Butter, Butter, Butter…… BUTTER!

When I started this year, I knew that butter was highly rationed.  From what I have been following… butter costs 16 points per pound (that is most of my meat/ dairy rations for the whole week).  So at the beginning of this experiment, I bought my pound of butter and got ready to sssttttrrrreeeeeeccchhh.

To preserve my stretched butter – I only kept one stick of butter in the fridge, and the rest stayed in the freezer.  I did not know how I would do in keeping butter.

Much to my surprise… I finally used up the last of my pound of butter this week when I made a peach pie to share with my workplace.  I cannot believe my pound of butter lasted almost a full year.

How can this be?

Well I will state- in my regular life… I was not a big butter eater.  I liked butter on hot toast or beagles and often I fried my eggs in butter.  I use butter in making sweet breads and other baking… but that is it.

As I started this project – I knew butter was special and I tended to only use it on very special occasions.  I served it when guests came over, and used a full quarter of my supply to make an English breakfast, complete with scones and lemon curd, for a work party.  I rarely used butter for my food (except squash – nothing tastes better then butter on fresh baked squash).

I did discover… I use oil and Crisco in everything else.  Oil and Crisco were rationed, but they only cost 5 points per pound/ quart.  Most baking, a person can cut the oil in half anyways and it still tastes great.  When stretching meat… most of what I at were hot dishes made of a mixture of vegetables and meat.  Rarely did I add any oil or such.  Even this Christmas, I did not have time to make butter Christmas cookies because I was sewing a wedding dress for my sister-in-law.  So no butter used.

After all this… I was shocked to realize that I had grabbed a handful of butter packets when I was at a restaurant.  I had 4 containers of butter… and I used every single one on one piece of bread!  I never eat butter on my bread unless it is toasted.  But no, I realized that I missed eating butter.  Ohhhh…. It tasted sooooo gooood!  I did not realize how much I missed butter – how wonder it tastes.  The subtle sweet cream and the slightly salty that blends so well with the taste of bread.  I have to say that after not eating butter for most of the year –I LOVE BUTTER and I have MISSED BUTTER! 

I would not have known this if I had not given it up for so long.

The 4th… What was it really like?

                This 4^th of July, America’s Independence Day, was very different then celebrations in the past.  One difference is that it was on a Wednesday and I was required to work on Tuesday and Thursday … this made traveling to celebrations unavailable.  In the past, I would gather with family in South Dakota or go up to our cabin in Lake of the Woods.  This year there was not time.  Another thing that was very different was the heat.  Rochester, MN had temperatures of 100 degrees Fahrenheit with 60-70% humidity.  Nobody was outside celebrating.  On a day that is all about cooking outside and picnics… people huddled inside their air conditioning.  I did not have any air condition at home so to survive – I volunteered to work at the Hospital – at least there was air!

                These differences got me thinking.  What was Independence Day like in the 40’s?  Did families celebrate, discovering new ways to make their favorite foods…?  Did men too old to go off to war – did they do fireworks?  Were there any black powder to use for fireworks or did it all go to the war effort?

                Often working in a hospital, I meet people … who give off a presence of strength and confidence that their loved one will get better- then as I talk with them cracks are seen in this mask.  I see their eyes brim with unshed tears, worry and fear of the uncertainty of the future shines out of those eyes.  Their voice breaks then they stop, take a deep breath, then their “strong” look is back.

                Thinking back to celebrating the 4^th… how did families truly celebrate when so many of their loved ones were gone.  Their father was not the one cooking on the barbecue; the family would be so much smaller as the men had gone to war.  How did women celebrate?  The 4^th of July is celebrating a victory in war- celebrating an end to fighting…. Yet that is not what was happening in 1942.

                As I stood to sing the American National anthem, I wondered how women could stand to be patriotic, singing about ‘the rockets’ red glare and bombs bursting in air’… without thinking of their husbands huddled in a fox hole, trying to stay alive.  Did they present a “strong” presence – like loved ones do in the hospital?  Or would a person see the cracks in their patriotism… the unshed tears and the fear of the unknown future?  

Would they be singing “God Bless America,” or be quietly crying out “God, Just bring them home!”

I realized that this year – It was hard for me to be 100% patriotic.

This year, I have been given glimpses of the loss that goes with these holidays.

And I pray – Lord, bring Peace!

SHOES – Oh How I Miss You!

I did it.  I broke down and bought a pair of shoes this week.  I have waited and waited to purchase a pair because in rationing – you are only allowed to buy one pair of shoes for the year.  One Pair.  That’s it.  Only one pair – even if it is a buy one pair – get one pair half off.  Nope – even if you have the money to buy more than one pair… you only get one ration stamp. 

See those wonderful red shoes shining in the window…???  Do you hear them calling your name?  Oh, wouldn’t they look great on the dance floor?  Oh and look at those lime green shoes…. Oh and those beautiful brown ones – they would be great for work….  Hummm , my dress shoes has a heel that is starting to come loose… Maybe this would be a great use of my ONE ration stamp for shoes.

One Stamp, One pair of shoes, One… that is it…

Ha Ha- are you starting to feel my pain?  I walk slowly by the shoe store on my way home from work.  All those beautiful shoes are calling out my name.  They are shiny, they are new.  Oh they look – and FEEL- great.  Better than my old, smelly work shoes I have now, that have lost their shine and the heel on the left foot is loose.  I only get to buy one pair of shoes.

