22 November 1956 “More Thanksgiving”

Just a quick post today, as I am off to a friends and I have some Thanksgiving things to prepare.
I love this image of the son watching his father check the turkey. And what a bird!
With more information for any of you new Thanksgiving chef’s, here is a good turkey roasting time-table I thought I would share.
I am not sure if I am going to try these myself. I will at some point, not sure if I will for Thanksgiving. But, they are so much fun I had to share, in case any of you were looking for a fun way to serve up those sweet potatoes this year! What a lovely vintage way to do so and a marshmallow in the center of each little treat, what fun.
Happy Homemaking.

17 November 1956 “Thanksgiving Dinner Preparations”

It seems the tradition of football and Thanksgiving has been around a bit, as this 1949 New Yorker attests. We don’t, in my family at least, partake in this tradition. Which, honestly is fine with me. My hubby knows football likes he knows how to cook a turkey…nil. But, for many American families the sound of the game is a part of the day. When I was younger and had to be at various family members, sometimes this was a part of the day.
Now what Thanksgiving prep would be complete without Butter? it really is a great way to roast a turkey, as is shown in this little video. One can also lift the skin a bit at the back and neck and put butter under, careful to lay it back down again. Olive oil also works nice for this and adds a different flavor.

Let us hope no one in the 1950’s or even today for that matter, found this sad little meal on their table.

Last year I roasted my Turkey for the first hour with only butter on, to seal in the juices, then the rest of the time with the lid on. I only took the lid off for the last 30 minutes or so, to nicely brown the skin. This seemed to really make it juicy.
Here are roasting instructions from one of my vintage magazines. I shall share more of it with you this week. This is the roasting. There is carving as well.

Here are some stuffing recipes. The first is for a roast duck, an alternative offered in this issue for Thanksgiving. But, I think it would be lovely in a turkey as well. 
I am making oyster stuffing this year and might try this recipe: Oyster stuffing is often a tradition here in New England. Last year I made a cornbread maple syrup stuffing, that was so lovely. Though, I don’t necessarily follow recipes to a tee, any longer. I know the gist of stuffing, as I make it more often than just at Thanksgiving, so it will most likely be a pinch of this a dash of that. Sometimes make your bread into an almost crouton is a good way to do it as well. The day before or even two days before, cut up your bread into cubes and season as you like then lightly bake to harden. Then you can taste the seasoning before you make it into a stuffing. It is rather like a homemade version of ‘box stuffing’.
For my American readers, are you doing anything special this year for Thanksgiving? Or any good recipes to share?

21 October 1956 “Cooking Pork Chops and Investing in the 1950’s”

Even though I am now going to be answering reader questions on Sundays, I thought there were two good comments on last post. So, for today’s post, I want to include them.
The first is from an Apronite who hails from Canada:

I have an off topic question, do you have an easy recipe for blade pork chops or butt pork chops.<<
I often cook them as my grandmother did in the 50`s with great results and the help of lipton onion soup mix :) They always turn out tender, but I would like another simple way to do them.......I never fry my food, and bake everything in the oven when I cook, as my mom did.

