Rationing fact: Before WW2 Britain imported around 55 million tons of food per year from other countries. Today’s Menu: (With Bryn’s scores) Breakfast: Pancakes and Strawberries (5/5) “The pancakes were the nicest thing I’ve eaten today.” Making pancakes would have used up our joint egg rations for the week, but for the purpose of this experiment we have our own chickens just as the people who lived here during WW2 would have done.
Lunch: Ham (Bryn had veggie sausages left from yesterday), boiled potatoes, salad and bread. (3.5/5)
Afternoon tea: Fruit Scones made by my 4 year old. Yummy!
Dinner: Woolton pie, roast potatoes, garden peas (4.5/5)
My thoughts: Another day in the kitchen interrupted only by a trip to the farm shop to get more fruit and veg! I have to confess that I am really enjoying the luxury of being allowed to cook, though I think that this is partly the novelty factor. Possibly 14 years of this might not be so much fun. I have been thinking a lot today about how women coped during ww2. They must have been utterly exhausted. I am, and I am only doing the cooking. How women managed doing the laundry by hand, cleaning, shopping, childcare and everything else, I do not know. On top of that there was a war going on! At any minute the sirens could sound and you would have to head off to the bomb shelter. What a life to live. Our house lends itself very effectively to putting myself in the shoes of people from the past. It was built around 1711 and so it has been full of families since that time. I often sit in the kitchen and know that I’m looking at the same views, hearing the same sounds and dealing with the same trials of family life as all of those who have lived here before. The other thing I’ve noticed today is how little waste we are creating with this experiment. Everything we are using is either eaten or recycled in some way. All of the peelings and scraps have either been composted or fed to our Guinea pigs.
We have left overs in the fridge, so it’s nice to have the odd snack ready if we are hungry. However, I have felt full up all day long. Rations have been more than enough today. Packaging is mainly paper or tins all of which have gone into the recycling bins. So that’s a nice positive side effect of living more simply! Bryn’s thoughts: I’m a bit more used to rations now, but I’m getting through my sweets quite quickly! My goal is to keep my red sweet until the end of the week. Today I have felt more full up than yesterday and I have had fun playing with my brother and sister in a boat we built in the garden.
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