"We were so poor, the flies had to carry lunches when they came to our house..."
Depression Era Recipes
Hartshorne, a small town in southeastern Oklahoma, was hard hit by the Great Depression. Coal mining, once the leading industry in the rural town, was but a shadow of what it had once been. The railroad was still thriving, but within the next few decades it too would suffer as automobiles and planes took its passengers and trucks began hauling freight.
During the 1930s it seemed as if everything, even Mother Nature, was conspiring against the weary people of Oklahoma. Farmers battled five years of drought, grasshoppers and hot, dry winds. Ranchers were forced to shoot their starving cattle.
"Okies" began leaving the state en masse for the lure of jobs in the Promised Land of California and Arizona, only to find too many men, too few jobs and bitter hostility. Living in the squalor of migrant farm worker camps, no better off than they were in Oklahoma, large numbers of the disillusioned Okies returned home.
Many had never left, choosing instead to hang on the best they could. While men farmed and worked in the coalmine and did odd jobs to supplement their meager incomes, women struggled to feed their often large families on virtually nothing. Thanks to those good, hard working parents many children of the 1930s say "We were poor, but didn't know it" and "We might not have had the fanciest food or a big variety, but we didn't go hungry." Those brave, smart, inventive, resourceful and determined women used recipes such as the following.
*Okies have breakfast, dinner and supper not breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Biscuits were a staple.
Baking Powder Biscuits
Submitted by Shirley Monks from J.R.. Watkins 1939 Cookbook
2 c. flour (sifted) 4 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt 4 T. butter or shortening
3/4 c. milk or buttermilk
Sift flour, measure, add salt, baking powder and sift again. Cut in shortening, gradually add milk and make a soft dough. Roll 1/2-inch thick with a little flour on board, cut with floured biscuit cutter and bake in hot oven (450-degrees) about 15 minutes.
Biscuits, spread with bacon grease, were often carried in dinner buckets to school and into the coalmines. A real treat during those days was to wake up in the morning to the aroma of chocolate gravy. Ladled on top of hot biscuits, the filling breakfast was a sure-fire kid pleaser.
Chocolate Gravy
Submitted by Isabel Roso. "This is one of my mother, Lydia Johnston's hard times recipes."
Butter or shortening 1/2 c. flour
Pinch of salt 1 c. sugar
2 T. cocoa 2 c. milk
1 t. vanilla
Place enough butter or shortening in a cast iron skillet to slightly brown flour. Add salt, sugar, cocoa and milk. Add more milk if needed. Cook until thickened. Add vanilla. Add more milk if it is too thick. Serve with homemade biscuits or homemade bread.
Coalminers and school children also carried sandwiches and pie in their dinner buckets. Children often carried dinner to their fathers who were working in the fields. Hoboes who came to the back door offering to work in exchange for food were often given sandwiches by the compassionate lady of the house.
Carrot Sandwich
Submitted by Betty Trueblood. "I remember taking these to school. My mother used raisins, because we didn't always have peanuts."
Salted peanuts (ground) or raisins Uncooked carrots
Salad dressing (mayonnaise) Bread
Combine ground salted peanuts and finely chopped uncooked carrots in equal portions. Moisten with salad dressing to spreading consistency. Use as a filling on white or wheat bread.
Mashed Potato Sandwich
Submitted by Shirley Monks. "It's hard to believe something so simple could be so delicious."
Leftover mashed potatoes 1 T. diced onion
1 T. prepared mustard Bread
Combine potatoes, onion and mustard. Spread on bread.
Vinegar Pie
Submitted by Norma Bookout
1 c. sugar 2. T. flour
1 c. cold water 4 eggs, beaten
5 T. cider vinegar 2-1/2 T. butter
1 unbaked pie shell
Combine sugar and flour. Add remaining ingredients and place in saucepan. Cook until thick. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 375 degrees until crust is brown.
Green Tomato Pie
Submitted by Isabel Roso. "This is one of my mother, Lydia Johnston's hard times recipes for a good two-crust pie."
3 c. green tomatoes (sliced or thinly diced) 1-1/2 c. sugar
6-2/3 T. flour 1/4 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. cinnamon 1/2 T. vinegar
Butter
Mix all ingredients. Poor into crust; dot with butter. Cover with top crust. Bake 15 minutes at 425 degrees. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and cook 30 minutes or until done.
The coalmining industry brought an influx of immigrants from many countries into Hartshorne and the food on many supper tables reflected that diversity.
Polenta
Submitted by Catherine McCaslin. "This is one of the recipes my mother, Shay Ranallo, used to feed our large family. Mama always made her sauce with homemade sausage from hogs we raised. The sauce was delicious served with polenta."
