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WW1 Ration Scones – Recipe No. 186

I can tell you now, follow this recipe EXACTLY, and you will want to do nothing but feed these scones to ALL your floods of visitors once the UK lockdown has been abolished!

I used the basic WW1 Ration Scone recipe from 1918,  adding wild garlic leaves and 1 oz of hard grated cheese to create a delightfully aromatic and delicious savoury scone.

Behind my old house up North, there was a small wooded area that grew an abundance of wild garlic which I regularly used in salads or wilted in stews. So you can imagine how delighted I was when my Riverford Organic Vegetable Box arrived this week with a bag of wild garlic leaves perched on the top, waiting for me to scream in delight! (I actually squeaked). I have yet to find a source of free wild garlic down South where I now live so this really was a treat to receive this.

I found the original WW1 Ration Scone recipe from 1918 in an article in ‘People’s Friend Magazine’ and I immediately thought I bet that would taste AMAZING with a little chopped wild garlic leaf and some of the hard vegetarian cheese (Parmesan type) I had waiting to be used up. Seemed silly not to try.

I adapted the recipe slightly as I fancied savoury not sweet, you MUST give my version a try!

Hope you enjoy, and your floods of visitors too!

Stay calm, stay safe, stay home

C xxxx

PS: On your daily walk you may be able to source wild garlic for free. It’s typically found in woodland, quite near the edges and abundant in April/May. Watch this video HERE

Wild Garlic & Cheese Scones (based on WW1 Ration Scones from 1918 above)

  • 5 oz of white self-raising flour
  • 2 oz of butter or hard margarine
  • 1 egg and a little milk
  • 1 oz grated hard cheese (cheddar would be fine if you have no Parmesan)
  • Several wild garlic leaves chopped very finely
  • Large pinch of salt.

Method

  1. Sift flour and large pinch of salt into a bowl
  2. Dot in the butter and then rub into the flour
  3. Add the grated cheese
  4. Add the chopped wild garlic leaves
  5. Add the eggs and milk mixture leaving a spoonful to brush tops of scones before baking
  6. Form a dough that is not too sticky and can be handled.
  7. On a floured surface roll out to about 1/2 inch thick and use cutter or end of glass to create 6 scones (you may get more if you are lucky)
  8. Place on baking tray, brush with egg mixture and sprinkle a little more salt on the top of each scone
  9. Place in pre-heated (200 C) oven for about 20 minutes until a nice mid golden colour.
  10. Remove and place on wire rack.
  11. Enjoy while still slightly warm with butter. Would also be lovely served in a bowl with stew!

Makes 6 or 7

 


 

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How cheaply and healthily can a person live on WW2 rationing during times of emergency?

Have you lost your job, your business or have limited food supplies?

**I’m reposting this article as I feel that during our current times of unreliable supplies and economic uncertainty due to the global Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, most of us will be having to really pull in our belts and ration our food, certainly try and make it stretch further.

Please take a look at the standard food rationing allowance (below) in Britain during WW2. It was created to ensure that EVERYONE had access to the same foods every week/month regardless of wealth. Rationing ENSURED that everyone got their basic needs. People supplemented their rations with other foods they could freely buy in shops (IF available, there was no guarantee and plenty of shortages)and people turned to growing lots of vegetables in their gardens and allotments to ensure health and fuller tummies.

Much love, C xxxx

———————–

Original post from 2017 below

A couple of my goals for 2018 are to save a substantial emergency money fund AND to lose a very achievable 60 lbs in weight. The two things that concern me right now are financial safety and health safety.

One area to save on expenses and stretch things further would, of course, be eating food that doesn’t cost so much but still is healthy. Following a ration book diet, although it sounds austere and boring, could be a perfectly doable way to save money and ensure your food supplies last longer in the short term, it’s certainly worth giving it a go for a month or two…

So out of curiosity I’ve broken down first the guaranteed weekly/monthly ration for an adult into how much each item would cost per person and in addition I’ve also added in the cost of extra staples that a person may typically purchase during the week/month such as bread, oats, pulses etc.

Here is what it roughly worked out as per person per week using today’s prices

2-3 pints milk (Dairy milk 75p- £1.10 Plant milk £1.50-2.00)
8 oz sugar (15p)
2 oz tea- about 25 tea bags (50p)
8 oz margarine/cooking fat (70p)
2 oz butter (45p)
2 oz cheese (40p)
1 egg (15p)
4 oz bacon/ham (40p)
Meat to the value of 1s 2d – could be mutton or small pack of sausages or sliced corned beef (£2)

Additionally, you were guaranteed to be able to buy one large jar of jam every two months (£1.50 every two months), 12 oz of sweets every month (£1.50) and were allocated 16 points every month to purchase other foods in shops if they were available (only rationed food was guaranteed).

Monthly 16 points example (I think I would spend my points on this)

Lentils/Pulses 2 lbs = 4 points = (£2)
Rolled oats 2 lbs = 4 points = (75p)
Baked beans 2 cans = 4 points = (75p)
Bread/small flour = 4 points = (£1)

Vegetables either bought or grown weekly (I’ve used Aldi’s prices using Super 6 where I can – I personally use a seasonal organic box delivery for my vegetables but want to show the cheapest way to eat on food rationing)

1 small swede (28p)
1 small bag potatoes (28p)
1 small bag carrots (19p)
1 small cabbage (50p)
1 small bag apples (£1.50)
A few onions or leeks (50p)

Using all the above as a rough example I can see that the monthly amount spent on all the above to feed 1 person for 1 month works out to be

£39.00 ( about $52 USD) for one month.

This unbelievably works out at less than £1.30 per day per person for breakfast, dinner, lunch and extra fruit.

What do you spend? Is it more or less than this? Please share!

C xxxxxxxxxxxx

Recommended pages and posts

182 Wartime Recipes re-created
The Pandemic Pantry online global community FREE cookbook project
7 Ration Book Recipes to Beat the Coronavirus Pandemic Panic Buying.

SOME GREAT YOUTUBE CHANNELS & BLOGS BELOW!

Prepper Princess – Love this gal! She lives in the USA, an independent strong woman with lots of self-sufficiency skills working towards financial independence. Click here!

Homestead Tessie – She loves being as frugal and self-sufficient as possible with what she’s got and she loves creating daily videos! Click here!

Compost and Custard – I’ve known Naomi online for over 20 years. She has a passion for self-sufficiency and home schooling, nature, permaculture and wildlife. Click here!

Riverford Organic Farmers – loads of online recipes as well as supplying organic fresh veg via box. Click here!

Alaska Granny – The AlaskaGranny channel teaches how to become more resilient and resourceful. I like to use what I have to make what I need, and enjoy sharing tips and tricks to help others do the same. Click here!

The Money Freaks, Dave Ramsey Style: Claire Graves runs this excellent Facebook group. Click here to join!