Christmas In Muskoka On A Homestead / Pioneer Budget; Making Do With Less Without Sacrifice

Early Morning In The Bog Photo by Rob Currie

Muskoka Beach on Lake Muskoka  in the mist. Rob Currie Photo

HARD TIMES COMING? CHRISTMASES PAST MAY INSPIRE A MORE THOUGHTFUL, LESS EXPENSIVE SEASON

OIL AND GAS PRICES DROPPING, STOCK MARKET JITTERS, MEAT PRICES THROUGH THE BARN ROOF, BUT THE FRUGAL AMONGST US, STILL THRIVE!

      TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGING. CHRISTMAS OR NOT, OIL BARONS DON'T CARE ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON WITH OUR PERSONAL ECONOMIES. THEY'VE BEEN SCREWING US FOR YEARS, SO WHAT'S DIFFERENT TODAY. THIS TIME, I SUPPOSE YOU COULD SAY, THEY'RE SCREWING THEMSELVES FIRST OF ALL, OUT OF SPITE, AND US SECOND. WHEN THE TITANS OF INDUSTRY SQUARE OFF AGAINST ONE ANOTHER, WE WIN SOMETIMES, BUT MOSTLY LOSE. ALTHOUGH WE WILL BENEFIT FROM LOWER PRICES AT THE PUMPS, AND REDUCTIONS IN OUR WINTER HEATING COSTS, IF WE USE OIL OR GAS, THERE COULD WELL BE THE ECONOMIC TIDAL WAVE OF JOBS LOSSES, AND A GLUT OF RESIDENTIAL PROPERTIES FOR SALE. WHILE A REAL ESTATE BUBBLE MAY NOT HAVE BURST OF ITS OWN INFLATION, THE IMPACT OF OIL INDUSTRY DECLINES, MAY INFLUENCE THE BANKS TO TIGHTEN UP LENDING POLICIES. IT IS WITHOUT QUESTION A HIGH RISK PERIOD, THE RESULT OF INFLATION IN LIVING COSTS, AND UNCERTAIN EARNINGS IN CANADA'S BIG RESOURCE BASED INDUSTRY. AS FOR THE REST OF US, WONDERING IF WE'RE DIVERSIFIED ENOUGH IN OUR INVESTMENT PORTFOLIOS, IT' JUST ANOTHER DAY OF FEAR AND LOATHING TO ENDURE. IT DOES, IN THE SENSE OF MODERN DAY STRESSES, INSPIRE A FEW OF US ANTIQUARIANS, TO DRAW STRENGTH AND STABILITY FROM A BYGONE ERA. THERE ARE A FEW OF US SURVIVORS OF HISTORY, WHO DON'T SUBSCRIBE TO THE "MONEY GROWS ON TREES," AND "IF IT BREAKS, JUST BUY ANOTHER," WAY OF LIVING. IT DOESN'T MEAN WE'RE MODERN DAY HOMESTEADERS, LIVING LIKE 1960'S HIPPIES, IN COMMUNE SETTINGS, TO SAVE A BUCK. WE ARE FOLKS JUST LIKE YOU, WHO THINK HISTORY HAS ESTABLISHED PRECEDENTS, THAT ARE USEABLE AND SENSIBLE; AND WE CAN READ CLEARLY, ABOUT THE "BEFORE" AND "AFTER" REALITIES, OF ECONOMIC INITIATIVES THAT EITHER SUCCEEDED OR FAILED MISERABLY, BEFORE WE INVEST A DIME. (I WAS, WITHOUT THINKING, GOING TO USE 'PENNY,' UNTIL I REALIZED IT'S NO LONGER AROUND). THIS IS ONE OF THOSE TIMES, WHEN HISTORIANS GET TO SAY, "SEE, WE TOLD YOU THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN, AND