They ate low on the food chain. Even I remembered that part. Gardens were big. Canning was a fact of life. Meat portions were small and you got one piece. Potatoes and polenta was used as filler. Green beans in a mason jar were a fact of life. Sweets were simple like cakes and cookies and were used as bribes for children and when visitors came over.
But they remember having a good life. That is the key to the whole banana. Try stopping the fancy crap that you see on restaurants and TV cooking shows. Try eating basics. You will find that by stopping your pretensions and your striving and just eating simple good food you might start a process of simplification that will make you a better person.
3 comments:
Heh, we're already there at my house. We don't eat a lot of meat. If I get a steak every other month I'd call that frequent. Motly it's hamburger, and only 1 lb split amongst 4 of us, mixed up in some concoction. Chicken and pork is the usual fare, again, in small quantities. We used to eat a lot of fish when I had a boat.... Unfortunately, we do eat a lot of carbs, but I guess that relates to the potato fillers you mentioned. With the garden, I've introduced a lot of new veggies we never really ate much of before.
We best learn from the old folks while we can.
I've a 30 year old friend who's been picking the brains of old folks ever since he was a little kid. The guy has an amazing knowledge of the old days. Puts a lot of it to use to. Loves his big garden and all the veggies. Good guy to barter with.
I remember having chicken at Grandma's - the folks looking for a piece of the breast not the whole thing & not the huge ones on today's chickens.
Our staple starch was potatoes. Potatoes how do I love thee? Let me count the ways...
Cooked green beans... Mom & Dad both lost their jobs at the ammo plant after Vietnam in the days before food stamps were acceptable for decent folks (the attitude then), the neighbor generously gave us a huge bag full of green beans & mom turned them into a wonderful pot of southern style beans. Only he forgot to mention they were string beans. Unstringed string beans feel like a mouth full of hair. Took three days to eat that mess of beans & 30 years before I'd eat a cooked garden bean again. Now tomatoes...
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