Featured Image Credit: YouTube/Great Depression Cooking with Clara
Topics: Money, Food and Drink, YouTube, Social Media
Poppy Bilderbeck
Topics: Money, Food and Drink, YouTube, Social Media
A great grandmother's YouTube channel showcased meals she cooked during the Great Depression.
The Great Depression may've taken place nearly 100 years ago, but amid a cost of living crisis with people struggling with inflated electricity bills and pay-checks which simply aren't catching up, many have been trying to cut costs wherever they can. And it seems one woman's cooking channel is proving just what many people need.
Great Depression Cooking with Clara sees the author, cook and great grandmother 'recount her childhood during the Great Depression as she prepares meals from the era'.
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Filmed by her grandson, the pair embarked on a cooking channel from 2007-2012, beginning when Clara was 91 years old.
In the first ever meal filmed for her show, Clara shows viewers how to make 'the poor man's meal' which she ate during the Depression which consists of 'potatoes and hot dogs'. As the chef sets to work on peeling the potatoes, she recalls having to 'quit high school' amid the Great Depression because she 'couldn't afford socks'.
"Couldn't afford anything to wear, but we survived," Clara continued. "We all survived. We were all fat from eating potatoes."
She added: "My father used to buy a sack of potatoes and we ate potatoes every day. Potatoes with pasta, potatoes fried, potatoes with eggs."
A little bit of onion goes in with the potatoes, a drizzle of oil and the hot dogs get fried in there as well - with Clara noting 'anything cheap' they'd 'stick in' - and it hasn't taken long for people to flood to the video to weigh in on the meal.
One YouTube user said: "Me watching these videos in 2019: So relaxing. Me watching these videos in 2020: Aggressive note-taking."
Another added: "In this harsh economy, I just made the poor man's meal again for my family and they loved it! It's January 21, 2024 and all these years later, Clara is still in our hearts."
A third commented: "When you think it about, it's really incredible. Clara passed away seven years ago and her videos are needed now more than ever. It's almost as if Clara was preparing us for the hard times we would face in 2020 when she wouldn't be here to help in person. God bless this wonderful lady. She is missed very much."
Indeed, Clara sadly passed away in 2013 aged 98. However, her channel notes: "She left us with her recipes and stories and hoped that they would continue to entertain and teach you and your future generations."
And if you want more of her money-saving recipes, you can even buy her book with recipes, 'wisdom' and 'memories' galore from Amazon and B&N.