IT HAS!" METHINKS OUR COUNTRY IS IN A PICKLE, AND THAT'S NEVER GOOD FOR THOSE OF US WHO GET SEASICK RIDING THE PRECARIOUS WAVES, OF AN ECONOMY ON THE ROCKS. EVEN NOW, IN THIS REGION OF ONTARIO, IT'S A BUYER'S MARKET IN REAL ESTATE, REGARDLESS WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE URBAN AREAS. THERE ARE TOO MANY PROPERTIES FOR SALE, AND NOT ENOUGH BUYERS. SO IF YOU HAVE TO SELL YOUR HOUSE, TO FUNDRAISE, OR TO UNLOAD AS PART OF AN ESTATE, YOU MIGHT HAVE TO DROP EXPECTATIONS, AND INCREASE YOUR PATIENCE FOR A LONG TERM PROCESS. WITH NEWS THIS WEEK, OF A MAJOR GRAVENHURST RESORT BEING CLOSED FOR THE 2015 SEASON, WE PRAY IT'S AN UGLY RUMOR. THERE IS A LOT OF RUMBLING OUT THERE, WE SHOULD PAY ATTENTION TO, A LONG WAY FROM THE ACTUALITY OF THE OIL PATCH DOWNTURN. AND JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS! AS MOST OF US KNOW HOW TO RISE TO THE OCCASION, THERE WILL BE PRUDENT COMPROMISES, AND MAYBE EVEN A LITTLE FRUGAL BEHAVIOR, WHEN IT COMES TO RUNNING UP BILLS FOR CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS. RETAILERS WON'T BE HAPPY ABOUT ME ADMITTING SUCH A THING, BUT HEY, I'M A RETAILER AS WELL. AND WE'RE GOING TO BE FRUGAL THIS CHRISTMAS; BUT WE'RE GOING TO EAT WELL.
      HAVING GROWN UP IN A FAMILY THAT SURVIVED PAY CHEQUE TO PAY CHEQUE, AND SOMETIMES UNEMPLOYMENT CHEQUE TO CHEQUE, FOR MANY YEARS, AND HAVING SURVIVED RATHER WELL, I UNDERSTOOD FULLY BACK THEN, HOW TO GET ALONG AND BE HAPPY WITH LESS. IT'S NOT LIKE THERE WAS ANY ILLUSION ABOUT HOW WELL-OFF WE WERE, BECAUSE ALL I NEEDED TO DO, WAS LOOK DOWN AT MY WET FEET, AND THE BOOTS WITH QUARTER SIZED HOLES IN THEM. MY MOTHER WOULD TELL ME THAT I WOULD GET NEW BOOTS "NEXT YEAR." SUZANNE'S FAMILY WAS INFINITELY BETTER OFF THAN WE WERE, BUT RUNNING A MARINA IN WINDERMERE, WAS STILL A FEAST AND FAMINE SCENARIO, DEALING WITH THE BOOM OF THE SUMMER MONTHS, AND THE DECLINE OF INCOME OVER THE OFF-SEASON. SUZANNE'S MOTHER, HARRIET, FROM PIONEER STOCK IN THIS REGION (THE SHEAS OF UFFORD), KNEW HOW TO RUN A ECONOMICALLY EFFICIENT HOUSEHOLD, WITHOUT DISADVANTAGING ANYONE. NO ONE WENT HUNGRY, OR UNCLOTHED, OR WITHOUT PRESENTS ON CHRISTMAS MORNING. OH THE FOOD. THAT WONDERFUL ARRAY OF CHRISTMAS BAKING HARRIET WAS FAMOUS FOR IN WINDERMERE. SHE AND SUZANNE MADE SUCH CULINARY DELIGHTS AS "FRYING PAN COOKIES," GINGER SNAPS, AND A MOST DELICIOUS CHRISTMAS CAKE WITHOUT NECESSITATING AN APPLICATION FOR A BANK LOAN.
