License to Grill: Recession Recipes and the Art of Surviving a Financial Crisis

The Name's Bond Broke Bond

Right let's cut to the chase. The economic climate is looking about as inviting as a SPECTRE convention. Apparently the riff raff are getting jittery about this 'recession' malarkey. Seems even the most sophisticated spy gadget can't protect you from rising grocery bills. Miss Moneypenny nearly fainted when she saw the price of caviar the other day. Fortunately a resourceful dame named Kiki Rough is teaching the masses how to cook like it's 2008 again. Personally I'd rather face Blofeld than a budget but needs must old boy.

From Food Stamps to TikTok Fame: A Recipe for Disaster…or Success?

This Rough character she's no pushover. From her lair in the Chicago suburbs—more yellow and black than Goldfinger's Aston Martin I'd wager—she's dispensing culinary wisdom gleaned from the dark ages of food stamps. Apparently you can make a strudel without bankrupting MI6. She's amassed 350,000 followers and 21 million views. I suspect Q Branch is already developing a spy gadget that automatically finds the cheapest donut ingredients. "We just need to share knowledge right now because everyone is scared," Rough tells CNBC. Reminds me of that time I had to teach a room full of terrorists how to play Baccarat—knowledge is power even if it's how to make a recession friendly soufflé.

Pork Chops and Jungle Juice: The New Martini?

Forget your shaken martinis darlings we're talking jungle juice and pork chops. Millennials and Gen Xers are dusting off their recession era survival guides offering pearls of wisdom to the younger generation. Apparently cheap Florida getaways were all the rage. And business casual attire at every social event. One creator even declared that pork chops "taste like" the Great Recession. Noted. I'll add that to my list of interrogation techniques. "There's things that I didn't realize were 'recession indicators' the first time around that I thought were just the trends," said M.A. Lakewood a writer and professional fundraiser in upstate New York. "Now you can see it coming from 10 miles away." Well she obviously never faced Oddjob. But I do commend her on observation skills.

Inflation: The Villain Even 007 Can't Defeat?

Of course even the best laid plans—or the most cunning budget recipes—are foiled by that old nemesis: inflation. Kimberly Casamento is finding that those 'affordable' meals from 2009 now cost about 100% to 150% more. "Every aspect of life is so expensive that it's hard for anybody to survive," Casamento said. "If you can cut the cost of your meal by $5 then that's a win." I suppose every little helps. It's like trying to disarm a nuclear bomb with a paperclip but one must start somewhere.

When the Going Gets Tough the Tough Get Cooking

Megan Way an associate professor at Babson College says this communal knowledge sharing is a 'very human thing.' "It's a very human thing to reach out to others when things are feeling uncertain and try to gain on their experience," Way said. "It can really make a difference for feeling like you're moving forward a little prepared. One of the worst things for an economy is absolute fear." She notes the differences between the Great Recession and our current predicament but admits the uncertainty is a common thread. As is the rising divorce rates. Good luck with that people. All my relationships end up the same me on my own.

Recession Pop and Deja Vu: Music to Survive By?

And what's a financial crisis without a soundtrack? Apparently we're reliving the 'recession pop' era of Miley Cyrus Lady Gaga and Katy Perry. Even the return of 'Phineas and Ferb' is stirring up memories of economic gloom. "It's almost a permission to feel good whether that's through song or something," said Sills the marketer in Louisiana. "It's not necessarily ignoring the problems that are here but just maybe finding some sort of joy or fun in the midst of all of it." So while the world may be going to hell in a handbasket at least we have catchy tunes and budget recipes to soften the blow. Just try not to cry into your jungle juice.