It was quite a revelation how easily people took for granted that they always had four burners to cook on. The elements in our stove were usually always cracked except for one. They were also on replaced by one. That left us with one operating burner and one cast iron skillet and one one large cooking pot. The big pot when full, contained lentil soup thick with sliced of potato and sometimes carrots. At other times split peas with fatty hammocks and at other times potatos. Potatos were a main staple. Boiling in there skins or mashed sometimes fried in bacon grease. When there was someone from church who was up for driving us out to a local farm field, we would somehow end up with empty gunny sacks that would be filled as full as we were able to carry, scoot, pull and lift into open car trunks. The gleaning was only once met with hostility. I don't remember if we asked or just assumed it would be alright to pick the left overs from the field. Four bags later we were on our way.one bag was always for the driver. We all picked until my mom and grandma said we had enough. The potatos sat in the kitchen where we pulled from the bag as needed until they were gone or startIng to sprout roots and go soft.sometimes they would start to smell and the liquid that accumulated I the bottom left wet brown streaks of liquid on the linoleum. Potatos saved us at the end of the month when they were all there was to eat. The beginning of the month ment fried chicken and salad dressed in home made dressing. Mom would shake the glass with her hand coving the top and after filling it with oil, salt peppery deviation and vinegar along with a teaspoon of sugar, it was shaken and poured over the salad. Thick slices of German bologna was fried with onions and eat with bread and mayonnaise. Sometimes doused with catsup if it was on hand. Hot dogs were sliced down the center and tucked in a thick sheet of mayonnaise and then rolled up in a a slice of bread. Hamburger patties that were filled with chopped onions and smothered in packaged gravy was also a good meal day. There was rarely much deviation from this menu.the times where she was really sick we fended for our selves buying Tonys pizzas and sugar crisp creal. When there were food stamps there was food and when they ran out we went hungry or ate at other kids homes when we could. When the stove top elements all broke open we used to toaster as a fondue pot slash grill sticking forks through hot dogs while Sitting on the counter, we stuck first one end and then the other end into the toaster until it became crispy and dripped fat that could be heard slipping onto the orange hot wires in the toaster slot. Two people could grill at the same time if both slots worked. Bologna was fried this way to then rolled into slices of bread. No one was ever electrocuted.
We taught the other kids this trick too. Never sure who came up with the idea. Never have met any one else that did this in their kitchen. Don't understand why the idea never caught on. I think a toaster is an important appliance to have. So is a can opener. I remember someone calling it a church key once. Still don't know why they came up with that name. When the dial broke on our tv we figured out the metal prong it had been attached to was just the size of the hole on the square side of the opener. If you turned it withe right amount of angle and pressure it turned the channel. It often just hung there on the tv unless someone had to open a can. If it got lost a wrench was second best option or pliers. Those had to be borrowed from the neighbor. Socks over the hands were mittens and bread sacks tied with shoe laces at the calf were snow boots with the added advantage of slickness for hickey bobbin which we thought we invented. Hanging on to the back of a bumper for several blocks without crashing and burning was a hero status for the day. Especially if the driver was unable to shake them ff even when jerking the steering wheel in fish tail mode. Sometimes it became a good way to get to school a little sooner by shaving off a few blocks of walking time. Sometimes the drivers were aware other times not that they had a hitch Hiker attached to their bumper. No one ever cracked their open or were pulled into the wheel well. We were talen