OK, can we really hide this anymore? We’re in a depression. That’s why it’s very important that we find any means necessary to make our dollars stretch. That’s what 93-year-old Clara Cannucciari has been doing since America’s last Great Depression.

Lindsay Goldwert of ABC News reports that Cannucciari, a great-grandmother, knows her way around a kitchen and knows how to prepare cheap, nourishing, quality meals. According to Ms. Cannucciari’s blog (she has one, don’t you?), her food is so tasty that she gained weight during America’s last Great Depression. You can learn about that and more by checking out her cooking show blog, “Depression Cooking with Clara.”

She learned from her mother

“My father had to have his pasta every day. And my mother insisted we always have a little meat too,” Cannucciari said. In fact, she and her brother liked meat so much that they would pretend to be sick in order to get more, despite the rationing that was necessary during the Depression.

Cannucciari was born in Chicago in 1915. She attended high school until she was a sophomore, when she had to leave to work for her family. At 20, Cannucciari worked for Hostess, filling Twinkies with creamy filling.

Spontaneous culinary creation

Cannucciari currently lives in upstate New York and enjoys how much people are enjoying “Depression Cooking with Clara.” According to Goldwert, the entire project began with Clara’s grandson filming her in the kitchen, making the meals he knew and loved as a child.

“I wasn’t sure if I could capture the magic of her storytelling and the details of the cooking at the same time,” he says on her Web site. “There are no second takes with Clara. If she did it once she doesn’t feel the need to do it again.”

Keep it good and simple

A Depression is serious business (or lack thereof). Hence, families need to watch how much they’re spending on everything, food included. As a good place to start, Cannucciari recommends pasta. “Any kind. Have it every night, sometimes with meatballs. Salads you can make with salt, pepper and oil. And then you can always have some Italian bread. There’s no secret. It’s just there. It’s simple and it’s good.”

Save money while feeding your family. Watch “Depression Cooking with Clara.”