"DepressionCookingWithClara" news and stories

In this day of budget-minded cooking, it's helps to get advice from someone who's been there, done that.

Enter Clara Cannucciari, a 93-year-old great-grandmother from upstate New York. Her "Great Depression Cooking with Clara" videos have become a recent hit on YouTube and beyond.

"They're tasty," Clara says of her recipes. "They're good."

The series began as a project by her grandson, Chris Cannucciari, who posted the first "Cooking with Clara" video in 2007. The first recipe was pasta with peas, and episodes have included egg drop soup, peppers and eggs, and a dish known as the "poorman's meal" consisting in large part of potatoes and hot dogs.

Each Friday afternoon (or evening), I offer up eight tasty links that have captured my food curiosity. Here are the links for this week!

1. Forbes Traveler has put together a list of what they consider to be the 11 Classic American Dishes. Included on the list are the Philly cheesesteak, pasta primavera and the overstuffed burrito.
2. Have you ever been challenged by the task of pouring the perfect pint of beer? For their feature, You're Doing it Wrong, Chow has put together a video the details all the nuances of the perfect pour.
3. The Illinois Food Bank has laid down a challenge to the residents of their state: Can you eat on just $25 a week? Citizens took on the challenge and respond. Amy, of Cooking with Amy, recently did a similar challenge and blogged her experience.
4. Elise of Simply Recipes reminds her readers how satisfyingly simple it is to make your own vanilla extract.
5. Just in for our current economic crisis! Depression Cooking with Clara! [via Vegan Lunch Box]
6. The Old Foodie ruminates on the history of toast.
7. Dinner with Julie offers up a recipe for bean-fortified oatmeal cookies.
8. Bacon Today lists ten other bacon sites you should be reading.