germany today. it is called Löwenzahn or Lion's tooth for the jagged edges on the leaves. it is a great source of dark leafy greens and many consider it a delicacy

  • @aliciaschultz309
    @aliciaschultz309 2 ปีที่แล้ว +277

    Live in east Tennessee. My parents were born in the late twenties, and my mother made most of this stuff on a daily basis.

    • @JohnnyAngel8
      @JohnnyAngel8 2 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      Same here in Massachusetts. We were raised on some of these foods. My favorite breakfast we called milk toast, a flour, milk, and butter mix, poured over toast and flavored with salt and pepper.

    • @landocomando69
      @landocomando69 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Did you like any of them?

    • @matthewstephens8630
      @matthewstephens8630 2 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      @@JohnnyAngel8 We had quite our share of variations on 'S.O.S'... More often than not, without any ground beef for the gravy. I still love the dish, it is one of the best comfort foods in my opinion 😊 Think I'll make some for dinner tonight! With the beef, since I am fancy 😆

    • @mshindiwataji
      @mshindiwataji 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@matthewstephens8630 we grew up making it with poultry and still make it at least once after Thanksgiving with our leftover turkey.

    • @amywilliams6242
      @amywilliams6242 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      I'm in East TN, too! My grandmother made several of these recipes.

  • @SK22000
    @SK22000 2 ปีที่แล้ว +156

    50 years from now “What people ate during Covid 19”

    • @seagecko
      @seagecko 2 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      ANYTHING - if the restaurant delivers...
      Ha, my two-year-old daughter declares all scooters as "a delivery man". Nothing like a year of lockdown to get a generation used to eating in... She eats sushi like a pro, demands soy sauce and tries to use the chopsticks. Occasionally you have to eat something different, for the variety.

    • @asteriasheria2053
      @asteriasheria2053 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Literally not that different from any current year.

    • @Senaihh
      @Senaihh 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      We ate fried fried toilet paper with bacon grease. We are a poor family living in Tennessee. :(

    • @MichaelSHartman
      @MichaelSHartman 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      After the 2008 Crash people learned to grow a garden. Some learned to bake bread during COVID-19. Neither came close to the Oil Crisis, Stagflation, and unemployment of the 1970s, and early 80s. These weren't close to the Great Depression, especially in the South. Millienials may have some bad inflation ahead, and the possibility of war, but to date they haven’t seen half of what their parents, and grandparents went through. If America goes communist, I pity the generations after them. At least people in the Depression were free.

    • @billgrandone3552
      @billgrandone3552 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Fried Republicans

  • @llYossarian
    @llYossarian 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Droughts happen all the time. The "dust bowl" was caused by a decades worth of ecologically reckless industrial farming on a scale such that most people just hadn't learned yet and didn't quite appreciate the level of impact we could have on the environment as a group and we'd converted huge areas of grassland to farming and used aggressive fair-weather techniques/deep-plowing where they should have used dry-farming techniques so that when droughts inevitably happened _(as they always have)_ there were _hundreds of miles_ of loose soil/dust almost a foot deep ready to fly on anything stronger than a stiff breeze. -- When a dam fails because it rains too much is that the fault of the rain or the people who designed/built the dam?

    • @stephenhodges1688
      @stephenhodges1688 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Thanks for lecture my Great grandfather didn’t receive.

    • @llYossarian
      @llYossarian 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@stephenhodges1688 No problem? I didn't mean to lecture exactly, I was only trying to criticize/rectify the opening line of the video, _"In the early 1930's a severe drought led to devastating dust storms..."_ which implies it was a natural rather than a manmade disaster.

  • @kristita_888
    @kristita_888 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Coming from a Southern/Oklahoma family, I have indeed tried some of these recipes! My kids love depression cake - I’ve made both chocolate and yellow versions. I grew up on beans and cornbread (basically bean soup - made with some bacon or ham hocks if you have them). And dandelion greens can be super-yummy in a salad, if you know they are pesticide-free.

  • @craftymystery
    @craftymystery 2 ปีที่แล้ว +30

    Makes me miss my grandma - some of these foods were things I grew up on! Some things are good because they're tasty, some are good because they have memories attached and fed your soul.

