For the past couple of days as I have sorted through my cupboards here at the flat I have been using up some of the dregs from jars and opened packets. This meal combined the last of the gluten free pasta in the large jar I needed for my 'ration pasta' with the last of an opened jar of red pesto from the fridge, and was then topped with a sprinkling of my 'ration cheese'.
I'm sure this gives you an inkling of why I have been so confused over the past week. A bit of this and a bit of that etc etc , but thinking about it I'm sure that's just how it would have been at the start of rationing as things were pulled from cupboards to make up meals that the family were used to. At first 'normal' meals would have been on the table and then as rationing went on and the old larder stores dwindled it would have been time to buckle down and get inventive.
Hopefully soon I'll be doing just this and things will be so much more interesting for me ... and for you 😃
And I have to say for just £3.99 it is a really good box and I managed to fit everything I needed to into it.
The plastic crates are only cheap ones but are good enough to hold the tins and jars and be slid into the base cupboard in the corner and be used like drawers so I can access what I need while I am 'shopping' from home.
I guess there would also be sharing among friends and family - "I've got this jar of plum jam half used up, but now Johnny's joined up, I won't use it.".
ReplyDeleteI saw what you'd said the other day about having grated vegan cheese but you'll get block to replace it,and I'm guessing you already know this, but I find the block cheeses very awkward to grate. So I usually buy the grated violife as that also works out easier to use a small amount at a time, eg for topping a shepherd's pie for me while my sons have dairy cheese on theirs.
Really interested to read your blog on this!
Yes there would have been lots of trades and swaps of store-cupboard items as everyone did their bit to make sure nothing got wasted, that's exactly what I've been reading about in the book I have on the go at the moment. 'Betty's Wartime Diary'.
DeleteI usually buy the block cheeses and I have no trouble grating them at all. Both the Violife Original Block and the Applewood Smoky block, which are my usual choices grate really well for me, I just make sure they have been in the fridge for a few days before I grate them, and then put them immediately into the fridge or freezer once grated for use and and when needed. So I will most likely weigh out a few weeks worth of 3oz cheese and freeze them ready for future use each time I buy a block. I have only ever bought the Mozzarella type cheeses ready grated as they are softer, it's just cheaper to buy the blocks isn't it, but the ready grated can be convenient especially if there is only you using it.
I’m not sure about vegan cheese but a lot of pre-grated dairy cheese is tossed with corn starch to keep it from clumping in the package. That also alters how it melts slightly because it dries out the cheese.
DeleteYes, it's also the case with most vegan cheeses, it's what keeps them free flowing even after being compressed during delivery handling etc and this is why I usually grate my own. It's worth having the bit of maize starch that's in the Mozzarella type one though as it is super tasty.
DeleteI was just reading childhood memories of the war and they were talking about oxo stock cubes, which have been around since 1910 so think you would be fine using modern equivalents.
ReplyDeleteI have decided to just stick with Bisto (or the dupe versions) gravy granules. Lots of the cheaper stock cubes have dairy in them, even lots of the vegetarian ones. So just the one sort for the year will be fine. Up to now I have never used much gravy ... but of course all that could change!!
DeleteI'm sure you're right, Sue, that everything in store cupboards would have been utilised at the outset. My mum & baby sister lived with my Nan & Grandad during the war when my Dad was in the army and they used to swap food with neighbours. Where has the neighbourliness gone now? We have hardly seen a soul in the street for 12 months!
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame at the moment that we do seem to be avoiding each other, but with my neighbour here at the flat it's essential as he has Long Covid and has to stay in strict isolation now s he keeps having flare-ups. Back in Wales our neighbours are all a trip along the main road in the car and it's easy not to see each other for weeks or months. We keep in touch on Facebook instead.
DeleteOh the poor man. One of G's colleagues also keeps getting flare ups. He originally contracted Covid in the first lockdown when he carried on working. He was ventilated for 3 weeks and is now struggling with fatigue and depression. Its a horrendous virus. Stay safe Sue x
DeleteYes my neighbour was a surgeon in a local hospital and contracted Covid back in March, he's now had to take early retirement and will never be able to work again.
DeleteIt's close to home in all ways for me now as my younger son and his girlfriend, both keyworkers, have tested positive for Covid this week 😟
Good job on getting things sorted out for your challenge. I am sure you will do brilliantly.
ReplyDeleteSorry to read that your younger son and his girlfriend tested positive. Hopefully it is a mild case for both of them.
God bless.
Both feeling pretty grotty, but just like a really bad cold for my son and with the added loss of taste for Tash, his girlfriend. ☹️
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