Well, first off, pork chops are very 1950’s. In fact the current president (Dwight Eisenhower) wife, Mamie was known to say, “Ike runs the country, and I turn the pork chops”.
I cook my chops both on the stove and in the oven. Usually when I bake my chops I either stuff them or at least have a stuffing of sorts over them in a covered pan to hold their moisture.
Let’s look at the pork chop. This image from my 55 Fannie Farmer cookbook shows us where the chop comes from. (click to view full size) Many people think of pork chops as being equivalent to the consistency of shoe leather. This stems largely from the fact that we were told for many years, including the 1950’s, too overcook it due to possible disease. As you can see in the diagram they say “All pork cuts require long cooking”. That is actually not true. I have a friend who recently did a ServeSafe class for her job. We now realize that pork should be tender and can be pink and doesn’t need to reach an internal temperature of any greater than 145 F. Sometimes to be safe, I might go as high as 160 F, but once you taste the sweet juicy flavor of a pink chop you will never go back.
Here is the instructions from that same Fannie Farmer book for chops:
Here are two pork chop recipes from my General Foods Cookbook.
I often cook my chops on the stove top. My way is very easy. This is easier, I think, if you use a cast iron pan, as the heat is retained. I simply season my chops on both sides with salt, pepper, (sometimes pepper corns), Coriander, and bit of sugar. Get your pan to a medium to hot heat range. Once the pan is hot, I add my fat. I often use bacon fat, which I save from my breakfasts. I suggest you use a fat that smokes at higher temps, such as bacon fat or olive oil. In the 50’s it would have been bacon fat, but today grape seed oil, peanut oil, those also don’t smoke until a higher temperature. While unrefined canola oil and sunflower and safflower smoke at around 250 F. I have a list of oils and the temperature at which they heat up on the COOKING page. If you go there, scroll down you will see it. (Simply click on it and it should enlarge. I finally found what I was doing wrong to not allow pop ups to work).
Now, pop the chops in the pan, don’t let them touch. I only give it maybe 2-5 minutes per side. You want it to look lovely and brown, then flip it and use the same amount of time and then put a lit on, turn off the heat and let it sit for 5 minutes. A cast iron pan will hold the heat and continue to cook when it is off the flame. If it is stainless steel, just turn the flame very low and cover for about 5 minutes. That is honestly as long as it can take. It is very simple and so juicy.
A meat thermometer is really good to have to test your meats. I use mine for roasts and birds all the time, but for something thin like a steak or a chop, I just use my finger. There is an old finger test to help you learn what raw to over cooked meat feels like. If you touch the fleshy bit of your hand below your thumb, with your hand relaxed, it is what raw meat feels like. Now, touch your thumb and your pinky and touch the same spot, that is Well done, and as you go through your fingers to thumb until you reach your index (that being rare feeling) you can learn to touch the doneness of food. The more ‘in there’ you are with your food the better, I have found.
I literally barely boiled water before 1955 and now find myself rather comfortable in the kitchen. The act of being a part of the food, touching and tasting and seasoning as you go, is really an integral part to being a homemaker, I feel. I often associate the kitchen with the art studio and one finds, in art as well, that the more in touch with the creation, often the better the result. This seems to be the same with food.
I have used the above baked recipes for my chops, only I really reduce the cooking time. If the chop is stuffed, it should bake a bit longer, but again, we must think of pork more like beef and less like chicken. Don’t over cook it.
Sometimes I will make a quick stuffing from leftover cornbread crumbs or bread crumbs and wrap the meat around it and toothpick it and pop it in the oven, covered and seasoned in a bit of water for about 20 minutes. I like to take the top off for the last five to crisp up the stuffing, as we like it that way.
Not sure if that helps. And please, others share your pork chop secrets with us!
The second comment I thought we could address today comes from hotpinksky35 who wrote:

One thing I've noticed about finance in the 50's is that as far as investing goes their seemed to be much more emphasis on savings bonds and life insurance in the mainstream media. Not much on mutual funds (and I know they had them back then) Maybe it was a product of the times. The rates on bonds couldn't have been high. Maybe they just had whole life insurance back then which is touted more as a financial investment than term life insurance is. Did they have term life insurance back then? With moms not working as much, maybe there was a greater perceived need for life insurance.

Is the lack of emphasis on mutual funds, stocks, currencies etc back then really a reflection of the growth of the financial services industry over the past 50 years especially with the growth of 401k plans? Personally after Enron and Goldman Sachs etc fiascos I've come to the conclusion that much of the financial services industry the mutual fund companies brokerage houses magazines Jim Cramer tv networks are all a bunch of hooey... They are selling most of the public a bill of goods and most don't take the time to learn about investing. I think you can make more money investing in stocks in the long term than you can keeping it in a savings account. But I think the financial services industry is trying to convince the public they can all become overnight millionaries by doing some $4 trades on etrade. Blah dont get me started.

I think with regards to investing we were better off in the 50s with defined pension plans savings bonds and life insurance. Most people don't know enough about investing to really grow their accounts in their 401K the way they should. I didn't until recently. I have taken the initiative to learn and my returns have improved significantly. Most people aren't going to take the time to learn the way I have.

