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One practise that existed in Stroud then, and still does today, was the mutual trading of produce and rations.

 

With so many foods unavailable, cooking for a family became quite a challenge! Recipe books like this one offered some innovative alternatives like Nettle Soup and Eggless, Sugarless Gingerbread!

TRANSCRIPT
So I used to go rabbiting with these two blokes along in the fields and we...I mean one day we'd get as many as twenty rabbits between us all, and that would be sort of six or seven each. And [em] we used to paunch the rabbits and take 'em into Stroud Market and sell 'em.  Sixpence, [Laughs] and you know [Laughs]...and I'm sure if we had our heads on then we'd have realised we could have make a fortune.  But then again you see, the object wasn't really money -  the object was to win the war and to sort of get everybody fed.
EDWARD GODSELL

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TRANSCRIPT
my uncle.. used to bring a fresh rabbit about once a month so my grandmother used to make a rabbit stew.. I can remember trying whale meat but I can't remember what year that was, they were selling it, and also [um] dried egg which was very prominent during the war [yeh], which was a powder which my mother used to mix and it made...it came out like a...almost like an omelette..  so I suppose we were quite lucky [um] because of the shortage of meat and rabbit would [um] suffice.. Well [er] we used to have it with things like [um] with things like fried bread, and [um] a little bit of bacon, when the bacon was available. [Um, um] which I think was once a week
KEITH GLOVER

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TRANSCRIPT    Carrots were used a lot, grated carrots.  They made things moist, you know, they kept cakes moist and they, you didn't have to use much sugar because they were sweet.... Oh, we had dried egg yes, because we only had one fresh egg, a fortnight,  [Laughter] but [um] if you saved your scraps and knew somebody that had, who had you know a few chickens, you could get a few extra eggs sometimes [yes] not that you had many scraps, but I mean peelings and everything [yes] went for scraps in those days, because [um] they used, to, if they kept chickens they got this balancer meal to feed the chickens on.
BETTY WOJCIK

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From January 2016, this website is managed by Stroud Local History Society

SM 1980 wartime recipe book