     MY MOTHER MERLE, HAD GROWN UP IN A PRIVILEGED FAMILY, WITH A MOTHER, (BLANCHE JACKSON), WHO WAS KNOWN TO MAKE A SATISFYING POT OF STEW ON ALL DESCRIPTION OF KITCHEN LEFTOVERS (MORE LIKE SCRAPS); AND THE HOBO BRETHREN IN TORONTO, DURING THE YEARS OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION, KNEW BLANCHE WOULD GIVE THEM ENOUGH SUSTENANCE TO TIDE THEM OVER. I'VE ALWAYS BEEN ENORMOUSLY PROUD OF MY GRANDMOTHER, A FARM GIRL FROM TRENTON, ONTARIO, WHO WAS KIN-FOLK OF THE DUTCH-AMERICAN VANDERVOORT FAMILY, OF NEW YORK, ONE OF THE WELL KNOWN PIONEER FAMILIES OF THE STATE. IT IS WITH MY GRANDMOTHER'S SIDE, THAT I QUALIFY AS THE OFFSPRING OF UNITED EMPIRE LOYALISTS IN CANADA. YET IT WAS ONLY THE JACKSON SIDE OF THE FAMILY TREE THAT GOT ANY ATTENTION FROM THE GENEALOGIST AUNTS AND UNCLES, WHO TRIED TO PIECE OUR ANCESTRY TOGETHER, BUT MOSTLY FROM THE ENGLISH SIDE. BLANCHE WAS SO DOWN TO EARTH, AND I MEAN THAT IN TWO WAYS. AT THE END OF HER LIFE, SHE WAS ABOUT FIVE FOOT, TWO INCHES TALL, BUT SIX FOOT EIGHT IN DETERMINATION, AND SECONDLY, SHE NEVER LOST THE FARM KITCHEN HOSPITALITY, SHE HAD BEEN INFLUENCED BY IN TRENTON. MY MOTHER NEVER RECALLED A TIME, WHEN SOMEONE HUNGRY WAS TURNED AWAY FROM HER KITCHEN. MERLE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT SIGN THE HOBOS HAD USED TO IDENTIFY THE FAMILY HOUSE, AS A PLACE TO VISIT FOR A FREE MEAL, BUT SHE SAID THERE WAS A WHOLE DECADE, IN THE 1930'S UP TO THE SECOND WORLD WAR, WHEN SHE EXPECTED AT LEAST A VISIT EACH DAY. SOME OF THE DRIFTERS WOULDN'T COME INTO THE HOUSE, AND REMAIN ON THE BACK PORCH HAVING A BOWL OF STEW OR THICK SOUP. BLANCHE, ACCORDING TO MY MOTHER, DIDN'T LIKE THIS WAY OF FEEDING THOSE IN NEED, AND SHE WOULD BADGER THEM TO COME AND SIT AT THE BIG KITCHEN TABLE WHERE IT WAS WARM AND MORE COMFORTABLE. THERE WERE TWO RULES. THEY HAD TO CLEAN UP FIRST, AND THERE WAS TO BE NO CUSSING AT THE TABLE.
     MERLE USED TO TELL ME, THAT IN THOSE YEARS, THERE WAS ALWAYS A POT OF "EVERYTHING" STEW, STEAMING ON THE COOKSTOVE, AND NOTHING WAS WASTED THAT WAS EDIBLE, AND NOURISHING TO FAMILY AND FRIENDS. IT'S HOW MY MOTHER AND FATHER GOT US THROUGH OUR OWN HARD TIMES. FINE MEALS COULD BE PREPARED USING THE MOST INEXPENSIVE INGREDIENTS.
      MY FATHER, HAVING GROWN UP IN CABBAGETOWN, TORONTO'S LARGELY IRISH NEIGHBORHOOD DURING HIS YOUTH, LIVED IN A TINY RENTAL HOUSE WITH HIS MOTHER, DORIS, A FORMER BERNARDO CHILD FROM ENGLAND'S ORPHANAGES, OPERATED BY DR. BERNARDO, (WELL KNOWN FOR SENDING CHILDREN TO WORK IN CANADA AS FARM HANDS AND DOMESTIC SERVANTS), HAD TO RAISE FOUR BOYS ON HER OWN, AFTER HER HUSBAND EDDY ABANDONED HIS RESPONSIBILITIES. I HEARD MANY STORIES ABOUT HOW HARD IT WAS FOR THEM TO SURVIVE, AND HOW DORIS