    • @user-is7xs1mr9y
      @user-is7xs1mr9y 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I'm not from the U.S., but I can relate. I miss both my grandmas' beans. I didn't get to know them very well because we moved houses a lot so we lived far, but those beans, each one with their unique flavor.

  • @JohnnyUmphress
    @JohnnyUmphress 2 ปีที่แล้ว +156

    Yes, I have had all of these food items. I was raised by my grandparents and they were both survivors of the Great Depression. They kept the idea of saving food and being frugal through their last years. I would guess it was out of fear that it could happen again at any time. And the way things are today I am beginning to return to my roots of frugality and preparing for the worst.

    • @gregwatson8219
      @gregwatson8219 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Even Bonnie& Clyde ate like Dustbowl Okies!

    • @SerenitynPeace
      @SerenitynPeace 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Smart! 👍👏

    • @Laudanum-gq3bl
      @Laudanum-gq3bl 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      I’m back to keeping peels and tops of veg along with chicken or beef bones. Makes a good base for broth.

    • @hummingbird275
      @hummingbird275 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Johnny. There’s probably going to be LOTS of “ high rollers “, coming down to “ reality “ , from all appearances. $5 dollar per gallon gasoline already.👎🏼

    • @geographicoddity9444
      @geographicoddity9444 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      It CAN and probably WILL happen, again.

  • @stephenbridges2791
    @stephenbridges2791 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I am a child of people who lived through the Depression. When the last of my mother's side of the family died, my wife at the time and I had to go through their belongings. There was about 1000 to 1500 cans of food. Some of which dated to the 1950's (this was in the 1990's). They had been so hungry during the Depression that they hedged all bets against ever being so again. I am on up there in years, but; I myself know how to "can" food. Unusual for a guy, these days; but, not back then. Although it wasn't considered "manly" when I grew up, I can "can", "pickle", and "preserve" just about anything. Some of the recipes I use even today are from the 1920's and 1930's. Some are really downright tasty and very economical to cook. I guess it just depends on how hungry you are.

  • @pamgaines970
    @pamgaines970 ปีที่แล้ว

    Yes I would try them all thank you for the heads up.

  • @manicmechanic448
    @manicmechanic448 2 ปีที่แล้ว +75

    Apparently you've never been to the south. We still eat some of these, like pinto beans and corn bread, or tuna casserole, or potatoes fried in bacon grease. Bread puddin is really good too.

    • @thelight.thedark
      @thelight.thedark 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Yeah we keep bacon grease in a jar

    • @joyaustin6581
      @joyaustin6581 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Mix some banana peppers with the pinto beans

  • @christinafidance340
    @christinafidance340 2 ปีที่แล้ว +292

    Who hasn’t had bean soup and cornbread??? I’m pretty well off and I still cook it regularly in the wintertime with a cheap hunk of pork bone like a neck... or even bacon grease! 😝 Yum!

    • @grs6262
      @grs6262 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Bean soup is a favorite here.. AND I in no way disdain casaroles..
      My disdain is directed towards those who assume they are superior.. those of us who truly are superior know better..☻😏😏

    • @ng3069
      @ng3069 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      When you feel the need to tell people you're "pretty well off" you're usually not!

    • @grs6262
      @grs6262 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@ng3069 Hmmmmm?

    • @MommaBear360
      @MommaBear360 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I love bean soup and cornbread.

    • @ryankiesow8440
      @ryankiesow8440 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Throw a couple smoked hammocks in the kettle and you're on the money

  • @donnahoffman3639
    @donnahoffman3639 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Yes. Glad you mentioned her.

  • @usualfulful
    @usualfulful ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Orange marmalade was a special treat growing up, so we had elderberry or apple jelly because they grew wild. Meat once a week; like my great grandparents (married in 1912) would roast a chicken on Saturday and make that stretch that meat flavor until the next Saturday with soup, salad, pot pies etc.

  • @MarianneKat
    @MarianneKat 2 ปีที่แล้ว +112

    Still eat cornmeal mush. The leftovers get tossed with egg and fried next day.

    • @WyattRyeSway
      @WyattRyeSway 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      I love fried mush!

