If you are homeschooling, you may want to do a historical lesson on the Titanic. The anniversary of the disaster is Thursday, and it’s a subject children and adults alike find extremely interesting. If you plan to check out library books on the subject, do it quickly before they are gone.
My favorite book is “Last Dinner on the Titanic,” and I use it each year because it contains recipes made on that fateful night. The Edwardians had many different entrees that night, but we will only be having Roast Sirloin of Beef Forestiere, Chateau Potatoes and Creamed Carrots.
For dessert, it will be French Vanilla ice cream with chocolate eclairs. I’ll buy the dessert, but the first three recipes I’ll enjoy making and thinking about where they came from. These recipes are also online. They are long — too long for this column. They teach history, cooking and manners. Never let these things go.
The Titanic’s glitz and glamour in 1912 were just a few years short of the Great Depression, which showed its ugly head in 1929. West Virginia announced this month the state is in a deep recession, so it’s not our imagination that things feel terribly wrong.
If you feel you can’t make ends meet, you are not alone. Comparisons are being drawn between the Great Depression and now. The food lines are longer now than then. There are people living in cars, tents and with family, just as then. “Brother Can You Spare a Dime?” became a hit song. A perfect storm in the stock market and Black Thursday happened.
As factories close, people find they cannot support their families. Pay you can live on, with benefits and job security, are all but gone.
Value healthy food
With the new food-stamp requirements, food banks will get hit even harder. We must support food banks and food pantries and watch out for our neighbors.
When you give gifts of food, give healthy items if you can. This costs more, but I was looking at the prices at Aldi, and I realized this is a great store to shop if you want competitive pricing on healthy items. I found many gluten-free items including gluten-free brown rice, spaghetti priced at $1.49, organic tomato and basil pasta sauce for $1.49, almond butter for $4.99, Live Free brand baked chewy bars, gluten-free granola and organic items.
IGA has a new red code “Helping End Child Hunger” with a great sale. Save $2 when you buy 10 participating products. These products are 80 cents each: Hunt’s Pasta Sauce, Chef Boyardee canned pasta, Hunt’s tomatoes, sunflower seeds, Slim Jim Giant, Hunt’s Ketchup and Banquet Pot Pies.
This week at Kroger
Kroger’s Buy 10 Save $5 Sale is on. Count the items very carefully. Some use a shopping bag to keep items separated in their buggies. You must have 10 of the exact size and product. These are known by the minus sign. Take your ad with you to make sure this is the right item. Ask if you’re not sure. Check the Kroger clearance buggies.
Church pantries
I visited a church last week that has food and clothing pantries: First Baptist of Flatwoods.
I also know the Methodist church on Carter Avenue has a huge ministry. If your church has a food ministry, please tell me so I can let the people know.
If you don’t have such a ministry, please consider making sure your people are getting what they need. Diabetics need specific items. Meals at church can supplement your families’ needs. Feeding your members on Wednesdays and again on Sunday ensures everyone’s needs are met.
Consider trusted people for kitchen work and cleanup. There are many things to consider, such as food-service rules and kitchen inspections. But what a ministry — feeding the people!
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