When's the going gets tough, some people... cook

Erika Janik

Suzan Colon, author of Cherries in Winter: My Family's Recipe for  Hope in Hard Times, is the guest on this week's Friday food show.When Colon was laid off from her dream job during the economic downturn, she felt the need to "cut back and hunker down." And she did so with a little help from her grandmother in the form of her tattered Depression-era recipe book. Leafing through the pages of handwritten recipes, as well as her grandmother's commentary, Colon discovered that cooking was the key to her family's survival in hard times.

The recent recession seems to have caused a lot of people to turn back to the Depression for inspiration, especially in food. People are looking for frugal recipes and cookbooks. Many want to learn to cook from scratch to save money.

Seeing a trend, 93-year-old Clara Cannucciari jumped on board. Born in 1915, she grew up in Chicago during the Depression working, get this, at Hostess filling Twinkies! Now she's on YouTube teaching a new generation how to make the simple, inexpensive food that her family used to eat during those hard times.

What foods did your mother, grandmother, or other family member make for you? What memories do these foods evoke? Tune in to Hear on Earth: Radio Without Borders on Friday at 3PM CT to hear Suzan Colon discuss the food that sustains us through life's difficulties.