    • @nmoney6655
      @nmoney6655 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      I ate like that back when I was little I ate ketchup sandwiches 🥪 though

    • @SnowflakeHenri
      @SnowflakeHenri 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Loved potato pancakes.

    • @patjones4250
      @patjones4250 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Never had it or seen it but that's the dish I'd be willing to try.

    • @candicekellyhomes
      @candicekellyhomes 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      We used to put the cornmeal mush in a bread pan and slice it the next day. Roll it in flour, fry it in butter and serve with maple syrup. Yummy!

  • @DawnOldham
    @DawnOldham 2 ปีที่แล้ว +49

    If we are hungry enough, we will eat whatever is available! When I give thanks for our meals, I always pray, “Thank you, Lord for this food AND that we get to eat food that we really like.”

    • @user-is7xs1mr9y
      @user-is7xs1mr9y 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      This is so true. I'll make sure to also thank the Lord for this.

    • @shila8379
      @shila8379 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I hope God blesses you with soooo much wealth, you won’t even know what to do with yourself! 🤍

  • @B_Loke
    @B_Loke ปีที่แล้ว +1

    My great grandfather lived through the dust bowl and passed down all of these recipes and more to the family. We still eat many of these dishes routinely as it was just part of growing up, and is very affordable.

  • @CinimodNorton
    @CinimodNorton 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

    I have tried most of these. Good video, thank you.

  • @sharonshearouse5611
    @sharonshearouse5611 2 ปีที่แล้ว +44

    My parents grew up in the depression in the Smoky Mountains. I remember Mama saving bacon grease. It was used to flavor green beans to dog food. Mama said her job growing up was to scrape the hair off a dead hog, then taking the skin that wouldn't be saved and throwing it in the fire to get REAL pork rinds. Mama always loved onions, she ate them like an apple. *shudder*.

    • @teresastaggs7923
      @teresastaggs7923 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Onions have more vitamin c than an orange. I eat onion sandwiches if the Onions are sweet. Hope I didn't gross you out 🙂

    • @sharonshearouse5611
      @sharonshearouse5611 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@teresastaggs7923 No, watching Mama eat onions like an apple grossed me out. I ate banana sandwiches and my best friend ate pineapple sandwiches. They all had gardens and pigs or cows when they could afford,but no fruit but apples from their own trees. I think fruits were a luxury and they taught us to love them.😎👍❤

    • @tawnnope7196
      @tawnnope7196 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      My family lived in the smokey mountains at the same time....i wonder if they knew each other.
      😊

    • @tawnnope7196
      @tawnnope7196 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@teresastaggs7923 My momma ate onion tomato sandwiches too.

    • @sharonshearouse5611
      @sharonshearouse5611 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      I don't know. They might've. Sheltons and Brysons and many more.😀

  • @Grungedude93
    @Grungedude93 2 ปีที่แล้ว +431

    Love the food episodes. People look past the little things like this in history.

    • @yuwannakno1269
      @yuwannakno1269 2 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      This seems to me like it should be considered an important thing but you're RIGHT.

    • @Keeperoffyre
      @Keeperoffyre 2 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      wanna know about the history of a civilization? look at their menu :D

    • @katelaloba8243
      @katelaloba8243 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      And life occurs in the minutiae

    • @elvisjames
      @elvisjames 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Right, and for meet it's the daily life that is most fascinating because THAT is how I get a grasp of hope things were

    • @asteriasheria2053
      @asteriasheria2053 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Exactly,

  • @TM-yn4iu
    @TM-yn4iu 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    A late view, but appreciated. Grandma and grandpa always reminded us of the dust bowl and the hardships. They lived in Kansas and moved in 30s. The dust bowl and the depression, though same time line, were quite different in experience.

  • @patsmith5947
    @patsmith5947 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    My grandmother and every woman had a can on top of the stove where they collected bacon grease. When you started cooking on the stove top, you took a spoonful of that grease out of the grease can and put it in the skillet to start frying up something. The best fried potatoes are fried in that bacon grease and added some chopped onion and it was delicious. Eggs were fried in that and got crispy edges that tasted good too. It came in a set with a salt and pepper can too. My grandma’s was white with a red apple decoration on the front.

