Nostalgia Sunday – Stuff we had to do without

November 24, 2008 - 12:41 AM by Rachel Neiman · 6 Comments
Filed under: General, History and Culture, Holidays, Immigrant Moments, Life, Nostalgia Sunday

Stuff we had to do without
Back in the old days, children, not so very long ago, newly-arrived American immigrants to this dry and barren country could not buy chocolate chips for love or money.

Desperate for the foods of our native land, we took matters into our own hands. We made chocolate chips from what was available locally, stuffing a few Elite “cow” chocolate bars into a plastic bag and bashing away with a hammer. From the shards and cocoa dust, we fashioned cookies.

Moreover, there was no peanut butter. And so, we learned to roast and grind peanuts into a paste in our newly purchased 220v blenders (adding a half-cup of oil would prevent blade getting stuck in mid-grind).

There was no cream cheese to put on the New York bagels that in any case we did not have. Once again, ingenuity prevailed; we mixed one cup of yogurt with one cup of soft white cheese, hung the liquid in a cheesecloth bag over the sink and hoped for the best.

But perhaps our worst deprivation at this season, dear children, was the lack of cranberry sauce.

Emissaries were dispatched to bring us cans of the stuff. Sometimes they arrived, and sometimes they arrived bearing Tasters Choice instant coffee as well.

And when they did, it was surely a time for thanksgiving.

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