Oct. 31, 2006 - Let's do this: A Jamestown Day, Part 2
[First, a correction: It was when the first settlers to Jamestown first arrived that they ate only gruel - because their supplies had been depleated by the trip. Presumably, they also drank river water because they had no beer.]
The idea was this: to try to understand what it was like to not have anything to eat except gruel and beer. The plan was to have only oatmeal (we didn't have guel) and apple cider (I'm not giving them beer) all day. From the beginning, the experiment was obviously tainted.
Problem #1: My kids only eat oatmeal with sugar and cinnamon.
Solution #1: The colonists may have had sugar (that's a stretch) and cinnamon (not likely). We'll add just a little.
I also like oatmeal but not the quick-cooking kind we had; it turns into pasty mush when cooked. I tried, I really did: I just couldn't stand more than one bite.
Problem #2: Mom couldn't eat the oatmeal.
Solution #2: Isn't the point to eat some plain grain and just that one thing all day? We'll have plain pasta for lunch and dinner.
Problem #3: Snack time rolled around and I had very tense and unhappy children.
Solution #3: The settlers didn't have bread, but they also didn't have pasta. I gave them each a piece of bread for snack.
Taking stock at 11:30am, we all seemed to be doing ok. Each child had eaten a bowl of oatmeal and a piece of bread and had one small cup of apple cider and one cup of water. I had eaten one bite of oatmeal and had a cup of coffee (with cream and sugar - a total cheat).
Noon is the time to start lunch. How long does it take to cook pasta, Mommy?
We put a little salt in the water but other than that, the pasta is just pasta. It's wheat made into dough, shaped and dried. The Jamestown settlers could have done that with their wheat, had they known how.
(An interesting tidbit about wheat: The early settlers called wheat "corn" and so the plant the Indians taught them how to grow was called "Indian corn." This was not the yummy triangle-shaped lump of colored sugar we find around Halloween every year! It was what we now call simply "corn" because we what we used to call "corn" we now call "wheat." Confused? Good! - back to the story.)
I boiled enough pasta for each of us to have a small bowl of it. The kids had apple cider again and I drank water. Victoria inhaled her noodles and promptly asked for more. There is no more, Honey. No seconds in a starving Jamestown. This was a breaking point for my food-loving daughter. No seconds? Oh, the horror of it!
Problem #4:
First the crying. But I'm so hungry, I'm going to starve.
Then the screaming. I hate this study. I hate learning about Jamestown.
Then the pleading. Please, Just a little more? How will I survive until snack time?
Then the stomping away. I'm not doing this anymore.
Meanwhile, Morgan was happily finishing the rest of his noodles, seemingly oblivious to the mutiny.
Solution #4: I talked to Victoria for a little bit - trying rationalizing (you certainly aren't going to starve before afternoon snack time), guilt-trips (you've eaten more food today than a lot of people on this planet eat in a week!) and then distraction (let's go read a book).
Weirdly, she calmed down so we could read the fictional diary of a little girl in the Jamestown settlement, Our Strange New Land: Elizabeth's Diary, Jamestown, Virginia, 1609. This is a book in the My America series put out by Scholastic. Elizabeth wasn't in Jamestown for the "gruel and water only" time and at this point she is writing before what would become known as "The Starving Time." Still, after reading entries for September 23rd and September 24th, we read this entry from September 25th:
"I am weary of eating fish. And stewed vegetables. And fish. And stewed vegetables. Mama cooks it all in the big iron pot over the fire. Fish. And stewed vegetables. I think I would not mind if it tasted like fish. Or vegetables. But it tastes mostly like smoky fires and iron pots.
But at least it is food. So I am thankful. I think."
I think that made an impression. The rest of the day went well. After their rest time, they played with a visiting friend for a whole 20 minutes before they realized snack time had past. Both respectfully asked for their bread. We all had one bowl of plain pasta for dinner. However, for dinner I also gave them half an apple. This was my weakness. Somehow, I thought I was neglecting my kids and they needed something other than pasta. Like I said, the experiment was tainted. The kids were excited about the apple. They were also excited that dinner marked the end of our experiment. We celebrated with a piece of banana bread before they headed off to get ready for bed.
What we did:
Victoria and Morgan each had: one bowl of oatmeal with sugar and cinnamon, two bowls of plain pasta, two pieces of bread, half an apple, three small cups of apple cider, two cups of water, and a piece of banana bread.
I had: one bite of oatmeal, one piece of bread, two bowls of plain pasta, one apple, one cup of coffee, water, and a piece of banana bread.
What we learned: that's next!
...To be continued.
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