  • @rridderbusch518
    @rridderbusch518 2 ปีที่แล้ว +74

    *Bacon grease:* You have to go out of your way now to find bacon that is *smoked.* Darned artificial "smoke flavor" chemicals just don't cut it.

    • @sandilindemuth121
      @sandilindemuth121 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      I agree liguid smoke is not the same .

    • @2JobsStillPoorUSA
      @2JobsStillPoorUSA 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      My father used to smoke bacon and hams. I really hate it when i get a flavorless ham or ham hocks.

  • @LPerez-pn5ni
    @LPerez-pn5ni 2 ปีที่แล้ว +53

    I came from a large family of 9. In tbe 1960s we use to love watching our Dad making white gravy. He would make a light colored rue, some salt and pepper and serve it over boiled potatoes. That was one of our side dishes every Easter. We loved it!! 😍 Mom added bacon grease & onions to green beans for flavor. I can make just about any traditional gravy really well by having watched my Dad all those years!! Thanks for your video. Much gratitude from Chicago, IL, USA 🇺🇸

    • @wendy61865
      @wendy61865 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Roux* (rue)

    • @frybry01
      @frybry01 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Bacon grease and onions added to green beans is how we still make them in the south.

    • @trashfishtvoregon7290
      @trashfishtvoregon7290 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Just reading your comment makes me hungry, yum! Thanks for sharing 😀

  • @dozer6448
    @dozer6448 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I love this weird history channel u learn a lot of stuff THANK YOU

  • @angelaharris53
    @angelaharris53 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    We still use bacon drippings as a flavoring agent when we cook. Popping popcorn in it is awesome depending on what seasoning you are planning to use on it after. A chili pepper seasoning on it is fabulous, for example.

  • @kassyyar97
    @kassyyar97 2 ปีที่แล้ว +58

    In Mexico we still eat corn bread, its fried in a special stove and its delicious!

    • @cadywilson5556
      @cadywilson5556 2 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      Plenty of people still eat cornbread in the U.S. Might be less popular now, but people still eat it

    • @swatkabombonica4103
      @swatkabombonica4103 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      When my grandma makes it, I could eat the whole big oven pan. She would make it to go alongside cooked fermented cabbage with dry, smoked meat. Delicious meal.

    • @PabloRodriguez-cl4ox
      @PabloRodriguez-cl4ox 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@cadywilson5556 cornbread is popular during thanksgiving

    • @zacharyfraser5490
      @zacharyfraser5490 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@swatkabombonica4103 that sounds so good I wish I could try that right now

    • @kingjoseph5901
      @kingjoseph5901 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Corn bread is awesome! My mom is from the American South and makes some real good corn bread.

  • @lirael423
    @lirael423 2 ปีที่แล้ว +50

    "Would you ever try any of these Dust Bowl foods?" I'm 38 and was raised on a lot of this food. Cornmeal mush (and the similar grits), casseroles, bacon grease, bean soup, rabbit, canned/pickled fruits and vegetables, depression cake... All very common in the southeast US. I make a lot of these myself (except rabbit, which isn't common at grocery stores). Depression cake is great to make for a party where there will be people who don't eat eggs or dairy.

    • @heidimisfeldt5685
      @heidimisfeldt5685 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I think most people eating rabbit, go in the bush to fetch some themselves, kinda hard to find in the grocery stores. Best to eat in the winter, in the summer they are full of worms.🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇

    • @christopherfreeman1340
      @christopherfreeman1340 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Remember the dust is needed for a more authenic flavor to these meals. Adds extra grittieness to the hot water corn pon.🤪

    • @christopherfreeman1340
      @christopherfreeman1340 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@heidimisfeldt5685 do you think the native americans waited till winter to hunt wild game? If they had by winter they would have starved. Not all of them get infected with warble fly maggots unless they get an injury like a cut or tear in their skin. I ate jack rabbit in Arizona in August on a 105 degrees day. cooked with wood on an outdoor grill. Delicious!

    • @heidimisfeldt5685
      @heidimisfeldt5685 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@christopherfreeman1340
      From what I have read and heard, people would place their meat in the smokehouse, later in the fall, before winter. One or two hogs would feed a family for the entire cold season.
      The native people's in Northern areas smokehouse their fish in the fall as well. Getting ready for winter is a very old tradition.

