Depression Era Cooking

I usually throw out leftovers and any food that doesn't look just right. Now, that's not the way to get through hard times, is it?

Tonight I was about to throw away a few scrawny little potatoes, but instead peeled them and cut away the black parts and chopped and rinsed them. Then I chopped some cooked pork and threw it and the potatoes into a hot skillet with a little bit of oil and browned them. Then added a small amount of water, lowered the heat, slapped a lid on the skillet and simmered the whole mess until the potatoes were tender and the water boiled away. Of course, I had added salt, pepper, sage and other stuff. The result wasn't pretty, but I ate it up too fast to make a picture of it, anyway. The only way it would have been better would be if I had remembered to add some hot sauce.

Yesterday I was about to throw out a couple of eggs, noticed that the carton said they were good until March 9, so I got out a can of creamed corn and made the best corn casserole/pudding I've ever tasted. I just put in less than half a cup of flour, a sprinkle of corn meal, and some skim milk and salt and stuff, then baked it in a buttered casserole dish. I did remember to add the Louisiana hot sauce, which makes everything better except maybe dessert. Well, I had a hard time saving enough of the casserole for lunch today.

I call this ad lib cooking, and it nearly always turns out better than when I follow a recipe.