Depression

[MossRoad]

Don't get me wrong. I like bacon. I like bread. I like bacon on bread. But cold bacon drippings in bread?

 

[AlanB]

Don't get me wrong. I like bacon. I like bread. I like bacon on bread. But cold bacon drippings in bread?

It all just depends on how hungry you are.

 

[MossRoad]

It all just depends on how hungry you are.

I understand that completely. My mom and dad both grew up in the depression. They and my grandparents on both sides of the family have told me many horror stories about survival in tough times.

But these folks were eating this stuff in the 80's because they actually liked it, not because they had to. Blech!!

 

[SnowRidge]

Recession: Your buddy is out of work.

Depression: You are out of work.

Calamity: Your wife is out of work.

 

[Flatheadyoungin]

grandpa tells unbelieable stories about the depression...

eating greens which were dandelions....

neighbors passing around a hambone to boil it in water....then drink the broth and pass the bone on to the next neighbor.....

he said it's bad going to bed hungry OR cold but there's nothing worse than going to bed hungry AND cold......

trying to burn walnut shells for heat..

he often wonders how his father didn't kill himself- strong work ethic with five little kids and a wife starving and freezing.....and no work

many, many more stories....

they managed to save up some money from war time production to buy a farm and just a few months later, uncle sam called......he's still VERY bitter about it....mad at the government, mad at the rich kids that didn't seem to have to go, mad at ******, etc...

he's spent his whole life preparing for another depression; never going in debt, saving money, stockpiling coal, buying about 20 tractors (that run), lots of implements, tools out the wazoo, welding metal handles in most of his rakes and axes, etc.......

 

[MossRoad]

Recession: Your buddy is out of work.

Depression: You are out of work.

Calamity: Your wife is out of work.

You got that right! For years I have had enough life insurance to cover my wife's living expenses and my children's college education should something happen to me. However, my wife and I finally thought about the "what if something happens to her?" scenario. We have had a lot of female relatives pass away leaving behind their husbands. My wife makes as much as I do. If either one of us goes, the other loses half their income. So we got some insurance on her, too.

 

[MossRoad]

grandpa tells unbelieable stories about the depression...

eating greens which were dandelions....

neighbors passing around a hambone to boil it in water....then drink the broth and pass the bone on to the next neighbor.....

he said it's bad going to bed hungry OR cold but there's nothing worse than going to bed hungry AND cold......

trying to burn walnut shells for heat..

he often wonders how his father didn't kill himself- strong work ethic with five little kids and a wife starving and freezing.....and no work

many, many more stories....

they managed to save up some money from war time production to buy a farm and just a few months later, uncle sam called......he's still VERY bitter about it....mad at the government, mad at the rich kids that didn't seem to have to go, mad at ******, etc...

he's spent his whole life preparing for another depression; never going in debt, saving money, stockpiling coal, buying about 20 tractors (that run), lots of implements, tools out the wazoo, welding metal handles in most of his rakes and axes, etc.......

My mom said they raised rutabagas, chickens and rabbits. They fed the greens to the rabbits, then ate rabbits, rutabagas and eggs for almost a decade. That's about all they ate, she said. Needless to say, as a kid, I never had to eat rabbits or rutabagas because she was sick of them. But we ate a lot of chicken. She said they were too valuable to eat in the depression because of the eggs and chickens were like a luxury food to her.

 

[milkman]

That's right, didn't eat the chickens, take the extra eggs to the store and traded them for thread to patch clothes.

 

[Bird]

I, too, heard lots of stories from my parents about the depression, but I guess my family was among the luckier ones. My dad's parents farmed for a living so they produced most of their own food, and my mother's dad was a bookkeeper who stayed employed through the depression. They didn't have much, but ate pretty well. Mother said when her mother saw men going through their garbage can and eating scraps they found she began to carefully wrap any food items they threw out so they'd at least be clean.

But I do wonder if we're headed for another big depression. My wife turns 65 next month and goes on Medicare. Now I thought that even with the Medicare supplement and Medicare Part D for prescriptions, we'd be two or three hundred dollars a month ahead by not paying what we've been paying for her health insurance. Wrong again!!!!! It's actually going to cost us about $15 a month more than we've been paying. But of course we won't have that thousand dollar deductible and 20% co-pay.

Oh well, I figured on keeping the same two motor vehicles a few more years anyway.

 

[SnowRidge]

You got that right! For years I have had enough life insurance to cover my wife's living expenses and my children's college education should something happen to me. However, my wife and I finally thought about the "what if something happens to her?" scenario. We have had a lot of female relatives pass away leaving behind their husbands. My wife makes as much as I do. If either one of us goes, the other loses half their income. So we got some insurance on her, too.

You've got me thinking, now. Always dangerous, that, but my wife now makes close to three times my current income, thanks to the financial shenanigans that have been going on. Might be time to talk to our insurance agent.