  • @carolzilko2643
    @carolzilko2643 9 หลายเดือนก่อน

    I love chipped beef on toast! I’ve eaten it all my life, and got the taste for it from my dad, who grew up in the Depression. Fried cornmeal mush is Polenta. After cooking, pour it into a dish or brownie pan, let it cool, then slice it (or use cookie cutters). Then fry it in bacon grease or butter, and use it as a side, or put a fried egg on top and that’s a meal in itself. Also great with salsa. You can also put in cheddar cheese squares and diced ham when it’s cooking, and that is amazingly good as a main dish.

  • @patboda4173
    @patboda4173 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    OMG, we got oranges in our Christmas stockings. What a special treat!

  • @mctourer5549
    @mctourer5549 2 ปีที่แล้ว +276

    Potato soup was always a staple when we were growing up and didn't have so much. We ate a lot of cabbage in dishes as well.

    • @davidcantwell2489
      @davidcantwell2489 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Up in the north east potato soup is called Chowder, you know, clam chowder, fish chowder ......

    • @butterfly-of-prairie-limin9012
      @butterfly-of-prairie-limin9012 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      I got a container full of Mashed Potato and Squash Soup in the fridge right now, and I made it with bacon grease. Think I’ll go have some with toast right this minute

    • @peteburciaga5416
      @peteburciaga5416 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      @@davidcantwell2489 "I said CHOW-DAH!"

    • @davidcantwell2489
      @davidcantwell2489 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@peteburciaga5416
      Yes quite right, now could I have some steamed quahogs to go with that fish chawda, don't forget the butter and oyster crackers please.

    • @greggi47
      @greggi47 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      There are some informative vids about wartime rationing. Americans complained about not getting enough sugar, meat and so on. They seem to have had no idea what folks on the other side of the Atlantic had to work with--both the Brits and others ate lots of potatoes. LOTS of potatoes.

  • @TraceVandal
    @TraceVandal 2 ปีที่แล้ว +243

    I could see the carrot orange marmalade being good, also bacon grease broccoli would probably be decent.

    • @MRHG126
      @MRHG126 2 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      Wilted lettuce salad is awesome....fresh green leaf lettuce, chopped green onion hot bacon grease. Mmmmm

    • @stemartin6671
      @stemartin6671 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Bacon grease broccoli I’m defo gonna try!!!

    • @burnyizland
      @burnyizland 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      If you've never cooked stuff-that's-not-bacon in bacon grease you're missing out! You arteries are likely healthier than mine though.

    • @joydenault7794
      @joydenault7794 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      You can’t cook any kind of beans without bacon grease. Pinto beans are tasteless without it. If you grew up in Texas you learned to use bacon grease in veggies in home economics at school.

    • @joydenault7794
      @joydenault7794 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@MRHG126 best salad ever

  • @mtadams2009
    @mtadams2009 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    My parents both lived through the Great Depression. We ate a modified version of the Great Depression food often. Since we were not dirt poor we had real meat, mostly hamburger, vegetables and lots of potatoes. My mom canned everything. We never wasted any food. Bones were made into soup.

  • @sevencats4087
    @sevencats4087 ปีที่แล้ว

    Yes I have been learning to make these very basic foods to prepare and stay well.

  • @frankieamsden7918
    @frankieamsden7918 2 ปีที่แล้ว +123

    I grew up in the 70s eating all these things. Popcorn in milk isn't bad, neither is the gelatin salad. You can add steel cut oats to soup to stretch the meat. Fried balonga is great, as is rabbit.

    • @amandakelley1665
      @amandakelley1665 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Right!? I add barley to my beef soups all the time

    • @MrEddienoe
      @MrEddienoe 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I’ve eaten rabbit many times yum I had cottontail and snowshoe hare

    • @monkeygraborange
      @monkeygraborange 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      I add bulgar wheat to pretty much all my meat based soups and stews just because I like the texture it gives.

    • @jomann2789
      @jomann2789 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Well try popcorn milk

    • @Littlepaw7
      @Littlepaw7 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Ate a lot of fried bologna with eggs or fried potatoes growing up. Still love it.