In 1952 only  6.5 million Americans owned common stock (about 4.2% of the U.S. population). Many people were still aware of and frightened by the market crash in 1929. So, many people in the 1950’s on average, shied away from stocks.It actually took until 1954 before the Dow Jones Industrial Average exceeded the peak in 1929.
It was more complicated and expensive to invest in the 1950’s as well. One didn’t merely go onto an e-comerce/investment site and buy up some shares. This, however, had many advantaged to today’s investing. I think many of us today merely see it as another item to purchase. And, as we are a purchasing people, if you make it easy, we will come!
A very interesting item I discovered today while researching this idea, was the Glass-Steagall Act which was passed in 1933. This act made it illegal for commercial banks to collaborating with full-service brokerage firms or participate in investment banking activities. In 1933, the country was in the depths of a Depression caused by the financial crisis of the stock markets. The very concept of trading and the ‘get rich quick’ mania, that many people still assume was just a part of the ‘American Dream’ was actually born out of such trading in the 1920’s. It’s result, we now see. So, the act was made.
Now, what I find very interesting and what I am always pointing out here is that we don’t seem to want to look to our past. We, as a people, have a very short term memory and it seems to get shorter all the time. We, ourselves, recently suffered a very bad financial problem owing very much to stocks and investments and brokerage and banking. And, it will be interesting for you to know that the Glass-Steagall act was dismantled in 1999! It then became possible for commercial banks and brokerage firms to intermingle and what we once considered ‘good solid banks’ really just became another leveraging money making risk institution. If you want to read more about the Glass-Seagull act go HERE.
The cost to individual to invest, then was higher. Fixed commissions were the norm, meaning what one had to pay their broker to handle the transaction between your choice, money and final stock, was rather set in stone. No competitive online pricing nor no brokerage fee deals. The technology of the day, as well, made such instant transactions non existent. Overseas investing, at this point, was almost not there. One could say, however, that the time it took and the limited information and the need of a trained professional made one less likely to part with their money.
And actually, mutual funds were not available until the very late 50’s and into the 60’s as we know them today. And certainly not something the average middle class American would even know about.  In fact what was to become Mutual Funds were only an idea in a Princeton grads thesis paper in the early 50’s. He went on to form and manage the now largest fund, Vanguard 500.

By the end of the 1960s, there were approximately 270 funds with $48 billion in assets. The first retail index fund, First Index Investment Trust, was formed in 1976 and headed by John Bogle, who conceptualized many of the key tenets of the industry in his 1951 senior thesis at Princeton University. It is now called the Vanguard 500 Index Fund and is one of the world's largest mutual funds, with more than $100 billion in assets.

So, it seems that the beginning of the 1950’s still saw very conservative attitudes toward investing. But, as the decade comes to a close we see a change. In 1954, the NYSE announced its monthly investment plan program, which allowed investors to invest as little as $40 per month.  This was really the precursor to the mutual fund concept and was used later by them. $40 dollars in today’s money would be roughly $280.00 something middle and lower middle class families may have had trouble finding. Particularly our Terre Haute family who saves a small weekly allotment.
This great little film does a good job explaining the late 1950’s new idea of investing. It will not come out until next year, 1957.(As an aside, this video and all others I will include in my posts can now also be found on my youtube channel. I have a page on the site specifically for that HERE.)

I think when you consider the ticker tape and the need to literally push paper and make calls to buy stocks, and therefore the time between your desire to own a share and your actually buying it, make stock ownership rather a turtle’s pace endeavor compared to  today’s instant digital world.
I also think we can see again how since that time we have been fed the very concept of the product. The idea of buying and we as consumers is vastly different from the 1950’s. It was beginning then, surely, but today it is easy to spend and most people have no idea what they spend even in one day, let alone a year.
Before 1955, I had little idea of money spent. I knew roughly what we hand and when to pay bills and all that. Yet, it was nothing for me to go out, almost daily, and buy here and there with my Debit card (another new invention created to make us mindless spenders). And, I cannot say how much the credit and debit card hurts the small business. I was once a business owner and the amount of fees I paid for every transaction was criminal. When you buy something from a small business and pay with debit/credit the owner has to take his profit from what is left after his/her cost of the product and then the percentage that goes to the credit/debit company. Another example of the commercial bank acting differently. And, another reason to use cash especially when supporting local business. Large concerns such as Wal-Mart and their ilk pay almost nothing and in some cases literally nothing to process these fees. So, the increased use and advertising for the convenience of them only drives another nail into small business and the middle class way of life.
And, really, that is what it comes down to with investing: convenience and ease. We are always sold on how much ‘better’ it is to have things “FAST AND NOW”. If a thing is done quicker and we get things faster that is better, we are told. Yet, what happens when we make haste? That is right, Waste. The old adage holds true. There is little time to think about what we are spending, how we should be saving, or where our money is even going when we can go online click a button and magically buy things. Hop down town with the gals, coffee, drinks, no problem plastic solves it. When really many of us have little idea what we are spending our money on. And, this in my opinion, is how the modern armchair investor works. It’s easy and ‘lower cost’ so why not do it? Yet, many people lost not only their nest egg, but in some cases as in 401K they felt safely invested for their retirement literally gone.
I heard a story of a man who was a driver for an electric company. When that company was bought out by Enron his 401K retirement plan was shifted to Enron stocks. He didn’t know as he merely paid out each week to his retirement. When Enron fell, the locked out small investors while the top few percent took millions out. This fellow had 300,000 dollars in his retirement and was close to retirement age. When they unfroze it after the crash, he was left with $1200.00! That’s not 12 thousand but 12 hundred. That is why when people say they are against caps or regulation saying it isn’t part of the free trade, they are only being lied to. It merely allows a free reign for large companies to do as they wish. And these regulations we saw fit to put in place, such as the Glass-Steagall Act, are simply wiped out and the general public has no idea. I think the 1950’s was simpler in what was going on so one had time to be more aware of what was happening in their world. Today we seem happy to forget our yesterday’s, why bother?
So, the continual lesson learned from the 1950’s: Pay attention and think before you act and plan plan plan and Be aware of  your world and  your wallet. Act with rational thought and consideration not  childish heated whims or anger. I wish we could get a 1950’s school teacher to come in and teach basic manners to many of our ‘news channels’ and the Government at large.
**As an addendum, I just want to add that from now on every post will subsequently be placed into the new site. So, today this site can be accessed again under the COOKING PAGE as well as the 1950’s PAGE. This way you can see how the site will build up with my information. And, every friday, I shall begin placing all old posts info accordingly. I am hoping this will lead to a very useful and easy to navigate site full of Vintage information. Thanks again for you patience with that.

