One of my grandmother’s favorite snacks in the evening was crumbled saltine crackers in a glass of milk. I know. I’ve never tried it either. But imagine a life where store bought crackers and milk was a treat. I remember stopping by of an evening to visit and she would just be sitting down to this mushy concoction. She always offered to make me me a glass. I always politely declined.
Last evening we stopped by the grocery to grab something for dinner today. We always like to have a nice dinner on Sunday. I voted for beef and noodles. The wife wanted a chuck roast. Yes, thought I, a roast sounds good. We stopped by the grocery. The meat shelves were pretty much bare, except a few rolls of hamburger and some chicken parts. I thought that strange. Maybe the days’ meat delivery didn’t show.
We bought a few canned goods and some juice for the granddaughter and motored down the highway to a big box grocery. Their meat selection was even more decimated. I was becoming concerned. I started a mental inventory of the meat out in the garage freezer. I decided I had the stuff to make lasagna in a pinch. I drove across the street to WalMart. This time the wife said to just let her out and she would see what was available.
She came out with a pack of stew beef. I guess we are having beef and noodles after all. She said the meat shelves were bare, so were the frozen food freezers. Produce was scarce. One store, OK. Two maybe. Three, we have a problem.
Are we heading for shortages and scarcity we haven’t seen in this country for a century? Is it a coincidence that planned meatless days and breadlines always seem to accompany leftist economic policies? I hope this was just a supply chain glitch. I don’t think I can develop a taste for crackers crumbled in milk.
My grandmother was in the middle of a pack of 12 siblings and grew up in a Southern rural farm-made it through the Spanish flu, the Depression and WWII. Was the major wage earner in her marriage(an award winning saleswoman for Sears)because her spouse was a drunk. She died at 53 from cancer in the 1960's. Talk about a hard life! But I never heard her complain or expect special treatment.
ReplyDeleteMy mother, her daughter, loved plain country food, like what she was raised on by her mother and would often snack on saltines in a glass of milk, but it had to be buttermilk. ;-)
We've come a long way from that era/time and it's not always a "good thing".
Enjoy your humble snack...
Wow, until you wrote about the crackers in milk I had forgotten all about it. Uncle to raised me was born in 1894 and in the 40's coming home from Farmall from second shift. I would creep out of my Aunt's bed and he would often have crackers in milk but preferred buttermilk. Another favorite was boiled potatoes he would put butter on and eat them cold. You do what you have to to get through the bad times. Last week went to pick up a chuck roast, less then 4lb and it was $40.00. Nope, can't do it!
ReplyDeleteMargi
My grandma also lived through the depression and was orphaned at the age of 9. I don't know her entire story, and she kept a lot close to the vest, but I believe she found the Salvation Army at a very young age. She was a member/officer for 80 years. ,Way, way back, she was one of the women who take their tambourines into bars and collect money for "the Army" (Grandpa would wait in the truck outside). And they would receive many donations because patrons knew the Army would always be there for them.
ReplyDelete(And hearing about the Army's latest stunt kinda makes me blood boil, btw.)
But, anyway, Grandma absolutely DESPISED tomatoes. Would not touch them.
True Americans they were. Much wiser and kinder than most today.
Fred
We ate buttermilk with cornbread crumbled in the buttermilk for a snack. I cannot imagine anyone today, a little kid, would like that for a snack. We ate it because, why not?
ReplyDelete