Broke? Don’t be depressed … eat something!

There’s that inspiring lyric from a Stephen Sondheim song that goes, “In the Depression, was I depressed? Nowhere near…”

Eating is always a mood-elevator (for me anyway, so pass the tuna noodle casserole this way). During the most grim days of the Great Depression, my great-grandmother (who had once run a boarding house), put terrific meals on her family’s table because she was a great cook and knew how to stretch a buck. There are still cooks around, like the legendary Clara on YouTube, who have advice on making inexpensive meals, just like they did back after the stock market crashed in 1929.

In John Mariani’s history of American restautants, America Eats Out, he reveals that in 1934, one of the worst years of the Great Depression, there were 18,763 restaurants in Manhattan, somewhat more than there are today.

Yeah, I could stay home and make Clara’s pasta with peas (I’d rather not) or my great-grandmother’s stuffed meat roll — which isn’t that terrific, I discovered after finally making it last week — but I’d really rather get in my car and find an inexpensive meal in a good restaurant. Any good ideas to share?