John Steinbeck's Birthday

This week we honored John Steinbeck's birthday on February 27th. If you're not aware, John Steinbeck was the author of works such as Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men. I read Grapes of Wrath several years ago, what do I remember about it? It took place during the Great Depression and it was quite depressing. Sorry, about the pun. It is a great learning opportunity to teach about great literature and a very difficult time of our history.


I found some great web sites discussing the life of those during that time period from the Business Insider, Great Depression Cooking, the Survival Mom. So, what did I gain? Based on the Business Insider's article, my mom still cooks in the same way as her parents did during the Depression. We ate cheap meals during the week, breakfast meals, tuna fish with cream of mushroom soup and peas over toast? Then we had the big roast beef and potatoes meal on Sunday. I also decided that I wouldn't subject my family to ketchup sandwiches.


I struggled with the menu until Thursday, when my oldest said, hobo pies. OK, not very politically correct. But regardless, this was the time of Hoovervilles and great homelessness. For the main course, I made Hobo Sacks and baked apples for dessert. 

The Hobo Sacks were OK, I made some with red potatoes, some with sweet potato, and some with french fries. They were OK. I seasoned the hamburgs, but could have added more seasoning. As with many foods that are cooked together, it all seemed to have the same flavor. On the plus side, it was easy both cooking and cleanup.


The baked apples, have a lot of recipes out there. It can be more updated with the things that you put in it. It's basically a cored apple, stuffed with yummy stuff and baked in the oven. I put brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter; some had raisins in it. I used two types of apples, Fiji and Macintosh. I'm not sure these were the best choices. The Fiji apples were cooked a little less at the end on 20 minutes at 350 degrees. The Macintosh apples just fell apart. I'm not sure about the bottom of the core. If I completely cored it, it made it a hole through the apple. If you don't go all the way through, then there is still some core you need to deal with when you're eating it. I guess that is why when I fake them in the microwave, I just peel it and cut it up, add the toppings, nuke it, and call it a day. Modern toppings can be marshmallows, other dried fruit, caramel, oatmeal, granola, and nutmeg.

With that being said, movie choice any John Steinbeck film. The most popular, Grapes of Wrath.