9 & 10 October 1956 “Jam, Chocolate Cake, Left-Over Pie, and Bread: From Field to Slice”

  I realized I forgot to share my finished Jam and recipe with you the other day. While speaking of canning I must tell you about my first incident with canning. I sometimes forget, now well into my second year of life in the 1950’s, that it was not that long ago I could hardly boil water.
My vintage friend and I had decided to try some canning early on in my 1955 year. We both had never done it before and only had some basic books to use. We were so careful measuring and preparing the jars and I set my then ‘new’ vintage canning pot with rack to boil. We carefully lowered our first set of jam into the water, eager to make our first batch. Then, we waited…and waited. We heard no pops and could see the lids were not indented, so we simply went onto more prep work for more jam.
I forgot to mention, this was late in the evening that we had decided to do this. We were also working on some art projects for a craft fair we were going to go to the next day. So, time went by. When it reached midnight and no indenting lids, I told my friend to go home and I would stay up and baby-sit our first batch of jam.
At around 1 a.m. I simply gave up and took the jars out. Thinking we had made some horrible mistake. When I removed the jam you could see the liquid in the jars boiling inside. Oh, well and off to bed.
The next morning, when I came down to make breakfast, it was like Christmas morning when I noticed the jars had all popped in the night and were happily dented in! Needless to say, that batch of jam was VERY cooked, but it was then that I learned the ‘popping’ didn’t happen until a few minutes after you remove them from the boiling water. I feel I have come a long way. That is also why I feel like any of you out there who can barely boil water that why to try the adventure into cooking and doing more for yourself, don’t worry. It is possible and rather fun along the way.
Now, my jam. I had mentioned I was in the middle of using up the peaches I had received from my MIL from her little fruit orchard. I also had some leftover rhubarb I had picked at our local farm early Summer that I hadn’t used, so simply froze the full stalks. I decided to combine the two. Thus, Peach Rhubarb Jam.

Here is the recipe:
50sgal Rhubarb & Peach Jam

• 1/2 cup rhubarb diced
• 4 cups mashed peaches
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• Lemon zest
• 4 Tbs liquid pectin

