"The American aim is that every man, woman and child may enjoy the better things of life."

This was a quote at the beginning of a 1941 sales/informational film, It Happened in the Kitchen. While this was basically a sales pitch for modernizing an older kitchen, that statement made me think about the "better things of life" from a 1940s perspective.

These days, when we think of the good life, we often consider expenditures for travel, fine dining in restaurants, a beautifully-furnished home, the latest smart phone, and other toys and luxuries. This isn't us, necessarily. But our current culture seems to push more and more extravagance in order to be satisfied in life.

In the 1940s, I do think American tastes and expectations were simpler. Perhaps the better things in life included a small starter home for the young family, an automobile ("an" as in singular), some leisure time on the weekend to enjoy with your family, and ample food. Add in a drive in the country on a Sunday afternoon, an occasional picnic, and a new dress or shirt each year and you felt like you had it all.

I'm trying to see my own life and its "better things" from a 1940s perspective. We now have a good solid roof over our heads to keep us (and our belongings) dry and a brand new furnace to keep us warm. Our freezer and pantry are well-stocked, and we have leisure time to enjoy picnics in spring and summer. We even have two cars, now, giving us freedom of transportation even when someone in the family has the other car out for the day. I suspect 2-car households were pretty rare in the 1940s. 

I don't think we're "bad" people for wanting to travel or eat out or have a beautifully-appointed home. Those are all really nice luxuries that many of us are fortunate enough to afford from time to time. But I do think it is a helpful mindset to consider that even without those luxuries, we are blessed. My tummy is full tonight and my room is warm. Those are blessings. 

Culture puts out a lot of noise about what we should want and how we should think. I'm trying to tune that noise out and think for myself. I've asked myself what I really want in this life, what are the better things in life for me. The answer for me is to have my family around, cook some good food for us all regularly, own a nice enough home to enjoy, have some ease in life so I'm not constantly worn out, own a reliable car so we can go interesting places for day trips, and have zero debt. Those are the better things in life.

The film was interesting and informative. Even if I don't plan on redoing our kitchen, it is helpful to see how I could organize my storage for greater efficiency and repurpose space to meet my needs more closely.

How do you define the better things of life?

Do you save meat bones for making stock?

This afternoon, I was cutting some beef off of a bone to make beef and vegetable stir fry for dinner. I had some extra time, so I thought I'd make a little stock with the beef bone. Then I remembered the bag of uncooked beef bones that I had in the freezer, accumulated over the past 6 to 8 months. So I made a nice large pot of beef stock, browning the bones first, then simmering in water with simple seasonings (salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder). It came out delicious, and now I feel like I got full value from the cuts of beef.

I routinely make chicken stock from chicken bones and ham stock from the ham bone, but I've only made beef stock once before. I wasn't thrilled with that batch of stock. I later figured that it lacked flavor. Hence adding some simple seasonings to this batch of stock.

I've been making a lot of soups this winter. I had depleted my supply of chicken stock and have just one more container of ham stock and a few containers of pumpkin stock remaining. So, I will be glad to have additional stock ready for more pots of soup or to add to sauces.

How about you? Do you use leftover meat bones for making stock? Do you a favorite type of stock? Do you have a method that works for you?