Back in Time for Dinner

We're loving the new programme on BBC 2 called "Back in Time for Dinner" http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05nc5tv

The programme focusses on a typical food-loving family and their journey through the ages from the 1950s until now. Each week their home is transformed to fit in with the era they're living in and most importantly they have to eat the food that would have been eaten then. The family cook meals directly out of the The National Food Survey that recorded what real families were eating.

The first week saw the family living through the austerity of the 1950's where they were faced with rationing and the bare minimum choice in meals.  The food was bland and had to be bought day by day as the family only had a larder to keep food fresh. What I've particularly enjoyed seeing so far is the family's kitchen transformation through the decades. The 1950's kitchen was bare, poky and lacking in time-saving equipment. It wasn't a colourful or comfortable place for the housewife to spend time in but focussed on function entirely.

In last night's episode the kitchen went from brown and dull into a 60's makeover in baby blue. The kitchen became a bright, sociable space, much more pleasant to spend time in. As a result of the 1950's emphasis on hard labour in the kitchen the "space-age" 60's saw the start of gadgets and electrical equipment in a new fitted kitchen with the aim of making the housewife's life easier. Ergonomics played a large part in the design of the kitchen. The way the kitchen was laid out was taken into consideration to avoid unnecessary walking! Kitchen ergonomics are very important now using the 'magic triangle', for example. See our 'Kitchen Design' board on Pinterest for more kitchen design tips https://www.pinterest.com/discountw/kitchen-design/. Plastic work surfaces were also used for easy cleaning...so that's where it all began for DWS!

Later in the 1960s the family got a small fridge and the dawn of supermarket shopping was here.  Whereas the food of the 50s was sparse, tasteless and limited, the 1960s brought in the convenience era of packet mixes that just need to be heated up and the introduction of food from foreign shores. In just one decade the housewife had gone from cooking all the time to not really "cooking" at all She was finding she had more and more free time on her hands to get her hair done or shop for the latest, exciting fashions!

I'm looking forward to next's week's episode set in the 1970's, a time of space hoppers and Pot Noodles!

Check out the DWS Pinterest page for mid century kitchen design ideas if you also fancy going back in time in your home https://www.pinterest.com/discountw/retro-mid-century-design/.