Boat cooking: 1965-present

Scott and I have majorly simplified our eating in the past few months. Part of it was an experiment to see if 1) we could reduce our grocery budget 2) I could get healthier food down his gullet. Goal #1 was definitely met, mostly by not buying the pre-seasoned, easy cook noodles and rice type stuff. That crap costs a heck of a lot more than uncooked (uncanned) beans and rice! I think we've begun eating healthier on the whole, too, but I'm certain every nutritionist would shake his/her head at the amount of Ramen we eat. However, our Ramen almost always has veggies cooked in it (usually carrots, sometimes corn, and on rare occasion, peas). And we don't consume most of the broth. We've cut probably 3/4 of the meat we had been eating out of our diet, and filled much of that space with vegetables. On the whole, it has been a health gain.

I've even learned how to cook black beans in our hand-me-down pressure cooker from Mrs. G. First I asked for advice from Mrs. Moon, chef-extraordinaire. Then I read the Recipe Book before first using my new cooking apparatus, finding the giggles along the way. Along with cooking and cleaning instructions, other gems of informative text include:

In addition, every housewife is interested in the saving made through the reduction of cooking fuel costs... when using a Pressure Cooker. Inasmuch as foods cook in a fraction of the time usually required, naturally costs are greatly reduced.

(First, a grammar thing: why is there an ellipses after costs?) Grammar aside, I actually do care quite a lot about cooking fuel expenses. It has been my main motivation for obtaining such a thing.

The Recipe Book then goes on to explain:

Also, when preparing soups and stews, the housewife can be assured that all the health-giving vitamins and minerals contributed by each ingredient will be retained to the maximum degree.

I really do need to get myself a nice new apron to cook with this thing. I'd hate to mess my dress while making dinner every night! Be assured, also, that there will be no scurvy on this boat. Our vitamins will not get tossed overboard with the cooking water here!

It is a Presto Pressure Cooker, and the front cover or the Recipe Book proudly boasts that it was made in Eau Claire, WI, just a hop, skip and a jump from where I grew up, and merely a hop from where all my adult life was spent up until I moved to Seattle. However, I'm pretty sure I wasn't even born yet when this pressure cooker was actually being produced. The Recipe Book is copyright 1965.

I've gotta hand it to Mrs. G, this Pressure Cooker and Recipe Book are in dang good shape for being older than her children are! Here's a woman who takes care of her stuff!

The recipes inside the Recipe Book (I like typing Recipe Book, it's quaint) are deliciously midwestern: Brown Beef Soup, Porcupine Meatballs (yum), Fresh Tongue (yum, yum), Smoked Tongue (yum, yum, YUM, oh, but it doesn't say which animal's tongue... it does, however, give the weight the tongue should be: 3 lbs), Weiner Schnitzel, Norwegian Meatballs, Veal Birds (what's a Veal Bird?), Ham with Scalloped Potatoes, Pork Hocks with Sauerkraut and Potatoes, Economy Pork Steak, Meat Cabbage Rolls, German Potato Salad, Perch, and Brown Betty (I have no idea).

Now, jumping ahead a few decades, just this morning I came across a free e-cookbook, Stonesoup: Minimalist Home Cooking from one of the blogs I read. The recipes are easy, look very tasty, and also seem to take into mind my sensitivity to the amount of cooking fuel necessary for each recipe. Recipes here include: Simple Soba Soup, Shaved Fennel Salad with Snowpeas, Baby Spinach Salad with Couscous and Almonds, and Egg Fried Rice. Oh, and lots of other recipes, too.

If you're curious, go ahead, download it yourself. The pictures are pretty, too.

:)
Mandy