 

[MossRoad]

You've got me thinking, now. Always dangerous, that, but my wife now makes close to three times my current income, thanks to the financial shenanigans that have been going on. Might be time to talk to our insurance agent.

Yeah. Two weekends ago two of my sisters and I had to drive down to Cincinnati to attend an aunt's funeral. My uncle said he spent all of these years preparing my aunt for the day when she would have to live by herself and she didn't spend any time preparing him for this.

Very sad, indeed. He was heartbroken. Everyone completely expects an older man to outlive his wife and kids. But sometimes bad things happen to good people. That is life. That's why I frequently tell my kids that if anything ever happens to me, don't feel bad. I've had a great life so far and have few regrets. Good woman, good kids, good food and a warm house. That's all that really matters. Everything else is just gravy.

 

[Bird]

That's why I frequently tell my kids that if anything ever happens to me, don't feel bad. I've had a great life so far and have few regrets. Good woman, good kids, good food and a warm house. That's all that really matters. Everything else is just gravy.

I tell mine the same thing, and that I've already lived a lot longer than I ever expected to, and had more fun than I had a right to expect.

 

[Flatheadyoungin]

i like lots of bacon grease in my green beans......man, why is it everything that tastes sooooo good is so bad for your health!

 

[jinman]

Both of my parents grew up during the depression in families with only one parent. My father and seven siblings had only my grandmother to rear them. My mother lost he mother during the depression.

As teenagers, my mother and her sister moved to town to be domestic help for families who were well-to-do. As a result, my mom never had any school after the 8th grade. Even so, that job looking after kids was a godsend for her.

My father's family didn't have it so well. At times my grandmother would send the kids out with cups to beg for a a cup of flour, sugar, or lard for cooking. A woman with 8 children was not likely to find a suitor during the depression. She never remarried after my grandfather died.

When I was a kid, my grandmother would cook toast in a frying pan with a light coating of bacon grease. That hot toast with the flavor of bacon was one of my favorites. I'm sure I would have turned up my nose if it were cold. Perhaps that was her version of lard and bread. I also remember her making ice cream in the refrigerator freezer. She would put it into a bowl and stir it several times as it started to freeze. It was not smooth and fluffy, but it was delicious. The amazing thing about my grandmother is that I never heard her complain. She lived to age 94 and was loved by everyone.

Sometimes I feel pretty darn guilty for having a life as easy as I do, but I'm sure my parents and grandparents would be proud and happy for me and my family. They're all gone now and that is far more depressing to me than this economy. I think we are a long way from a depression.

 

[Flatheadyoungin]

i think it could turn in to a depression....

however, most of us have had it so good that a blip on the radar feels like the end of the world to us.....i have a buddy that his family is a little better to-do (they've earned it the old fashioned way) and he was complaining about the economy.....i think it's because he has to stop and think about what he is going to spend his money on instead of just buying it when he wants to....

Sometimes I feel pretty darn guilty for having a life as easy as I do, but I'm sure my parents and grandparents would be proud and happy for me and my family. They're all gone now and that is far more depressing to me than this economy. I think we are a long way from a depression.

 

[riptides]

All I can say to you all is don't knock it till you tried it.

And, I have normal cholesterol readings, genetics plays a huge part in your diet. So YMMV.

 

[Bird]

I never tried cold bacon grease or lard, but of course, I grew up when we made our own lard at times, and we did keep the little can on or by the stove to pour the used bacon grease into (I still do that). Then we used that bacon grease for frying almost anything, and I still occasionally do that, but my wife always gets fresh olive oil; can't get her to use the bacon grease. But, like Jim said, fried toast is very good. And it's been awhile since I had a "wilted salad" in which you pour the hot bacon grease over lettuce for a salad.

 

[MossRoad]

i like lots of bacon grease in my green beans......man, why is it everything that tastes sooooo good is so bad for your health!

I like it, too, warm and with something else. But cold on bread? heebeegeebees!

Hey, try this potato salad recipe....

Peel, cube and boil 5 pounds of potatoes and three or four large onions.
Fry up one pound of bacon.
Remove the bacon and measure the grease. Double the amount with brown sugar. (if you have a cup of grease, add a coup of brown sugar).
Now double that grease/sugar mixture with vinegar.
When the potatoes and onions are soft, drain them and pour the bacon grease/sugar/vinegar mixture over them.
Crumble up the bacon and add that too.
Toss it and serve hot.
MMMMmmm!

 

[NuBota]

Isn't the cream filling in Twinkies just lard and sugar - I bet many of us have had it and don't realize it. 'course a bacon flavored twinkie.....ugh

 

[Soundguy]

My mIL told me they ate lard mixed with a salty yellow poweder during WW2

soundguy