"Make Do and Mend"

While in Portsmouth, England in August, my Husband and I went to the Portsmouth D-Day Museum. My Husband has always been interested in anything WWII, but to be honest I've always been quite ignorant on the subject. The extent of my education was that Hitler was trying to take over the world, killed a horrifying amount of innocent people in the process, and the rest of the world banned together to stop him. I have been shocked by facts that I have recently learned through my small education given by my Husband, through the Portsmouth D-Day museum, and now through my own reading. Now I'm kind of getting hooked :)

What has been intriguing me most of all about war-time, is the way people pulled resources together in a time of emergency. I picked up a couple of re-printed war-time books in the gift shop at the D-day museum. The first "Wise Eating in Wartime" and the second " Make Do and Mend"(both books also available on www.Amazon.com for $5 or $6 ea.). Both books were a fantastic read - tips and tricks to get the most out of what you had available to you. The necessity of these books came about mainly because Hitler had sent submarines to take out the import ships carrying food and goods to England. He did this to try to weaken the British people. But instead of panicking and feeling sorry for themselves, the English Ministry of Information began to produce ad campaigns, and books to help people get by as best as they could without needing any imports. How-to books of all sorts began to pop up, how-to grow your own food; recipe books with all sorts of fantastic recipes, even vegan recipes (because veggies were the most readily available food) recipes that stretched your pocket book, but gave you the most nutrition. How-to make clothing, and make clothing last. How-to reuse things; re-purpose things. Studies at the time even showed that people were healthier because their diets were better, and somewhat happier because they took nothing for granted and took pride in what they were able to do for their families and country. Inspiring isn't it?

So, when one of my oh-so-comfortable, canvas shoes I had purchased brand-new for our trip overseas, had sprung a nasty toe hole, I decided to fix it myself, properly. My initial thought was, "darn, I love these shoes, now I have to throw them out!". But instead I opened my trusty little "Make Do and Mend" war-time book, and taught myself how to Darn.
Darning is the term used to mend an article of clothing - but more than that, it means to actually continue the existing weave, as opposed to just whip stitching.

My first attempt is clearly rookie... but I think with some more practice, I could make the Darn blend right in. And with the money I saved on not buying a new pair of shoes, I can put it towards a pedicure ;) , or extra grocery money... or even if I don't NEED anything.. I can invest it maybe? Saving money in this manner doesn't just benefit you if you are trying to scrimp and save, but also if you have an investment/money-making mindset - the money you don't waste on new shoes when it's not necessary, could be put towards investments, just the same.
I'm going to continue educating myself on these war-time household practices.. we all have our own "states of emergency" and these retro housewife tips and tricks could benefit everyone for their own reasons. What is your reason?

Pickling!

 I've always wanted to learn how to pickle. I'm particularly fond of Dill Pickles, but have been shying away from buying them at the grocery store lately, because simply, they can be expensive, and I don't know what I'm eating. I've not taken the initiative until now to learn how to pickle, because I thought the process was arduous and lengthy. But boy oh boy was I wrong! It's dead easy! And now that I know that the ingredients going into my pickles are organic, and free of harsh preservatives (not to mention I'm saving some moola too), I can go back to good ol' pickle heaven.
Now that I know how to do it, I'm going to be trying all sorts of pickle combinations. But until then, here is how you make good ol' fashioned dill pickles. Also, below you will find an excellent recipe for pickled beets as well :) Happy Pickling!

Yummy Pickled Beets!

Scrub your beets well, and cook whole, in salted boiling water until a fork easily penetrates them.
Plunge cooked beets into ice water; slip skins off of beets and cut away any rough parts. Slice your beets :)

In a large saucepan combine and bring to a boil, the following:
2 cups beet cooking water
2 cups vinegar 
4 cups organic cane sugar 
1 whole lemon, thinly sliced
4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 cinnamon sticks (optional)

Fill your sanitized jars with your beet slices. Ladle the canning liquid into the jars. Pop the tops onto your jars and submerge into your canner for a couple of min. Remove jars from the canner, do a quick release of the air (as seen in the above video) and place your finished jars on a rack to cool! :)