I’m an all in kind of person, which sometimes causes my life to look like a swirls of colors blending together. Our homeschool history topics have always had a way of slipping into our meal, movie picks and free time choices. Now that I’m writing a historical, our home has taken on certain elements of the 1930s. So last night my kiddos and husband became my depression era research tools.

Lentils and rice, beef with olive oil and lemon, lettuce with olive oil, lemon and oregano.

 Meal time is often an adventure in the Nelson home. If you don’t believe me, check out this earlier post. I’m finding I refer to food a lot in my current manuscript. So, of course, I had to try feeding my family the way Miriam McCallister (the mother in my work-in-progress) would have fed her family.

I went to the internet for ideas. What a treasure I discovered on Youtube! If you haven’t watched Great Depression Cooking with Clara, make sure to do so. In fact, I’ve added her explanation of the meal I prepared right here.

Granted, my characters would probably not have had access to lemons, but starting the family off with a “feast” seemed the kind thing to do. And guess what. They really liked it! They even liked the lentils and rice once they added a touch of salt.

One thing I learned, lentils really grow.  They’re like the Incredible Hulk, small and unimpressive one moment, then trying to burst from the pot the next. We’ll be eating lentils and rice again tonight. And maybe again tomorrow.

I have a tendency to cook more elaborate meals with many ingredients. Clara’s meal was easy and I felt good about feeding it to my family.  I think we’re ready to go deeper into our research.