MADE HER OWN STYLE OF "EVERYTHING SOUP," WHERE BONES AND VEGETABLE PEELINGS WERE DUMPED IN AS WELL. I REMEMBER MY MOTHER GETTING MAD AT MY FATHER, ED, WHO WAS A PRETTY GOOD COOK, WHEN HE STARTED BAKING JOHNNY BREAD, OF VERY AFFORDABLE CORNMEAL. AT THE TIME HE WAS MAKING IT, WE WERE MUCH BETTER OFF FINANCIALLY, BUT I KIND OF THINK HE WANTED TO RE-VISIT HIS MOTHER'S COOKING, OUT OF A SENSE OF HOMESTEAD NOSTALGIA. HE EXPLAINED THAT IT WAS A STAPLE ON THE KITCHEN TABLE BACK THEN, SOMETIMES MADE IN AN IRON CORN COB DESIGNED PAN, AS IT WAS WHAT HIS MOTHER, NOT A GREAT COOK, COULD HANDLE ON A THIN BUDGET OF INGREDIENTS. I DIDN'T DISLIKE JOHNNY BREAD, AND TODAY SUZANNE'S MAKES LOVELY CORN MEAL MUFFINS THAT I DROWN IN MAPLE SYRUP AS A TEA TIME TREAT. SUZANNE IS ALSO AN EXPERT AT MAKING STEWS AND SOUPS OUT OF LEFTOVERS, AND THAT'S A CONTINUATION FROM HER OWN MOTHER'S KITCHEN, AND SHE HAS RECIPES DATING BACK TO THE ORIGINAL SHEA HOMESTEAD. AS THEY SURVIVED THE TESTS OF TIME AND ECONOMY, SO HAVE WE, USING SOME OLD FASHIONED FRUGALITY TO STRETCH THE FOOD BUDGET.
     AT CHRISTMAS TIME, OUR SMALL FAMILY OF CURRIES, (I WAS AN ONLY CHILD), HAD A FESTIVE GOOD TIME, AND NEVER DWELLED ON THE FACT WE HAD TO ECONOMIZE RIGHT DOWN TO THE SIZE OF THE TURKEY, SO AS TO LEAVE A LITTLE LEFT OVER TO BUY PRESENTS. MERLE AND ED USED TO MAKE TREATS ON A TIGHT BUDGET, AND TO ME, IT DIDN'T SEEM LIKE ANY COMPROMISE WHATSOEVER. FOR EXAMPLE, INSTEAD OF BUYING PACKAGED "NUTS AND BOLTS," (PRETZEL MIX), MY DAD AND I WOULD GO TO THE STORE, AND BUY BOXES OF RICE, WHEAT AND CORN CHEX CEREALS, A LARGE BAG OF PRETZELS, PEANUTS, AND WORCESTER SAUCE. JUST BEFORE CHRISTMAS, I'D HELP HIM IN THE KITCHEN, MIX IN ALL THE INGREDIENTS WITH A LARGE AMOUNT OF MELTED BUTTER, INTO A BIG IRON ROASTING PAN, AND IT SMELLED AMAZING WITH THE ADDED SAUCE. THEN WE'D HAVE TO BAKE IT FOR ABOUT A HALF HOUR OR SO, AND WHEN IT CAME OUT OF THE OVEN, BY GOLLY, IT WAS ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS. IF WE HAD PURCHASED IT PRE-PACKAGED, IT WOULD HAVE COST FOUR TIMES AS MUCH, FOR A MUCH SMALLER QUANTITY. ED DID THE SAME FOR OUR LITTLE CHRISTMAS-TIME BUFFETS, SOMETIMES FOR HOCKEY GAMES, WHICH INCLUDED A LARGE PORTION OF POLISH SAUSAGE, WHICH WAS PRETTY CHEAP IN THE 1960'S, SPECIAL CRACKERS, CHEESE, WITH A DIP ED MADE OUT OF KETCHUP, HORSERADISH AND WORCESTER SAUCE, THAT FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES, WAS SEAFOOD SAUCE; THAT JUST HAPPENED TO BE A DELICIOUS DIP FOR MEAT AND CHEESE BETWEEN CRACKERS. ON THOSE OCCASIONS, GOSH, I THOUGH WE WERE EATING LIKE THE ROYALS. BUT AT A FRACTION OF THE COST OF A SNACK SERVED AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE. IT WAS THE SAME THROUGH THE HOLIDAY SEASON.