Get your big canning pot boiling. (any pot large enough to have boiling water that will cover the lids of whatever size jar you are using) I have an old large metal canning pot with the metal rack insert that you lift the jars in and out. I bought it at a local sale for a few dollars. They are not expensive and as usual, I always try for vintage, as I know it will last. But, they do have new variety that are nice. I have some books and Canning equipment in the Corner Store HERE if you would like to check that out.
I blanched my peaches first. This makes canning peaches much easier. Especially if you are doing a large patch. This recipe makes 6-7 8oz. jars.
Set water to rolling boil and then drop in peaches for about 5 minutes. I found with these peaches, as they were more ‘natural’ (that is not overgrown for the consumer market, just an old peach tree in my MIL yard that yields small little plum sized peaches) it took a little longer. Have an ice water bath ready and simply plunge the peaches in. The skin should slide off fairly easy. I also find this really prepares the peaches to be mashed. With a firmer store bought peach the mashing might need some cooking to achieve it. But with these, the were rather mushy when I was done and simply cut out the pit and sliced/smashed them into my measuring cup to get about 4 cups.
Cut rhubarb into 1/2 inch pieces and cook with 1/4 cup lemon juice (I like fresh lemon juice, but you can use bottled in a pinch). Cook this until it is soft, about five minutes or so.
Now place the peaches and the sugar into the pan with the rhubarb and bring to a boil. Then, simply spoon into clean and dry canning jars, wipe mouths of jars clean and dry, put on the lid and place in your large pot of boiling water for canning. Make sure the lids are under the boiling water. I boil for 10 minutes then take out and wait for the fun little ‘pop’ sound. Always laughing, of course, recalling that first batch of ‘all-night’ jam with a friend.
I forgot to mention. I used liquid pectin in this recipe but you could also use powdered. The trick is:
4 tsp powdered pectin = 2 TBS of liquid pectin.
Also, remember that when you use DRY PECTIN you add it to the juice of fruit before heating. Then after you have brought it to a bowl add the sugar.
When using LIQUID PECTIN you add the sugar and juice/fruit together and THEN boil and add the liquid pectin AFTER. It took some research to find this out, as I had both liquid and powdered pectin depending on the recipes I had found and the other day had only liquid left. So, I hope this  helps you out.
I made a new chocolate cake recipe the other day that I really like. It was nice and dense and very old fashioned tasting, though the recipe was new. I made the frosting through an error and was, as usual, happy with it. I often find when I run up against a problem, in this case I had less confectioners sugar than I had thought (forgetting I had used some the previous day). So, without enough sugar to stiffen it into a good firm spreadable frosting, it basically became icing.
Though it was a simply mixer frosting, I then treated it like a 7 minute frosting, but added no eggs. I simply put it in a double boiler (for me that is a pot with boiling water with a smaller pot set in) and used my electric mixer for 7 minutes.
This was the Frosting recipe I used:

EASY CHOCOLATE FROSTING
1 stick butter
4 tbsp. cocoa
1/3 c. milk
1 lb. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt

Combine butter, cocoa and milk in saucepan and heat until butter has melted. Beat in sugar, vanilla, and salt, beating until ready to spread.

But, then I found out I did not have 1 lb. of sugar and had already made the liquid ingredients. Shame on me, for I should have had all my ingredients out first. I am so used to baking and cooking and usually try to stick to my lists for pantry and shelf so I assume there will be ingredients there. I had forgot, however, that the previous day I had used up some confectioners/powdered sugar unexpectedly.
So, to that I added marshmallows broken up and then put it in the double boiler. It made a thicker liquid, which I poured onto my cake. When it set, it was a beautiful smooth as glass surface. A good trick with such liquid icing on a cage, is to pierce the cake with something, a knife or the small ends of your beaters, so the icing drips and sets into the cake, this is wonderful.
Dark Chocolate Cake

• 3/4  cup  butter, softened
• 3    eggs
• 2  cups  all-purpose flour
• 3/4  cup  unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1  teaspoon  baking soda
• 3/4  teaspoon  baking powder
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 2  cups  sugar
• 2  teaspoons  vanilla
• 1-1/2  cups  milk
•     Chocolate-Sour Cream Frosting (see recipe below)

directions

1. Allow butter and eggs to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, lightly grease bottoms of three 8-inch round baking pans or two 8x8x2-inch square or 9x1-1/2-inch round cake pans. Line bottom of pans with waxed paper. Grease and lightly flour waxed paper and sides of pans. Or grease one 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Set pan(s) aside.
2. In a mixing bowl stir together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder; and salt; set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar, about 1/4 cup at a time, beating on medium speed until well combined (3 to 4 minutes). Scrape sides of bowl; continue beating on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition (about 1 minute total). Beat in vanilla.
4. Alternately add flour mixture and milk to beaten mixture, beating on low speed just until combined after each addition. Beat on medium to high speed for 20 seconds more. Spread batter evenly into the prepared pan(s).
5. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 35 to 40 minutes for 8-inch square pans and the 13x9x2-inch pan, 30 to 35 minutes for 8- or 9-inch round pans, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool cake layers in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans. Peel off waxed paper. Cool thoroughly on wire racks. Or place 13x9x2-inch cake in pan on a wire rack; cool thoroughly. Frost with desired frosting. Makes 12 to 16 servings.

