Hi all, I’ve done a short live stream rounding up week 4 of the “Living on WW2 Rations Experiment” and I also have some great WW2 replicas to giveaway including a replica of the “Daily Express” newspaper that was printed the day after the Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain announced “we are at war”.
To go into the draw, either comment below or leave a comment over the PINNED POST on our Facebook group. A winner will be chosen at random on Friday 15th July (cut off is noon on the 15th).
Have a wonderful afternoon!
C xxxxx
How exciting! I have really enjoyed this entire series and your blog! Bravo you!
Awesome! I’ve only recently found the Facebook group but have always used the recipes on this site when I need some ww2 cooking ideas. Going to have a try at living for a few weeks on rations at some point, just got to convince my partner to join in
P.S. speaking of FB….there is a group I belong to that I think you would both be very interested in AND would benefit from you as well as enjoy greatly from your stories, experiment and experience. It’s called:
Recipes for hard times, depression era recipes & other…
The membership spans the globe and we very often share not only recipes but stories, memories etc.
Would love to see your offerings shared with the group. XO
Laura
ooo please share the link Laura! Thanks 🙂
https://www.facebook.com/groups/364409696960558/?ref=share
Sorry Laura I’m not ever joining FB.
I’m sorry Outlander, the FB link was for Carolyn who requested that I share it with her.
Hi from Detroit! I’m a huge 1940s aficionado and I love your posts. Keep up the great work, and thank you!
Carolyn I am so pleased this project has really taken off. You have put so much work into this, despite as you say yourself, being time poor. Congratulations on the success you and the participants have made it. xx
You have done an amazing job of setting up this Challenge and getting so many like-minded people involved in it. You’ve also given us the information needed to help many have a more cost effective way of living going forward.
Our grannies would be cheering us on. 😃
Hi Carolyn, I don’t belong to any Facebook, but still follow your blogs, hope you are doing well on this tough month of rations! Ann lee s
To Ann lee sweeten, ditto on the FB, I’m afraid it makes me feel vulnerable so it’s a no go for me – but I do love your blog Carolyn, it’s great.
You can find all the depression type recipes by google and YouTube. Ann lee s
unable to reply to A L Sweeten on the FB front as I do not use such social media platforms.
I have enjoyed following your experiences but did not participate. Thanks for all your efforts to inform about 1940’s life
I have really enjoyed this challenge. I’ve been learning a lot about WW2.
Thank you so much for doing this! It has been wonderful to see what has come from so many sources. I have looked for years for things like the cookbooks and leaflets that are now available. Wow!! (And, I admit, have drooled over the ‘Make Do and Mend’ booklet.)
Also, wow – Chamberlin speaking to the nation from 10 Downing – ! I hadn’t realized that that particular address had been in use for so long. Amazing.
10 Downing Street has been in use since before American independence 😉
No 10 Downing Street built in the 1680s by Irishman Sir George Downing.
Thanks for suggesting this challenge Carolyn, I’ve found it very interesting, especially looking into the Australian restrictions, which I’d know little about. It’s had me pondering what our vulnerabilities. In WW2 fuel was the most insecure item and the first to be rationed. Nothing has changed, as we import fuel and only store a fraction of what we need.
My personal challenge was based on Australian WW2 rationing. As I mentioned at the beginning of the challenge, there were few food restrictions here and they were generous by modern standards, so I decided to abide by the tea restrictions (which was the only item that was less than I currently used) and to buy local produce as fuel restrictions may have limited interstate food deliveries. I initially cut my tea consumption back by 75% and realised at the end of week one that I was actually being too severe. Surprisingly I managed well on the tea ration over the month, although I now make tea half as strong as I used to. Because of the severe flooding that has occurred here in NSA and Queensland, a lot fresh produce has been in short supply. So during the challenge there was a fortnight when shelves were completely empty of salad veg and when a few lettuces reappeared they were $10 each! As these are grown out of my state I wasn’t buying them anyway, but it was a timely illustration of how quickly food shortages can occur.
For me the big challenge was petrol, which was rationed here from 1941-1950 and was sufficient fuel for 1000 miles per year (133 kilometers per month). I was within my target until the very last day of the challenge, when a trip to the Adelaide Hills for a family Sunday Brunch brought my kilometers up to 163. This is still a significant reduction in the 500km I would normally do. I did used trains more, to get to some medical appointments. Where that wasn’t a viable option I carefully scheduled multiple appointments on one day, so that I could do one round trip rather than multiple journeys, that saved quite a lot of fuel. The other big change was grocery shopping, which I did on foot as part of my daily walk with a small backpack. So I was buying enough fresh foods for 1-2 days and also taking advantage of specials when they fitted into the backpack. I’m sure it was good for me, turning part of my daily walk into weight bearing exercise.
Thanks again for suggesting this and for the many shared experiences of those who also participated around the world.
First, the pandemic cookbook, then you’re on YouTube, now a giveaway. This delights just keep in coming! Thank you so much.
Thank you all for entering, Ann Ferguson was the winner selected at random by the online spin wheel! xxxx C
I know I’m too late for the giveaway. I just found this blog after going down some web rabbit-holes, and I just love it! I hope to try many, many of these recipes! I am a Yank, not a Brit, but I am an Anglophile at heart. I can claim some UK ancestry, however, for what it’s worth. Thank you for all your hard work – it seems like you’ve really connected so many like-minded foodies.
While I’m at it I’ll share this link: https://archive.org/details/YourShare/mode/2up
It’s to a scanned Betty Crocker cookbook from 1943! The whole book is available free to download, about 52 pages. The recipes revolve around what was available during wartime. So very interesting!
I printed off the Bean page and will make some split pea soup soon. I love keeping soup in the freezer.
Hello Carolyn, I love your 1940’s Experiment, Thank you for all your contributions and especially for your enthusiasm and positivity. You’re a 1940’s hero!
I read about your issue with legumes like lentils and beans causing wind. I’m a vegetarian and I find that using the orange split lentils causes less wind. The brown lentils have still got the brown outer coat on. This fibre is more difficult to digest which is what causes wind. The split lentils don’t require soaking and they cook quickly in about 15 minutes.
I wonder if you and other 1940’s Experiment contributors might consider sharing info about 1940’s clothing, fashions, hairstyles and ways to adapt these to use now. Thank you Carolyn for your1940’s Experiment. Lots of love Barbara