     WE ATE WELL, BUT ON A TIGHT BUDGET. AND WHEN I SAY THAT NOTHING WAS WASTED, I REMEMBER MY MOTHER, WHO LIVED TO THE AGE OF 88 BY THE WAY, COOKING PORK CHOPS ON CHRISTMAS EVE, AND THEN DECLARING TO US THAT SHE WAS GOING TO HAVE A SPECIAL SEASONAL TREAT, AND THAT WE SHOULD REFRAIN FROM MAKING SMART-ASS COMMENTS. AS SOON AS I SAW PORK CHOPS IN THE FRYING PAN, I KNEW SHE WAS GOING TO HAVE ONE OF THESE SPECIAL SIDE-DISHES. NOW DON'T GET GROSSED-OUT. ED DIDN'T LIKE HER DOING THIS, BUT HE WAS NO MATCH FOR MY MOTHER AS CULINARY OPPOSITION. MERLE WOULD LIFT OUT THE PORK CHOPS, PUT THEM ON OUR PLATES, AND THEN, TURNING BACK TO THE STOVE, GRAB TWO PIECES OF BREAD FROM THE BAG, AND DROP THEM INTO THE HOT GREASE LEFTOVER FROM THE MEAT. SHE WOULD FRY THE BREAD, FLIPPING THE SLICES AT LEAST ONCE IF NOT TWICE, SO THAT THEY WERE LOADED AND TOASTED ON BOTH SIDES, YET NOT ACTUALLY DRIPPING WITH FAT. THIS ISN'T ALL THAT RARE AND IT WAS SOMETHING HER MOTHER HAD MADE WHEN THEY WERE LIVING ON THE FARM. MY MOTHER WAS NOT THE INVENTOR OF THIS DINNER TIME TREAT. IT WAS FILLING AND ACCORDING TO MERLE, WAS ALSO DELICIOUS. SUZANNE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO SIT AT THE KITCHEN TABLE WITH MY MOTHER, HAD SHE PRODUCED FAT SATURATED PIECES OF BREAD EVEN FOR HER OWN CONSUMPTION. I AM NOT ALLOWED TO HAVE FAT IN MY DIET, AND THESE DAYS, WITH THE PRICE OF MEAT, WE SELDOM HAVE A DROP OF LIQUIFIED FAT ON THE STOVE ANYWAY. I DON'T KNOW WHY THE FAT DIDN'T KILL HER, BUT IT DIDN'T. GET THIS. MY MOTHER DIED OF AN INFECTION FROM HER BED SORES. IF SHE HADN'T ACQUIRED THESE, SHE MIGHT HAVE LIVED FOR ANOTHER TWO OR THREE YEARS. SO WHEN SUZANNE HANDS ME ANOTHER BOWL OF FRESH VEGETABLES TO EAT, LIKE A GRAZING ANIMAL, I REMIND HER ABOUT MY MOTHER'S LONGEVITY, FEEDING ON FAT SOAKED SLICES OF BREAD.
     BY THE WAY, THERE IS A REFERENCE IN REVEREND ALLEN'S BOOK, "FROM THE LUMBER CAMP TO THE MINISTRY," THAT HE REFLECTS UPON HIS DAYS WORKING IN A MUSKOKA LUMBER CAMP NEAR CLEAR LAKE, AND WATCHING THE CAMP COOK, MIX IN A TWO INCH LAYER OF FAT, THAT HAD FORMED ON A STEW THAT HAD COOLED OVER NIGHT. WHEN HE ASKED WHY THE COOK DIDN'T SKIM OFF THE FAT, THE FELLOW JUST CHUCKLED AT HIM, AND SUGGESTED THAT HE WOULD SOON FIND OUT AFTER A FULL WEEK OF CUTTING IN THE BUSH. IT WAS BELIEVED, YOU SEE, THAT THE FAT CONTENT WAS GOOD FOR THE ENERGY AND RESILIENCE OF THE LOGGERS, BATTLING HARD WORK, COLD WEATHER AND LONG DAYS IN THE FIELD. IT IS EXACTLY WHAT THE FUTURE REVEREND CAME TO UNDERSTAND, AFTER HIS FIRST MONTH OF EMPLOYMENT AT A J.D. SHIER LOGGING CAMP. HE NEEDED A HARDY DINNER, AND NEVER AGAIN QUESTIONED THE CAMP COOK ABOUT STIRRING IT THE CONGEALED FAT, DOWN INTO THE HEATING STEWS AND SOUPS HE MADE.
