In the glory days of the Soviet Union, the Russians (mostly babushkas) stood in any line they saw forming in the streets. It didn’t matter what product was being sold. It didn’t matter if it was something they needed. Even if they didn’t need it, someone close to them might.
So many times we pass on a good deal at the grocery store because we don’t know how to use it or whether we would. It occurs to me just now as I write this post that perhaps I should have purchased all the el cheapo-jeepo coffee (two full grocery carts) that I passed on just before COVID appeared (50 cents a can at Grocery Outlet). No one in my immediate family or my husband’s family drinks coffee, my dad drinks only decaf, and I’m not too close with any other coffee drinkers. I have some coffee for emergency medical uses, but that’s it. I thought about buying that cheap coffee to have on hand for barter purposes later, but I didn’t want to take up that much space storing a product we don’t even use—even if it was a great price. So I left it for somebody else. However, if I had recalled, as I did just now, that coffee grounds make great fertilizer for the garden, I probably would have bought it all. (For the record, I spent a lot of time at the store that morning, trying to think of any possible way I could use that coffee. I just didn’t come up with the right answer at the time.)
I’ve passed on other items that were a great deal because I didn’t know how to use them. I only bought two dozen bottles of corn syrup (16 cents for a 32-ounce bottle) because I didn’t know at the time how to substitute corn syrup for sugar in baking. I didn’t know about heating it with jam to make fruit syrup for pancakes. It has an almost indefinite shelf life. I wish I’d bought more.
Another crisis, perhaps another lockdown, will create new shortages on grocery shelves. Some of those shortages will be due to crop failures while others will arise as a result of problems with just-in-time delivery. A lot will occur because of a rapidly evaporating work ethic among the people. Why work when the government will pay you to stay home? Why work hard when businesses will settle for having a warm body just doing something? Food won’t get picked, processed, shipped, or shelved. People will have to learn what substitutions they can make and be flexible and creative.
Circling back to the Soviet Union’s glory days of people being unable to buy what they wanted when they wanted it, I truly believe we are fast approaching those days here in the formerly great USA. Regardless of how well we have prepared, we will probably approach a point where we need to start making substitutions. And even if we don’t have to, we will likely have friends and family who will. Some people may be like the Soviets, standing in line for products they don’t personally need, but someone close to them might. While at the moment the grocery stores are mostly full and we can usually find what we need and want, there are holes on the shelves. There are still no canning lids in my local stores.
Unfortunately, people in this country are reaching new levels of crazy every day and it’s only going to get worse. We may wish to avoid stores and crazy people altogether. Knowing what substitutes we can make for needed ingredients will be critical. Did you know that you can substitute:
Coconut oil for butter in baking and frying
Garbanzo beans (well, the liquid they are canned in, known as aquafaba) for eggs
Corn syrup for sugar in baking
Beans for oil in baking (well, I don’t think it works at all, but other people like it)
Active yeast for instant yeast
The list just goes on. There really are quite a number of surprising substitutions we can employ in making delicious food for our family. Knowing them will help us stock up now and avoid waiting in lines and being in stores with lunatics.
Links to related posts:
Substituting Coconut Oil for Butter in Magic Mix
Cooking and Baking Equivalents and Substitutions
All the Different Kinds of Yeast and What You Want for Baking