As I am doing a recipe post, I figured I might as well share last night’s dinner with you. I had made a slow cooker meal of corned beef, potatoes, corn and onions the previous night. It was quite good. Then, as I usually do, Hubby gets another version of the previous night’s dinner for his lunch the next day. Now, I had quite a bit of the meal left and I did not want to simply serve that leftover again in the same form, so I made one of my good ole’ stand by’s. I call it ‘left over pie’.
Basically, I make a very simply in the pan pastry and then fill it with the leftovers. In this case I baked the crust for ten minutes and then shredded the corned beef along the bottom. Took all the corn and potatoes and mashed them. Then I put a layer of green beans over the meat and topped with the whipped potatoes and grated a bit of leftover cheese along the top.
  This is always a fun and easy way to use up leftovers. You can, of course, make a top layer crust as well, but in this case, it was more of a sheppards pie affair and the browned potatoes and cheese on top are so yummy.
This might actually look rather bad to anyone who doesn’t eat meat, but I assure it, it was quite good.
This is my old make in the pan pastry. This recipe is for a two layered pie, so for this pie I simply cut back the ingredients to:

1 1/2 C Flour
1 1/2 tsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 C  Salad Oil
2 Tbs milk

Both versions are so easy to make and you can whip it up rather fast. Company will always be impressed with homemade pie, rather savory or sweet, and this actually makes a very light and flaky crust.
Now, just for fun, this interesting video.This isn’t a vintage video, but it is an interesting watch. This gentleman in UK used his allotment to grow wheat and he takes you from seed to loaf. A great teaching tool for you homeschoolers just to show a very small version of wheat to bread production. Also very interesting how he uses some garden machines and modifies them to work in the wheat process. Obviously not practical for many of us, but very interesting none the less.

27 May 1956 “1950’s Nutrition and Recipes”

I thought we should continue our discussions of food, proportion, portion servings and nutrition both vintage and modern.

I really feel I have struck upon something worth delving into more deeply and have already begun ear-marking and notating pages and compiling some information. To cook vintage can be fun and have a certain compelling nature that might help lead us down the path to ease, health, weight loss, and returning to the basic connection with our food. It is not all Ambrosia salad and Bacon covered butter.
This is the insert from my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook is the Daily Dietary Allowances.(You can click on image to see full size ) It lays out child’s age and caloric intake. So, a homemaker at the time would see and be aware of diet on levels we are not. Also, most girls and some boys were required to take Home Ec and it would have involved detailed information of diet and even such things as how to determine good fabric to make clothing etc. A skill set to help one be independent. Today we are schooled as if we are all independently wealthy and have no need to worry about it, because we can just buy it or someone else will do it for us. Unfortunately for most of us that ‘other person’ is often the corporate world making things fatter and more chemicals so you want more and therefore  buy more.
It’s interesting to note that for a woman 64 inches tall and 128 lbs at 25 should be eating 2300 calories. That might seem a lot, but when you see how it is divided and also figure an increased routine of running about and no ‘sitting at the computer or tv’ time. A homemaker in 1955 maybe watched some television. There was perhaps the ‘bad’ housewife who would watch her ‘soap opera’s (so called because of the soap advertising) but for the most part, tv was an event shared by family in the evening except the new generation of children who were growing up with it watched much more than their parents or older siblings.
The 2006 figure increased by an average one hour per person per week compared to the previous year. People in the North East watched the most television last year at an average 4.2 hours per day. But, I digress, back to nutrition.
In this same book it goes into great detail breaking down all the foods and their caloric equivalents. Under Main Dishes and Meats such things as:

Calories     Meat
95                Bacon, two strips
140             Beef Pot roast (2 thin slices 4 x 2 inches)
245             1 patty (about 4 patties per pound raw meat)

You can see that some of these ‘bad things’ are actually not high in calorie, no sugars and the fat content is minimal when one eats a realistic portion. For example, 4 hamburgers from one pound of ground meat is a much smaller portion than you would find or be instructed to make today. Before 1955, when I did make my own patties (usually bought them pre patties-how lazy is that!) one pound would be more like 2 patties so already that is two servings per one person.
Under BREADS in this same section they have one baking powder biscuit as 130 calories. Now the recipe in this book for biscuits (which I have used and do like) is as follows
Baking-Powder Biscuits

2 cups flour
3 ts[ baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 shortening (I use butter-shortening was one of those war time foods that became cheap and easy to make and therefore was part of the ‘easy’ way we were beginning to see such changes. Butter is MUCH better for you)
2/3 to 3/4 cup milk
Makes 16 biscuits. (If I use my vintage biscuit cutter that is true, but if I made a ‘modern sized’ biscuit it would probably make 6-8 again portion sizes!)