1 c. corn meal 1 t. salt
1 t. sugar 1 c. cold water
Mix together in a heavy pot then add 2 cups boiling water and 1 tablespoon cooking oil. Cook until very thick. Remove from heat. Dip large spoonful onto a large platter. Top with your favorite tomato sauce. Top with parmesan cheese.
Russian Borscht
Submitted by Tonya O'Nesky. "Russian immigrants brought with them faith, hope and many old traditions. Most of our traditional foods center around the church calendar of Holy Days of the Orthodox."
1 med. onion 3 med. beets
6 c. beef stock 3 med. potatoes
1 head cabbage (1 to 1-1/2 lbs) 2 T. oil
3 med. carrots 1 c. tomato puree
1 small parsnip Salt & pepper to taste
Sour cream & dill, garnish
Chop onion. Cut cabbage into 2 chunks. Peel and cut carrots, parsnips, and beets into thin strips about 2 inches long. Peel and dice potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes. Lightly fry onion in oil. Add stock and remaining ingredients. Simmer, covered, until vegetables are soft, about 1 hour. Serve with sour cream and a pinch of dill.
Living in a rural area provided the advantage growing fruit and vegetables, raising chickens and hogs, having a milk cow, and fishing and hunting. In addition to chicken and pork, catfish, deer, squirrel, rabbit, raccoon and even opossum often graced Depression era tables. One man said, "People sometimes look me kinda funny when I say I used to eat opossums, but I reckon it's because those folks ain't never been truly hungry. There were times when my stomach was gnawing on my backbone."
Opossum Sweet Potato Bake
Submitted by Isabel Roso. "This is a hard time recipe my mother, Lydia Johnston, used to make."
One whole opossum washed, dried and every piece of fat removed. Salt, pepper and flour the opossum. Place in baking pan. Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup water. Let brown. Cover and cook at 325-350 degrees until almost done. Add large slices of peeled sweet potatoes around and on top of the opossum. Cover and cook until potatoes are done.
Poor Man's Stew
Submitted by Betty Trueblood. "We ate a lot of this during the 1930s because my dad raised produce on our farm. I'm sure it saved our lives during the Great Depression. I still make it often."
Cook together desired amount of potatoes, onions, and tomatoes (canned or fresh). Season with bacon drippings', salt, pepper or other seasonings such as chili powder. Serve with cornbread.
In spite of limited resources homemakers turned out an abundance of sweets. The Depression era hostess never failed to have something on hand which she could offer guests, as well as her hungry husband and children.
Poor Man's Fruit Cake
Submitted by Betty Trueblood. "This won a cooking contest during the Depression years."
1-15 oz box raisins 2 c. sugar
2 c. water 1 T. baking soda
1/4 c. (1/2 stick) margarine 1 t. each cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, mace
4 c. flour 1 c. water
2 large eggs
In large pan bring 2 cups water and raisins to a boil. Remove from heat. Add margarine and cover. Let cool a couple of hours. Preheat oven to 375 degrees, grease and flour large bundt or tube pan. Stir together flour, sugar, soda and spices. In separate bowl beat together egg and 1 cup water. Add egg mixture to cooled raisin mixture and stir to combine. Add raisin mixture to dry mixture and combine. Batter will be thick, Pour in pan and bake 65-70 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes.
During the lean years and hard times of the Great Depression people had to "make do, do without, use it up and wear it out." Food was never wasted. In the rare event there were leftovers, homemakers turned them into yet another delicious and filling meal or treat.
Head Cheese
Submitted by Dessie Yarnell from The White House Cookbook, 1926
Boil the forehead, ears, feet, and nice scraps trimmed from the hams of a fresh pig, until the meat will almost drop from the bones. Separate the meat from the bones, put in a large chopping bowl and season with pepper, salt, sage and summer savory. Chop it rather coarsely; put it back in the same kettle it was boiled in with just enough of the liquor in which it was boiled to prevent burning; warm it thoroughly, mixing it together well. Pour into a strong muslin bag, press the bag between two flat surfaces with a heavy weight on top. When cold and solid it can be cut in slices. Good cold or warmed up in vinegar.
Pappy-dews
Submitted by Shirley Monks. "This is my mother-in-law, Edith Monks, recipe. Pappy-dews are delicious as they are, but pouring maple syrup over them makes them really wonderful."
Cut left over biscuits in half. Mix enough eggs, sugar, vanilla and milk for the biscuits you have. Dip biscuit halves in the egg mixture (if you have any mixture left over pour it over biscuits in pan) and fry them in butter on both sides until eggs are set. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.
These recipes and more like them can be found in the Hard Times Cookbook. The soft-cover, spiral bound book sells for $17.32 ($15.00 plus $2.32 postage & handling) and can be purchased by sending check or money order, payable to Hard Times Festival, to Hard Times Festival, P.O. Box 343, Hartshorne, OK. 74547.
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