Our diet is changing each decade

Recently I have been a little awkward when cooking due to tremors and being unsteady on my feet. To help us out with this situation, many of our church family, club members, neighbors, and relatives have helped out by bringing food occasionally. Often the dish brought to us was some type of casserole. They are so good, easy to transport, and usually have meat, potatoes or rice, and some vegetables so very little more is needed for a balanced meal. We appreciated them very much.

Tonight as I washed the container that one such dish was delivered in, I asked Lester if his mother ever made casseroles. He replied that she did not. Their meal contained all that I mentioned going into a casserole, but they were separate dishes. I admitted that the first time I ate a one-pot meal was the summer Miriam was cooking for us between jobs during the Depression. She made Hungarian Goulash. which has meat, rice, tomatoes, cheese and some spices. I loved it and still cook it often.

Other things we eat now we would never have known about or considered cooking for a neighbor in need. The only pasta that was ever known about in our house was macaroni and cheese. Again, I loved it and still do. We never ate raw spinach in a salad or any other way, Spinach soup was something unheard of, and spaghetti was only a meal served in comedies for laughs.

We ate a lot of fresh fruit such as apples, grapes, blackberries, strawberries, watermelon, peaches and plums. If we didn't have a tree or two (or some vines) of each of these fruits, then some neighbor did and we would swap what we had with their goodies and maybe work together to make jellies, jams, canned fruit for later pies or cakes.

In our family we never ate mushrooms. I don't know if it was fear, or the trouble of making sure they were safe. I like them now, but not as well as I like some of the other things I mentioned.

My mother made some dishes that the modern housewife has rarely used, or would not be looking for after a disaster. One would be white flour gravy from bacon grease. She wouldn't flavor it with sausage or any of the spicier meats. I love it, but can't eat what most cafes offer as white gravy and biscuits.

My father loved pig knuckles and sauerkraut, but none of the family joined him in this taste treat. He would order it at a very nice restaurant in Washington D.C.; we would pretend we weren't eating with him until it came time to pay the bill. Lester's parents ate a lot of squirrel which they shot themselves. I don't see many people having longings for squirrel meat now, but it was a big help during Depression years in the Ozarks.

But let's turn that around a bit. Our parents never used a quick food restaurant. We could go into Wardin's Drug Store when we were in town to buy a milk shake, but we rarely would buy a hamburger and a shake for a meal. Wardin's would give us two little cookies on a plate beside our milk shake, but they did not serve cooked food. If we took food with us in the car for an outing, we stopped to eat it and did not try to eat it while we were moving. We could have chewing gum in the car, but no drinks or sandwiches.

We only drank "pop" when we went to a ball game in the neighborhood and there was a big tub full of ice and water to cool the drinks. Ones that I remember are: Double Cola, Grapette, and a little later, Pepsi Cola. Dr. Pepper, came later but first was served as a fountain drink.

Those wonderful people who were helpful after our daughter Susan's house fire, our sons' successful heart surgery and my tipsiness chose healthy, helpful food and gifts. This will always be a week that I remember fondly in spite of family problems.