Sept. 11 changed everything. But before that terrible day rallied the nation, the day to remember was Dec. 7 - the day in 1941 that Pearl Harbor was attacked and the United States entered World War II. That earlier day also changed everything - down to the way we eat. It was a time offering lessons in economy and self-reliance that are useful today.

        During World War II, production veered from consumer goods and concentrated on the military. Tin went to the war effort, not canned goods. Gas was for shipping munitions, not for going to pick up groceries, and available food went to soldiers first and foremost. Even kitchen fat was used for glycerine to fire anti-aircraft shells, not for shortening.

WWII FOOD FACTS

• 1941: United States enters World War II.   • 1941; M&Ms introduced as a way for GIs to carry chocolate without it melting.   • 1942: Rationing begins with sugar and coffee. Citizens ages 15 and over are allowed 1 pound of coffee every five weeks.   • 1943: The sale of commercially sliced bread briefly is banned as a luxury, leading to the saying, “The best thing since sliced bread.”   • 1945: World War II ends, but rationing of steak continues for a year.   • Many eat a forerunner of the veggie burger — the Truman burger — made of mashed beans.   — Sources: www.lib.ucdavis.edu/exhibits/ food/index.html (University of California, Davis), www.m-ms.com and American Women and World War II, (Facts on File; $32.95) by Doris Weatherford.

        These realities caused the U.S. government to begin rationing foods in 1942.

        “Sugar was the first to go,” says Martha Miller, 85, who lived in Carthage when her husband entered the Army in 1943. “It was really a frustrating time.”

        “It was an exciting time in life,” says Vernice Huneke, 92, who then lived in Westwood with her young family. She served on the local rationing board and was a Red Cross volunteer.

        “It was part of living, it was what you did,” she says of rationing. “We lived a fairly normal life, but we couldn't always have exactly what we wanted. You had to make do with what you had, you had to be flexible.”

        Of course, times were different then. Seventy-five percent of households did their own canning, according to a 1943 Gallup Poll, and home cooking and family farms, or at least Victory Gardens, were the norm.

        “We never had too much trouble with rations because we canned so many things,” says Alberta Asbrock, 84, who had just gotten married and was a young housewife in Norwood in 1941. “We'd put up enough to last through winter and we raised chickens so we always had fresh eggs.”

        While things weren't so bad in Cincinnati, other cities were hit harder.

        “It was terrible up in Philly,” recalls Mrs. Miller of visits to that city. “We'd go to three butcher shops to see what we could get, and there would be nothing.”

        “Rationed meat had the greatest effect,” on people, agrees Mrs. Asbrock. “Steak cost an awful lot of points, and ground beef was far less. Meatloaf played a big part in our life then. We'd have it with tomato sauce one day, white sauce the next, then make chili out of the leftovers the day after that.”

        “Frankly, I don't think rationing would be a bad idea today,” Mrs. Huneke says, pointing to what she learned during World War II.

        “Just remember to share,” Mrs. Miller says. “Back then we'd pool things. We'd make a big pot of soup and share it between two apartments.

        “We were thrifty,” says Mrs. Asbrock. From her experiences, she says, “my kids know how to conserve and how to use everything.”

War time recipes

Savory Meat Loaf
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground veal
1/2 pound ground pork
6 slices bread
1 cup milk
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup grated onion
1/2 cup grated raw potato
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Have meat retailer grind meat three times. Remove crusts from bread and soak in milk for one hour. Thoroughly mix all ingredients. Pack into loaf pan (5-by-9 inches). Bake in moderate (350 degrees) oven for 1 1/2 hours.

— From pamphlet “Square Meals on Short Rations” by Demetria M. Taylor, 1943.

War Cake
1/2 cup shortening (bacon grease can be used, because of the spices which hide its taste)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon other spices (cloves, mace, ginger, etc.
1 cup chopped raisins or other dried fruits (prunes, figs, etc.)
1 cup sugar, brown or white
1 cup water
2 cups flour, white or whole wheat
1/4 teaspoon soda
2 teaspoons baking powder

Sift the flour, soda and baking powder. Put all the other ingredients in a pan, and bring to a boil. Cook 5 minutes. Cool thoroughly. Add the sifted dry ingredients and mix well. Bake 45 minutes or until done in a greased loaf-pan in a 325-350-degree oven.

— From How to Cook a Wolf (North Point Press, $13). This classic, originally was published in 1942 by M.F.K. Fisher, who wrote of this recipe, “I am sure that I could live happily forever without tasting it again.”

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