Here we see some examples of Daily food plans (click to view full size). It goes on to discuss deep yellow veg compared to dark green and you are aware of the need for the various varieties for health and vitamins.
Now, many of us like the nostalgia of the 50’s. And to some of us that might be the kitsch of the odd foods. Well, here are some sample recipes from my 1954 Better Homes and Gardens in a pull out ad (they are cut-able index card sized recipes to put in your recipe box) for Miracle Whip. Now, these recipes are not bad and yet are very ‘50’s fun’. Another way to make them even healthier (besides simply eating the smaller portions you would have) is simply making your own mayonnaise. It is not hard and once you taste it you will not want to go back. Again, before the 50’s homemakers would have made their own mayonnaise. It would not have been used as prevalently as it was to be in the 1950’s but that was because it was now a product they wanted you to buy so the more offers and free recipes they gave, the more you would buy and use it. Nothing wrong with that, but you also have the power to take the fun 50’s food and make it healthier with that easy choice of home-made mayonnaise.
There are endless mayonnaise recipes out there. Simply look them up, even Youtube videos on ‘how-to's’ and with that any variation you like. Use olive oil, use different types of mustard etc. You decide, but that is one of the wonderful things about getting  more involved with your food YOU get to choose. It isn’t or shouldn’t be scary or upsetting to have choice and control over one’s life.
This is the recipe I use. It is from my Fannie Farmer Boston School cookbook from 1951 that actually belonged to a family member. I use this book often because it does show that indeed we ate ‘gourmet’ in the 1950’s.
I have made both the whole egg and the traditional egg yolk only. I usually always have a need for egg whites (white cake etc.) so make the traditional.
Now, for some of those very 50’s recipes. (click to enlarge)
Now, these would really dress up any vintage table. If you wanted authenticity and again use your own mayonnaise, and small portions and follow the guidelines for the amount of various fruit and veg and protein and milk per day. I think it would be fun to even do ‘more gourmet’ versions of this, for example, the Cantonese Tuna could use real tuna steaks from your fishmonger, Use real onions and caramelize them and maybe instead of just sweet pickles, a nice hot pepper jam or chutney and either make homemade egg noodles, adding some fun spice, and bake them to add for crunch or use strips of colored dried tortillas as the crunch. Have fun, mix it up, but don’t think it is all bad mayonnaise and bacon.
I think as I continue to research this book idea, I might even like the thought of their being a traditional or fun kitschy dish such as these that would also have a more modern ‘gourmet’ version as well, and including the caloric amounts and how it fits into the various 50’s food schemes (the five food groups as the video, the four as the Better Homes or the Basic Seven as is covered in the Betty Crocker Book).
I think we can discuss this more next post and get into the Betty Crocker 7 version.
I found this study done in the U.K. in the 1990’s that showed that the diets of children in the 1950’s was actually much better than 90’s (and I am sure it is much worse now than the 1990s).
The article in its entirety can be found HERE. But, here are some of the stats:
The project looked at the diet records of 4,600 children aged four in 1950, and compared them with similar records taken in 1992.
The researchers discovered that 1950s children:

• Ate more bread and milk, increasing their fiber and calcium intake
• Drank few soft drinks, deriving less of their energy from sugar
• Got most of their vitamin C from vegetables rather than juices and drinks
• Ate more red meat, giving them more iron
• Had more fat in their diet

In fact, the 1950s diet was almost in line with current recommendations on healthy eating for children.
Professor Michael Wadsworth, Director of the Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development, said that, although the fat and overall calorie intake of the 1950s child was higher, generally children were more active than their 1990s counterparts.
It is only in recent years that the problem of childhood obesity has emerged as a major public health threat.
And I am certain it is higher today, but here are the 1990 numbers:
Estimates in 1990 suggested that one in 20 children aged nine to 11 could be classified as clinically obese.
However, a string of recent smaller studies is suggesting the true rate could now be well in excess of this.
This is a new finding for today:
• Nearly 30 percent of an average American child's calories are consumed during snacks between meals, largely due to eating high-calorie junk food, says a new study reported by CBS News today.
Without the structure of home life, with meals at certain times, schedules being lessened so that there is definite family time, meals AT table, no unsupervised in between meal snacking how can any of us, even those without children, hope to get to the grips of our food our diet where our food comes from and really our role as human to food. I think much as learning to clean and sew and organize, learning to cook and understand your food is just another element in the move towards the new ‘Responsibility’ that needs to happen among modern people. And I really do feel that using much of the 1950’s as a model is helpful because they are the closest to us in the past that were truly living a modern life we can understand and in their basic beginnings we can learn to emulate and adjust to have more control over our own use of technology and foods and money and quality time. This time travel trip still continues to open more doors and show me more of the reality of our world. For the most part, I feel, though sometimes disgusted or shocked or feeling helpless, that we are still on the threshold enough to take hold and say, “Stop, we need to try to control our future more”. I hope you are all willing to come along for that ride.
Well, until next time, Happy Homemaking and hopefully, Happy Cooking!

