Wartime Wednesday: Meals in a Time of War

 Wartime Wednesday: Meals in a Time of War

Much is made about rationing during World War II. If you think about it, we take food for granted until we can't have something, either because of choice (diet) or lack of availability. During World War II, America not only had to feed her citizens, but her troops, and lend aid to the other Allied nations. Sugar was the first item to be rationed, followed by coffee, then other foodstuffs. Many citizens located in rural already grew their own food, but additional acreage was turned into fields. Backyard gardens popped up in suburban areas and container gardens made a showing in cities where space was limited.

Everyone, from the government to newspaper and magazine publishers issued helpful hints and

recipes. Many periodicals accepted recipes from the general public to fill their pages with point- and money-saving meals. 

Cooks were encouraged to use "Alternate meats," a euphemism for organ meats, and a plethora of recipes were created to make these items palatable. (To the day she died, my mom, who was a child during the war, had little good to say about liver, tongue, or other "alternate meats.")

As someone who loves sweets, I would miss not being able to have desserts at every meal. I imagine that maple syrup and honey became highly popular during the war. Check out these recipes from Ontario, Canada's The Windsor Star.

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War's Unexpected Gift (A Merry Heart anthology)

Love and war don’t mix. Or do they? 

Eager to do even more for the war effort, nurse Gwen Milford puts in for a transfer from a convalescent hospital outside of London to an evac hospital headed across Europe. Leap-frogging from one location to the next, nothing goes as expected from stolen supplies to overwhelming numbers of casualties. Then, there’s the handsome doctor who seems to be assigned to her every shift. As another Christmas approaches without the war’s end, can she find room in her heart for love?

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