     I HAVE TO FOOTNOTE HERE, THAT IT WAS DOCTOR DOUGLAS EATON WHO KEPT MY MOTHER ALIVE, AT JUST OVER FORTY YEARS OF AGE, WHEN SHE FIRST GOT A BLOOD PRESSURE SCARE, FORCING HER TO KICK THE FAT-BREAD THING, AND LOSE A HUNDRED POUNDS. OF COURSE, MERLE NEVER, EVER ADMITTED TO DOC EATON, THAT SHE HAD BEEN A REGULAR PORK-FAT CONSUMER EITHER. HE WOULD HAVE FAINTED, TO FIND OUT WHAT SHE WAS UP TO, BEFORE COMING INTO HIS OFFICE WITH BLOOD PRESSURE SO HIGH, IT NEARLY KILLED HER. SHE NEVER OFFERED TO GIVE ME THESE CRISPY FAT FILLED SLICES OF BREAD, AND I MUST SAY, THAT MY FAMILY GAVE ME NUTRITIOUS MEALS SEVEN DAYS A WEEK, ON A STRESSED WEEKLY BUDGET OF CASH. I OWE MY GOOD HEALTH TODAY, TO THEIR DILIGENCE AND SENSIBILITIES, AS WELL AS SUZANNE'S MODERN DAY APPROACH, TO KEEP ME OUT OF THE HOSPITAL. STILL ON A TIGHT BUDGET OF CASH. WE MIGHT BE ANTIQUE DEALERS, BUT WE ARE FRUGAL ONES, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO HOME ECONOMY.

HOMESTEAD SURVIVAL IN MODERN TIMES

     In the antique business it can be generalized, and we wouldn't get mad about it, that we're a bunch of fat cats. It's funny how this profession-thing influences the people we meet. For example, if in casual conversation, I'm asked why we are carrying a pressed back chair, or toting a couple of paintings under our arms, purchased in a neighboring community, we may have offered the honest explanation, that we're antique dealers, so this is what we do! This then heralds the reply, "So these things you're carrying are worth a lot of money then?" It's just assumed that to be an antique dealer in the first place, you have to be wealthy in order to afford inventory for your shop. Thus, if you have valuable articles in your shop, you must be able to afford a big, luxurious house with all the trimmings desired by the rich and famous. It's too time consuming and awkward to explain, in detail, why it isn't necessarily so, that we in our profession, can't also be the working-poor. We are retailers, and a lot of our living standards, are directly proportional to what we sell in a given week. Sometimes more, sometimes less. If I respond that I am an historian, when someone asks how I afford such a fine van to drive (bread box design), I first look back at our vehicle, and wonder if they're mixing up what we arrived in, with someone else's Jaguar, and may answer, "I am an historian." It might then be presumed that historians must be well educated, and be employed by some university or museum, affording a handsome salary. Same assumption, that I must live in a fabulously historic mini-castle, with moat; and my big, big library. If on the other hand, I was to respond, "I am a writer," I would be offered money for a coffee and a sandwich, and patted on the shoulder, while being dispatched to go and nourish myself. I'm all three professions, and I'd still appreciate the offer of a coffee and a sandwich. The reason I bring this up, is to validate the explanation, that like every other retailer on earth, antique dealers can be savaged by a sudden turn in the economy. As for the drop in the price of oil, it doesn't affect us directly because we don't have investments in resources. We will however, get pounded, by the collateral damage, such a decline in oil will generate. Everyone in Canada, will in some way, be impacted by the slam-dunk of our most financially lucrative industry. It will even brush by us dealers of antiquities. We will suffer as well from any economic down-turns that affect our tourist industry dominated region and locale.
     For most of this year, I've been complaining about food prices, to Suzanne, on just about every trip we take to the grocery store. We have become near vegetarians, because of the high prices of meat, and I wonder if this is what some higher-ups want to happen; in a bid to help the vegetable farmers, for example, get better prices for their tomatoes, carrots and brussel sprouts. I'm being sarcastic. Meat producers and grocery store magnates should do a thorough study of just how many shoppers are actually repelled from coolers, so that they won't be frightened to death, catching a glimpse of the outrageous prices for tiny, wafer-thin pieces of meat.