And because of that – they have to be functional  and be what I need.  Not what I want.

Those shiny red shoes are beautiful… but they will not match all my outfits that I wear – and …. They … are… not… functional….! Gerrrr!

So today I bought a pair of shoes.

A pair of functional shoes.

Shoes that I needed – not shoes that I wanted.

I did not pick them by their color.

I did not pick them by their price.

I picked them for what they could do for me.

These are the shoes I need for every day-

For walking to work (not driving my car)

For biking to the store (saving gas)

Today – I bought a pair of functional shoes

I was rational – not fashionable

Functional – not fun

Today I bought shoes

Boring

 white

athletic

 shoes.

Eating Victoriously!!!

It is in!  My victory garden has produce!  I am so excited.

This week I realized that I needed to start harvesting my garden if I wanted to get a few crops out of it.  Being that the garden has been growing in indoor flower boxes – I put on a movie and sat watching while picking lettuce, spinach, and some weird broccoli thing.  I picked enough for a huge salad  (which I ate for supper) and had fresh lettuce, spinach salads for lunch all week.

Who knew that freshly picked spinach is sweet.  I sat eating it while finishing my movie. UMMM – I am very proud that it grew.  I grew my own food.

One thing I would do differently is …. Mark what I planted where.  I have no idea what some of the plants are.  I think one is a beet plant – I have started pollinating the flowers so that it will grow something (hummm … maybe it is cucumbers…????).  It has yellow leaves like a pumpkin plant.  I also have heritage tomatoes that need to go outside soon … I am checking to see if there is a balcony that I could use.

I now understand the excitement that would come with that first harvest of a victory garden.

The Joy of Walking

It has rained a lot this week.  And walking home from work in the rain has made me wish for being able to drive in my nice dry and warm car (especially because I have forgotten my umbrella so often!).  Yet this morning - as I walked to work... I realized the joy that comes from walking.


I work at a job that holds a lot of stress - and I work with people who are going through tough emotional times.  Often it is easy for me to carry home those emotions.  But something happens on that walk to or from work.

That walk gives me time to breath in deep the clean air.  It gives me a chance to victoriously walk off some of the emotional energy that I carry.  This spring it has been wonderful to hear the birds sing, see the leaves grow on the trees, and to smell the flowers.

When I walk to work - I have a chance to center myself before work.  I have time for quiet reflection - something that I would not have while driving, where I would listen to the radio or have to deal with bad drivers.  No - instead of the hurry and hustle of driving to work - I get a chance to reflect on life.  I get the opportunity to watch and enjoy nature, and I get the Joy that comes from that.

So in the process of trying to save on gas and rubber rations - I have discovered a more powerful outcome - an opportunity for moments of quiet reflection and inner peace.  I have to say - even on the rainy days - I love this rationing experiment and what I am learning.

Dusting off the Sewing machine

OK... the rationing is going so well... that most of my clothes do not fit well anymore.  (I have lost around 20 pounds or so..)  Yesterday as I was running... We must stay fit and healthy... My running pants would not stay up!

So I have a predicament.  I am only aloud one outfit of new clothes.  Do I want to waist that outfit on work out clothes (I also am in need of new running shoes but I am NOT wasting my one pare of new shoes on athletic shoes...!!!)?  My answer is NO!


So this week I have dusted off my sewing machine.  I am going to see if I can take in a lot of my clothes.  See if I can change my dress pants to a size smaller.  I am also desperate for a new work suit... So I am on the look out for an old used men's wool suit. 

I have a pamphlet on how to cut out a women's suit out of a larger men's suit.  It was published by the University of Minnesota in 1943.  It is a way to reuse fabric, and I have decided now is the time to try it.

I am looking forwards to a Hanger Dance in mid May and I want a new outfit to wear...so I have decided to make my own.

I will keep you updated as I keep working on it...  Learning how to make New out of Used.

How did Store Owners Survive WWII?

As I am approaching the middle of this experiment... I want to know how the merchant people survived.  How did clothing stores and shoe stores stay open when most people only could buy one or two outfits a year? 

This is the question I have been wondering about.  I have now gone half a year without buying new clothes or shoes (a record for me)!  I just walked through Target today… through the shoe section – and tried on a few pairs… just for fun.  I tried them on – imagining how they would look at work… then sadly put them back in their box.  Knowing it is for the good of our world.

I can imagine that is what women felt too.  In the US many women were making more money than they had ever made before – and yet for the war effort – they did not buy on impulse.  They did not pick up that perfect hat or shoes, or that lovely summer top new for this season.  They (many of them – I realize not everyone) would dutifully buy their war bonds and count their ration stamps for their shoes, while sighing at the shoes in the window displays.

 

How different our economy would be if people did not buy on impulse.  The whole world of marketing is based on people buy things without a lot of thought behind it.  Would Target, Wal-Mart, or any other big department store survive if people could only buy so much?  Or would we go back to corner grocery stores and independently own clothing and shoe stores?  Which way is better?  If people were willing to save up, and own only a few things – that have high quality… could that thought end injustices forced on children and slave labor used to make the things we buy impulsively.

These are the questions that I think about when I try on these shoes… then smile, and put them back on the shelf.