{ Great Depression Cooking }

You all know how much I love cooking, to me it's not a chore, it's not a task that I begrudgingly get through. It's a passion, it's this great feeling of creating, of using simple ingredients to come up with meals to nourish my family.

I'm always on the lookout for cookbooks and recipes and I'm extremely interested in cooking from different eras. I want to know what kind of food they were preparing during the Victorian Era or in the 14th Century or the Great Depression. I want to know how these wonderful women made do with what little they had, so when I was on YouTube the other night I found something quite by accident and I can't tell you how happy I was.

So let me introduce you to Clara, this amazing 94 year old lady is the cutest and sweetest thing you'll ever see. She even has her own website "Great Depression Cooking" that I can't wait to go through, it's chock full of interesting facts about her life and you can find links to her DVD and online episodes.

Who exactly is Clara? Well like I said above, she is a 94 year old woman who lived through the Great Depression, she worked for Hostess filling Twinkies in 1945 and also did Secretarial work in a factory.

The magic of Clara is that she can turn lemons into lemonade and potatoes into just about everything else. She had a childhood that most of us can’t imagine, but she was able to make the best of it and turn those trials into lessons we can all learn from.

If you're interested in watching her episodes, you can find most of them on You Tube.

Episode 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuMkW35BwK8
Episode 2 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yREFkmrrYiw
Episode 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OPQqH3YlHA
Episode 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4IjNV3lZkQ
Episode 4 (part 2): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IEWJmm4Tms
Episode 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qptfhu9R0WI
Episode 6:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zXqkHvs0po
Episode 7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5tXODF4of0
Episode 8 (part 2) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhBZrPk2xaY

I started watching the first episode and I think one of the things that immediately drew me to Clara is not just her sweetness but her stories, you feel like you're actually sitting at the kitchen table with her. She is a pretty funny lady too.....Love it!

So while I'm sitting here getting my menus ready, I am thrilled to try some of her recipes, it's all about cooking on a budget and using things you have available, nothing weird or complicated, just good homemade food.....things like Pasta with Peas, Egg Drop Soup, Cooked Bread, and Poorman's Meal.

She reminds me so much of my greatgrandmother and the time I spent with her listening to her stories, learning how to cook and hearing her smile and laugh as she took me on a journey through the era she grew up in.

Go on and take a look at Clara's videos, then come back and tell me what you think.