     Suzanne and I have cut our meat consumption in half, from our halcyon days of meat every night, and if nothing changes real soon, I'm sure we will drop another quarter percentage, as I am becoming rather fond of egg plant steaks and tofu burgers. I don't know how young families, on tight budgets, can afford to have meat more than a couple of times a week. I wonder too, how much meat is wasted, and thrown in dumpsters, because it couldn't be sold for the asking price? There's only so much you can do with past "best before" meat, before there's no other way to move the product; than right into the garbage. Me thinks, the power of the consumer, is going to help instill some adjustments in the grocery business; because if tough times are coming, as a result of a resource-inspired recession, a lot of product is going to be left on store shelves. Consumers are already changing their habits, and it's going to impact a lot of other industries, tied into food production; and you bet, there will be lost jobs. As much as I'd love to help all these employees keep their jobs, there is a point of no return. And just as I was used to in my youth, growing up in a pay cheque to pay cheque family, I learned to love "everything" stews and leftover hardy soups, that you most definitely had to eat with a fork. I like Johnny Bread. I'm okay with turkey left-overs that carry on for a full seven days.
     The crisis is that so many young folks today, aren't proficient in the kitchen, which has become a less important concern of our education ministry. These modest income young adults, could save a lot of money, by knowing how to make nutritious and delicious meals out of a minor number of ingredients. I married a teacher who, on the job (she has now retired) specialized in home economics and family studies, which dealt with a food preparation component. Far too many today, believe that good, wholesome food, that is filling and satisfying, can be purchased frozen from the grocery store, and microwaved for a hardy family feast. Well, even a home economist will own a microwave oven, for certain types of food preparation; but not seven days a week, for the creation of daily meals out of pre packaged convenience foods. It's what's happening out there, and because my wife is nosey this way, she looks in the carts of other shoppers at the check-outs (sure, admit it, you've done the same thing). She mumbles and gives an audible sigh, when she sees a cart with ten or more frozen television dinners, and a kid riding in the buggy seat. She preaches to the converted, about how poor these fabricated meals are in terms of nutrition, especially for youngsters who need so much more in their diets to grow and thrive. I try to explain to her, that the biggest discounts in food provisions, that I see regularly in my own travels through grocery stores, are in the frozen food aisles. Almost every week, there are big sales on frozen pizzas, and pasta side dishes, that give the appearance of being of substantial and healthy proportion. When you see the actual food minus the packaging, what a disappointment. I remember the good old days of television dinners, back in the 1960's. The portions are a lot different now, and no matter what title they give it, to suggest a huge portion, it will be pale in comparison.
     When we were broke ourselves, and I did a lot of the shopping, like most working poor with kids, I bought a lot of cheese bars. Suzanne is a miracle worker with cheese, and she made our dinners much more appetizing by using a product that was cheap and fulfilling, to some of the body's daily requirements. When I started buying these cheese bars, I believe they were in the 800 grams area, but may have actually been as high as 900 grams. This was in the early 1990's. Ever since, the bar sizes have been going down in grams. The packages have stayed the same, in terms of length, but the cheese inside, has gone down as low as 400 grams. In the good old days, I could wave a cheese bar at you in the store, or hit someone who was attacking me, and it would have been a solid thwack! If I did it at 400 grams, it would wobble and probably snap in two. It is that thin and long, that it is like a cheese diving board. I asked Suzanne this morning, if the cheese folks, would have to give the bars some additional support, from a cardboard or plastic spine, to make their next reduction in size look more substantial than the thin, thin offering currently under wrap. And then there are the frozen pizzas that are being shrunk in grams, and the packages of bacon that are smaller and priced higher, because of a) outrageous greed, b) or the fact there was a pork producing problem this year that cut supply. I am not fooled by the smaller packages and I'm sure you're watching this as well.