  • @sandrajames7961
    @sandrajames7961 2 ปีที่แล้ว +77

    I grew up in the south. We had chickens and pigs and my dad fished and hunted. We had garden each year and canned foods up for winter. We were considered poor but as a kid i never knew it because we always had plenty to eat. I ate some of these meals growing up and still do. I don't consider them bad at all. I guess those who grew up eating fancy meals or eating out a lot would consider them gross but i don't regret it at all. As the old saying goes, a country person can survive!

    • @Frame_Late
      @Frame_Late ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Same. I grew up dirt poor but my mom made ends meet so we never starved. We weren't rural, but I learned how to cook from her. Lots of muffins and breads, plenty of casseroles and my mom would make homemade gnocchi from old potatoes and yams and seared some tomatoes in a pan to make a basic sauce or even just a bit of brown butter sauce. The crock pot was also busted out a lot when my mom would find cheap, tough cuts of beef and pork about to go off at the store. Chili and Grands was a favorite.

    • @patarcher1813
      @patarcher1813 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@Frame_Late I grew up thinking "ends meet" was a cut of meat. I never realized how tough the times were in my family because the stuff my mom made was always good.

  • @mildredallen8367
    @mildredallen8367 7 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Yes I would try it. I was not involved in the dust bowl but a s a child some of those things we ate anyway. Thank you.

  • @greywater3186
    @greywater3186 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thanks for this video! It brings back many memories from my childhood.
    My grandparents survived the dust bowl. They lived in Oklahoma, then moved south to Texas, then west to New Mexico.
    Skip ahead to the ‘80’s, when we would go camping as a family, then my grandfather would take the kids rabbit hunting with my grandfather (he did the shooting, we looked for rabbits).
    A thing that has always stuck with me is how every year he would remind us that we only needed to point out the cottontails, as Jack rabbits are very stringy and not at all pleasant when compared with their cuter cousins.
    Once we had enough for dinner, he’d gut and skin them, cover in chili powder, then cook in a cast iron skillet or roast over the flames.
    It was a valuable lesson - learning how to spot and gut. I still remember exactly how to skin a rabbit even though I never did it myself.
    BTW, rabbit is delicious. Cottontail rabbit that is.

  • @amandakelley1665
    @amandakelley1665 2 ปีที่แล้ว +237

    The narrator acts like casseroles are the bane of existence. Shoot, casseroles are awesome!

    • @SatanikanataS
      @SatanikanataS 2 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      Tater tot casserole is the food of the gods.

    • @christinaFaith84
      @christinaFaith84 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      You from the Midwest as well?

    • @amandakelley1665
      @amandakelley1665 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@christinaFaith84 from the south. We do a lot of casseroles here.

    • @ingridgallagher1029
      @ingridgallagher1029 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      That's what I said. Maybe they're crap up north, idk never been, but casseroles in the south can be bitchin

    • @christinaFaith84
      @christinaFaith84 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@ingridgallagher1029 We've got some great casseroles up here. There as always someone who doesn't know how to make them or adds something gross, but aside from the person who THINKS they can cook, they are mostly all really good. We also call it Hot Dish up here.

  • @nicholasnadeau3499
    @nicholasnadeau3499 2 ปีที่แล้ว +25

    My great grandma says she remembers eating mustard sandwiches for dinner, and how sometimes that was the only meal of the day. She’s still alive and health, 96 and going strong 💪

  • @geographicoddity9444
    @geographicoddity9444 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    My grandmother never used lard or oils bought from the store. She kept a grease jar on the back of her stove. She would dip and pour from this container constantly while cooking. After she finished cooking, the grease from the pan would be poured right back into the grease pot for next time. It was never changed or refrigerated. I don’t know how it didn’t make us sick. She was a wonderful cook!

  • @kencornelius9584
    @kencornelius9584 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    It's pretty obvious that the folks who put this channel together, as well as the videos, must be city people. Most everything in this video is still eaten on a regular basis here in West Virginia with the exception of tumbleweeds and jackrabbit.

    • @kiera1393
      @kiera1393 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      They never said people don’t eat it now?

    • @adcummings1224
      @adcummings1224 ปีที่แล้ว

      And likely all under 35 years old.