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And also those that we seem to never get rid of.
We are not only we here and now, but also the memory of generations, which leaves its marks in everyone. But memory is memory, and everyday life has changed so much over the past 30 years that some details of the Soviet era are remembered as something ridiculous, strange, almost fantastic.
Fry everything
What a soup without fried onions and carrots! Now it’s even strange to talk about such recipes: with the current trend for healthy eating, the maximum that we allow ourselves is to stew vegetables with a minimum amount of oil or even in water. And if you really fry, then on the fire, on the grill. Better yet, bake in the oven. But frying in oil, which was often not very refined, not very deodorized … No, it seems that it is not very tasty. But it certainly adds nutritional value to the dish.
Boil the laundry
This habit has not yet become obsolete everywhere. And ten years ago, an advertisement about “Are you still boiling? ..” True, the linen from such a procedure deteriorated faster, the fabric sprawled. And the atmosphere in the house was simply unforgettable: steam, acrid smell of soap. Fortunately, this is not necessary now. Just wash it with a good powder or bleach.
Erase on the board
Another hellish way of washing – knuckles planted in the blood, aching lower back, headache due to long standing incline. You will not wish on the enemy. But they had to – many had to save hot water, because not all houses had it, and not everyone had a typewriter either. Perhaps, only children got pleasure from such washing – at that stage of development when they are interested in washing, washing, fiddling in water.
Wash sachets
“I hate wet bags,” Ira jerks at the memory. “They are so disgusting to the touch!” You can understand her: washing the bags was really not the most pleasant thing. But I had to carefully wash it by hand, and then hang it up to dry. Bags were rare. So they were kept like the apple of an eye – a convenient thing. And now we cannot refuse packages, they have become so ingrained in our everyday life.
Stand in the store two lines
Or even three. Remember how it was? First, they stood in line at the counter, where the seller weighed or put away the goods, wrote the amount on a piece of paper. With this piece of paper I had to stand one more line – to the cash register. Pay, take a check, and then go back to the queue – exchange the check for a purchase. By the way, have you noticed that cashiers in supermarkets, knocking out a check, often tear it slightly? A habit that has remained since then, so that no one can reuse it.
Oilcloth – everywhere
It was laid under a tablecloth or instead of a tablecloth, pasted over the walls in the kitchen with it, making it look like an apron. One could come across such examples when the walls were completely covered with it. So what? The material is comfortable, durable, it is easy to take care of it – it was spent with a wet cloth and cleanly. True, the colors were often simply deafening: as if a child was painting with all the colors of the rainbow. But there was no choice.
Darn tights
And it would be okay to be warm, but kapronki! Pry off with the thinnest needle, fasten the slipped loop, patch up the arrow. True, the kapronki were then much coarser and thicker than the current ones. Well, in the conditions of total deficit, there was nothing else to do: we had to sew up. And even tights that had become obsolete did not go anywhere: they could store onions in them (this, by the way, is a great way to preserve the harvest), sew a washcloth for washing dishes, make a sieve to grind jam into jam.
True, those times gave rise to a life hack: if you want to extend the life of tights, put them in the freezer.
Store small things in cans
Buttons – in cookie boxes, nails – in coffee cans. Surely you can still find such tin treasures somewhere in the closets. Moreover, biscuits in cans were bought infrequently: they appeared rarely and were expensive.
Eat to the last crumb
“We have a clean plate society,” many people with eating disorders have grown up with this phrase. You need to eat everything you put in – this is the law. It is also advisable to soak the plate with bread. Food was a basic value: the older generation still prefers to eat by force, just not to throw it away. However, now we have gone to the other extreme – humanity is throwing away too many products. So we still have to find a middle ground.
The habits that are still alive in us
Keep a bag with packages at home.
If there is a crisis – to buy canned food, salt, cereals for future use.
To think that lunch without soup is not lunch.
Planing salads with basins.
Cook jam and twist.
Add mayonnaise everywhere.
Wash the floor with your hands, and wash the dishes behind the dishwasher.