     I know Suzanne would love the opportunity to help some of these young folks out, stretching their food budgets, to get more bang for the shrinking buck. If there was a down-turn in the economy, as a result of oil related calamity, and jobs are lost down through the linkage of industries and commerce, damn-it, we still need to feed our families. As our grandparents and their parents knew how to get by with less, through the years of World War and Depression, their understanding and practice of home economy is the kind of history that has a contemporary value. You can dislike history, because of bad experiences in high school, but as a resource of mankind, honed over these many centuries, there is a way of managing a grocery bill that won't break the bank. It's one of the reasons Suzanne has built up a large archives and resource collection of vintage cookbooks, that she shares with our customers regularly. There are all kinds of helpful hints on stretching food supplies, for maximum benefit, dating back to the mid 1800's. Many of those culinary skills are perfect for today's high priced groceries. Suzanne employs these frugal cookery recipes all the time, and we don't suffer from any shortfall whatsoever. I told her before I set down to write this blog, that because of her cooking, I was as healthy as a horse. Giving her the opportunity to fire back, before closing the door of the studio, "and you look like a horse to match your health." What a kidder. Unless that's why a few of my mates call be "Mr. Ted," after the television show of the 1960's, known as "Mr. Ed," the talking horse.
     The point is, if OPEC policy holds oil prices down, we will be on the thin, crumbling cusp, of some seriously hard economic times, all proportional to how much oil sinks in value, during the next six months. At the pumps, I think we will all enjoy the price drop, as presumably also with gas and oil heating. But in terms of personal welfare, it wouldn't hurt to be a tad proactive, and think about home economics, and some old fashioned ways of cutting the food budget, without a compromise to volume and taste. In our house, it's known as the "In praise of old cookbooks," era.
     We live by this standard of home economics, and it will be no different at Christmas, where the extravagances will be a family dinner altogether. Work does keep us a part. Not on the job, because we're side by side six days each week. But the boys work later than us, because of recording jobs and guitar lessons, so we very seldom sit down together for dinner. The food will be of the wonderful same old, same old, we have enjoyed in the Currie, Jackson, Stripp, Shea homesteads in Canada for generations. If it was good for the pioneers, it is good enough for us.
     An old fashioned Christmas isn't just a characteristic of home decorating.

THE ABOVE GREETING CARD, WAS PRODUCED BY GRAVENHURST ARTIST, AND OUTSTANDING PRINT MAKER, FRANK JOHNSTON. THIS CARD WAS MADE IN THE 1980'S BY JOHNSTON, AS ONE OF HIS MANY HISTORICAL THEMED PAINTINGS, AND THIS ONE FEATURES PIONEER VILLAGE IN HUNTSVILLE. WHAT MAKES THIS ONE SPECIAL FOR ME, IS THAT IT CAME FROM MUSKOKA MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, FRANK MILLER, AND FAMILY. THERE IS ALSO A SKETCH ON THE INSIDE OF THE HUNTSVILLE TOWN HALL. I RECEIVED THE CARD AS EDITOR OF THE HERALD-GAZETTE. FOR YEARS FRANK AND I SEEMED TO MEET UP ON MOST "WORKING" WEEKENDS OF THE YEAR, TO VISIT MUSKOKA CONSTITUENTS WHO WERE CELEBRATING MILESTONE WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES AND BIRTHDAYS……FRANK PRESENTED CONGRATULATIONS FROM THE PROVINCE, M.P. STAN DARLING, REPRESENTING THE JURISDICTION OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, AND I REPRESENTED THE WILLINGNESS OF THE LOCAL PRESS, TO COVER ALL OUR COMMUNITY ACCOMPLISHMENTS. SO EVERY YEAR I GOT A CARD FROM FRANK, (I'M NOT SURE ABOUT STAN) AT CHRISTMAS, AND I HUNG ONTO THEM……AND I'M GLAD I DID. THIS IS JUST ONE EXAMPLE OF THE OUTSTANDING WORK BY FRANK JOHNSTON. AS I PLAN ON COMPLETING A BIOGRAPHY OF FRANK JOHNSTON THIS YEAR, I WOULD BE DELIGHTED TO SEE ANY CARDS OR PRINTS (ORIGINALS WOULD BE NICE), OF HIS ART WORK, THAT CAN BE USED WITH THE FUTURE ONLINE BIOGRAPHY. I DON'T WANT GRAVENHURST FORGETTING WHO THIS TALENTED MAN WAS, AND HOW HE CONTRIBUTED TO THE ARTS AND CULTURE OF THE COMMUNITY, FOR THOSE YEARS HE LIVED AND WORKED A BLOCK FROM THE MAIN STREET.