Do you entertain formally– or concentrate on back yard barbecues? Do you have occasional help, or must your home be geared to easy care? Plan your decorating to further your way of living, to give you a comfortable, beautiful background. Binary choices do not reflect my way of living. Let us look at the “Dollarsavers”
It’s a cliche, but it’s true: there’s very little in life as satisfying as putting food in front of your people and watching them enjoy everything about it. –Andy The Cook’s Creed from Meta Given’s The Modern Family Cookbook (1958) The health of my family is in my care, therefore– I will preserve as far as possible
As you, Lovely Readers, know, I have a lot of crappy old stuff. Thus, I have two kinds of dish detergent under the kitchen sink, Dawn and Ivory. Not to take anything away from stuff in general because some general stuff is important, but only the crappy old stuff gets the Ivory treatment. Occasionally a
Here are some Housekeeping Hints from Heloise (1962) to help you cope with your homemaking chores. CUT DOWN ON SWEEPING. “It is not necessary to sweep under your beds every day. Who is going to look under your beds? Save your energy … never waste it.” BRIGHTEN UP THE BATHROOM. “Now, about washing the tub.
“A good dinner does not just happen but it is the result of careful planning,¹ intelligent marketing², good management,³ and high food standards.” I have done my best to recreate that sentence as it appears in this 1960 Home Economics text. The student underlined (in red!), and counted the three essential elements to a good
The welfare of the family is largely in the hands of the one who provides the three meals a day … Children, like flowers, thrive best when they have besides the right kind of nourishing food and care, plenty of sunshine and out-of door-air … Well nourished children are happy children … The newer knowledge
November 27, 2019. Originally posted some time ago. Enjoy! As you can see, Daughter C outdid herself. Lovely, don’t you think? The weather is forecast to be very Thanksgivingy– Southern Country Mouse-wise. One or two Thanksgiving orphans will join us. Traditional menu, though not sure what Daughter C and The J-Man are bringing. Table is
It was a frigid 64° when I got up this morning. Refreshing. Making progress on the project that goes by the name, “Returning to the Civilized.” College football commences in earnest this evening and continues through the long weekend. Mr. Big Food is excited. As am I.
Back in the crappy olden days, making a home for your family was not considered drudge work. At least that’s the belief Meredith Publishing, publishers of BH&G books, were selling to women. I am of two minds about this. Better Homes and Gardens Decorating Book, Meredith Publishing Company, Des Moines, Iowa, 1961. As person who
I’m taking it easy today. JK! (That’s kid speak for “just kidding.”) [For the toxic among you, I’ll be talking about Makitta drills below!] After our return from Memphis, I had five and one-half days to get the joint– including the Bunkhouse and some outside parts– ready for company on Saturday afternoon. And not just
Did you see #10? Plug-in vision-phone. How cool would that be? What is the thing above #5 that has a line but no number? [Betty Jane has a Ph.D. by the way, so that’s Doctor Betty Jane to folks like you & I.] Crappy old books such as this are good for a laugh. How
In today’s Drudgework Monday we’ll do a lot of ironing, review some movies, and muse about civilization. Twenty-two point eight five gigs– that’s how much ironing I did this weekend. I do not mind ironing. I have to be in the right mood, and the weather has to cooperate, but given those, it’s not a
Obviously, have coffee and check Windy for the weather. But not according to Heloise who says, The first thing to do in the mornings is to put your dishes in the sink to soak and then make the beds! I don’t know why, but this is most important. It gives a woman a feeling of
Omni corrumpuntur et intabescunt in tempore; Saturnus quos generat devorare non cessat; … Or if you prefer… All things are corrupted and decay in time; Saturn ceases not to devour the children that he generates; all the glory of the world would be buried in oblivion, if God had not provided mortals with the remedy
Good food is of prime importance to my family, therefore; I shall take pride in doing an outstanding job of cooking from “The Cooks Creed” in Meta Given’s, The Modern Family Cookbook (J.G. Ferguson Publishing Company, Chicago, 1942) That’s a Johnsonville smoked brat, Campbell’s pork & beans, and homemade macaroni salad with yellow bell peppers,
I left the World-Wide-Web to venture out into the real world. Twelve hours. Twelve measly hours and Van der Leun has three new posts. That’s on top of the three new ones I saw this morning which I barely had time to glance at before we left The Farm to make our way to the
Today is the day I begin picking up and dusting each of the 3320 books in my library. I had hoped to start last week, but until today, I was still coming to terms with a) Daughter C’s insistence on decorating for Christmas– looked very nice, I was still finding things that needed to be
Reposted from April 2016. I was searching for the Meal Planner’s Creed (coming up soon) and I came across this rant. See also this. Enjoy! In response to this: the drudgery of housework And this: slaving away in the kitchen Dear Mrs./Ms Moore, Presumably you have a house or an apartment or an igloo or
Originally posted December 31, 2014. Converted from old Blogger format, so please excuse the appearance. How to Be Your Own Decorator, Helen Koues, Good Housekeeping, New York, 1928. We are fast approaching the time when homemakers turn their attentions to storage, organization and redecorating. (If you don’t believe me, take a gander at all of the
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