FOUR MOTHERS

Old Mother Frugal’s ancestors came from Italy back in the early 1900’s.  The family is now into its fifth generation here in the United States.

Passed down throughout the generations has been the family red sauce or red gravy recipe.

The sauce or gravy, as referenced by some Italian families, has another name. Sunday Sauce.

Before there were blenders, microwave ovens, crock pots and Insta-Pots, there was a gas stove, a pair of hands, a large pot and a wood spoon in a walk-up apartment in Little Italy on Mulberry Street in New York City.

This was a time when “clean eating” and “whole 30” was a way of life, not a style of eating. It was a time when meal planning during the Great Depression meant having a family member standing on a line for bread or food. It was a time when there was no food waste.

It was also a time when neighbors took care of neighbors.

The story goes that in Old Mother Frugal’s family, Grandma and Grandpa Frugal had jobs so they cooked and fed the families in their apartment building when families had no food. The sharing of food was passed down to the next generation, Old Mother Frugal’s parents. They in turn passed food sharing onto their children. Old Mother Frugal now cooks and shares food with her Mother’s Little Helpers.  Mother’s Little Helpers are now cooking and sharing as well.

Four generations of mothers. Four generations of cooks sharing their love of food with others. The newer gadgets that have been invented since the early 1900’s have improved food preparation. What has lasted through generations are good hearts, a large pot, a good pair of hands and a wood spoon.

SOUND THE BULGE! Today’s tip: There are plenty of recipes on the internet on “how to” make spaghetti sauce. Here are two tips that will make your sauce successful. Allow one hour/28 oz can of simmering time and when your wood spoon can stand on its own in the center of the pot, your sauce is ready to be served. Mangia!

 

 

CAKE TAKES A POUNDING

Now that the heat of summer has gone and the crisp cool autumn days are upon us, all sorts of baking inspirations bombard Old Mother Frugal’s brain. Time to try out those endless recipe clippings crowding the recipe box!

Earlier this fall, all things pumpkin appeared in the cooking repertoire. This included cooking those Halloween pumpkins and using the cooked pumpkin for the Thanksgiving pies this year. Fresh pumpkin has a different flavor than canned and a different coloring as well.

One recipe that has been hanging around the recipe box, front and center, was a lemon buttermilk pound cake. It looked delicious in the magazine picture. It was going to be a bit of clean-up for one pound cake. So why make one? Make two! One for now, and one will be for the freezer.

Being frugal doesn’t only apply to money; it applies to one’s time as well. Filling the oven with as many baked goods at the same time as possible is also a cost savings. A single layer round cake, a tray of cupcakes and a loaf pan will fit comfortably in an oven.

Back to the lemon pound cake…

The recipe called for the cake to be baked for 65-75 minutes. Timer set at 55 minutes, because they say “ovens will vary”. Undercooked at 55 minutes, it stayed in the oven an additional 10 minutes, bringing it to the 65 minute minimum. Through the glass baking dish, it appeared a bit too brown on the sides and on the bottom.

Once cooled and released from the baking dish, part of the pound cake remained attached to the bottom of the greased loaf pan. Burnt. The pound cake was more or less a “half pound cake”, looking very unattractive and unappealing to eat.

Of course, it could not be thrown away because there are now two of these and lots of ingredients. With the assistance of social media and Google, the pound cake was transformed into trifle. Old Mother Frugal’s pantry had the requisite ingredients and having never made trifle, the challenge was on!

This experience does show that one can turn lemon into lemonade. Adding some blueberries and whipped topping just was the “icing on the cake”.

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s tip: The prices of food and ingredients to cook food have escalated this year. Just look at the price of eggs. Don’t be so quick to toss a failure into the trash. With some ingenuity and social media acquaintances, your dinner guests will delight in your creation!