As we start another week, we at The Girl Who Wore Freedom wondered how our family, friends, and supporters are faring during this historical time. We 
hope that you are all healthy and following the safety recommendations in your areas. While this is unsettling and the future seems unclear, stories from our shared past show us there is strength facing the unknown together. I am sure you have seen the many images and quotes floating around, encouraging us to sacrifice just as the “greatest generation” did during World War II.
Walking the partially empty aisles of my local supermarket, amazed at what was gone and what was left, I wondered what my grandparents would do in this situation. They would have made due, making meals with a lot less than I was able to buy that day. When I was younger, I talked with my grandparents about their life during the Depression and the War. They shared how there wasn’t enough of some items, but they traded neighbors and shared with those in need. I do not have any of their recipes or cookbooks from that time, and I have no idea how they fed their large families.
Curious to reclaim this bit of lost history, I began researching both rationing and cooking with rationed items. I found several articles on war rationing at The National WWII Museum, History Channel, and the Ames History Museum. Even more interesting were the recipes that I located from the time of World War II.
A taste of wartime rationing in 1940s product cookbooks
The 1940’s Experiment: 100 Wartime Recipes
WW2 WAR CAKE (which feeds 15!)
That last recipe sounds the best due to the inclusion of chocolate. It was created by the recipe writer’s grandmother during World War II but does not 
require milk, butter or eggs. This week with a little extra time on my hands, the kids and I are going to try to make the ration cake and maybe a few others from this list.
We want to invite you to join us and cook something from one of the recipes above or one of your family favorites. Please share pictures of the finished product here or with us on social media. If you are not up to cooking this week just let us know how you are doing in the comments below, at normandystories@gmail.com, on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
Melissa Perkins
Writer/Social Media for The Girl Who Wore Freedom
Melissa is a teacher at heart who loves learning and history. She especially loves igniting a passion for learning in her students. She also wishes this will be a thank you to the veterans she loves, including her grandfather, father, uncles, brother-in-law, and friends who have served selflessly. She lives in Kentucky with her very patient and supportive husband and her precocious and imaginative two children.
Don’t forget Victory gardens! Interesting article!
Thanks for reading Laura. You are right Victory Gardens made a huge difference. Maybe when more of the country starts planting later this month we can do a piece on what was planted in most Victory Gardens. With so many people home with their families right now we hoped this would encourage them to cook together and share the results online.
Love this, its perfect for homeschoolers!
It is perfect for homeschoolers! In fact, the kids and I are tackling the chocolate cake later this afternoon. Thanks for reading!
Thank for sharing this! Its inspiration for creative cooking, a tribute to our grandparents, and also a reminder that we still have it really good today!
Thanks for reading and commenting Shannon. I hope we inspired you to get creatively cooking. If so please share your pics with us on social media.
Our family lived on ration-style in the late 50’s and early 60’s. I was so young, I didn’t know any better-it seemed “normal” to me.
Thanks for the comment, Wayne. Even now my kids are way more flexible and accepting of our situation. To them, a lack of something at the store is just an amusing exercise in what else we can use instead.