Depression Cooking with Clara

Whenever I hear that we're heading for the next Great Depression I wonder how this generation will cope. Listen and watch as 93 year-old Clara Cannucciari teaches us how to cook a typical meal from her Great Depression family kitchen and recants her stories of the struggles and joys that she experienced as a child. 

Clara's webblog



If you enjoyed this cooking lesson, check out her other videos, which were filmed by her grandson Christopher Cannucciarri.  Her Sicilian Christmas (Cucidati Fig &Nut) cookie episode and her Poor Man's Feast are especially wonderful.  With each video Clara sprinkles her cooking with nuggets of wisdom and honesty about the  hardships of those years, yet she remains  joyful and delighted to share these treasured recipes and memories. What a wonderful spirit!

You can also listen to this song, Blue Moon, written by Rodgers & Hart in 1933 and performed by the great jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli in 1990, with Martin Taylor on guitar and John Burr on string bass.  Talk about cookin'!

Comments

Veronica Wald said…
What a BEAUTIFUL production!
"We ate potatoes and pasta during the depression, but we all survived" and "That's all we ate, pasta and vegetables." That and the use of olive oil rather than all-American lard, are probably the reasons Clara is so healthy in mind and body at her age!
March 1, 2009 at 8:47 AM
Aluminati, said…
Clara is full-on charming, funny and a joy to watch!
I agree that the olive oil is probably the secret ingredient to her sharp and witty persona. I love her Christmas Cookie video where she bakes with her grand daughters-or are they her great-grand-daughters? She is a pip!
March 1, 2009 at 9:10 AM
Anonymous said…
Karin - that was fabulous! I forgot to write a response last week when I first saw your post. I made pasta, peas and potatoes on Monday night and Gregg said "Wow Carol, this is GREAT!" Who knew! Good old Clara knows. That is also so funny about her turning off the stove and covering the pasta and just letting it cook. I inherited that trait from my grandma Carrie Bottini - "Never waste energy - always turn off the stove and let it cook itself!" she would say. Those ladies knew how to cook and feed their families, that is for sure!
March 4, 2009 at 4:39 PM
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