3 March 1956 “News, Meat Pie, Website Update and A Serious Discussion”

Morocco, which largest city is Casablanca ( a wonderful film we are all familiar with) gained its independence yestrday 2 March 1956, from France.
    “occurred in Oujda where Moroccans attacked French and  other European residents in the streets. Operations by the newly created "Jaish al-tahrir" (Liberation Army), were launched on October 1, 1955. Jaish al-tahrir was created by "Comité de Libération du Maghreb Arabe" (Arab Maghreb Liberation Committee) in Cairo, Egypt to constitute a resistance movement against occupation. Its goal was the return of King Mohammed V and the liberation of Algeria and Tunisia as well. France allowed Mohammed V to return in 1955, and the negotiations that led to Moroccan independence began the following year.”
Casablanca in the 1950’s.

Tortiere:Basic French Canadian Meat Pie Recipe (50’sgal version)

• 1 lb ground beef
• ½ lb ground pork
• 1 medium onion, chopped coarsely
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper
• ½ tsp celery salt
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• dash of clove (optional, but I like it)
• ½ cup hot water
• 1 cup mashed potatoes (make homemade and mix 1/4 sour cream into them with some rosemary)
• Crust for 1 9-inch pie, with top (make homemade crust)

Method:

1. In a large pan, cook beef, pork and chopped onion until cooked through and all browned.
2. Add water, salt, celery salt and savory seasonings to the meat and let simmer for about 45 minutes, with a lid on the pan.
3. Then stir in the mashed potatoes, and let cool partially. Spoon the mixture into your pie crust and add top crust. Puncture the top to let steam escape.
4. Bake at 400F for about 15 minutes, then reduce the oven heat down to 350F and bake for another half an hour.

PIE CRUST

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling

1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

4 to 8 Tbsp ice water

I like to have my butter for pastry in the freezer, if you have not done so, stick it in there for 15 minutes or so. You can pre cut it into cubes if you like. I just cut it up with a paring knife as if it is a vegetable into the flour mixture. COLD butter and COLD COLD is the secret to flaky pie crust. So, if you have Marble use it to roll out the dough, if you don’t have any, go get some. You can go to a local stone masonry/yard where they cut stone and they will sell you a little slab of marble for next to nothing. Now you can keep it in your kitchen for your ‘pastry prep’ and, come on, it’s marble, its pretty.
So, combine flour, salt and sugar. You can sift it if you like (sometimes I do that) or you can use a hand whish and mix it that way, but do mix it together before you cut in the butter.
Then cut in the butter. At this point I first use a pastry cutter, that is this thing If you don’t have one, well get one silly. They are not expensive. I have some in the Corner Store on the site for $3.50, or you can get them at an antique store (mine is old) or any kitchen supply store. Anyway, until you have one, you can use a whisk probably.
They say to do that until it looks like coarse meal. What I do, is use the cutter until it is broken up somewhat and then I use my hands. I have come to believe that much of baking and cooking does need hands, especially baking. I think the warmth of my hands for just 40 seconds or so, breaks up the cold butter just enough without making it too warm. Don’t play with it. Remember COLD COLD for pastry.
Now, add the water one TBS at a time, I usually mix it with a wooden spoon. You may need all the water  you may need more or less. You want the dough to stick together, so take a bit in your fingers, if it sticks to it self, you’re done, if not, more liquid.
Now gently shape the dough into two blobs. Sprinkle a little flour on them, wrap them in waxed paper and stick them in the ice box for either an hour (if you are using it today-remember COLD pastry) or you can keep it for up to two days, so if you want to make your pastry on your bread making day, say, then you have it later to make sweet or savory pies, planning gals! Planning.
Now take the cold dough out of the ice box and onto your floured marble. Let it sit about 5 minutes to warm a BIT. Don’t play or knead pastry dough, but roll it out an 1/8 inch thick. Those globs and chunks of butter you see in the dough ( you should see it) is what makes the pastry flaky and light.) You want about a 12 inch circle for a 9 inch pie plate. Check to see if your dough is sticking to the surface, if so, sprinkle a little flour (not too much you don’t want to make it tough. Treat the dough like it is an expensive Faberge’ egg, that you love and admire, but you MUST NOT BREAK and you shall have lovely pastry every time!)
So, line your pie tin, add your ingredients, roll out and place the top. Pinch the two together to form the crust. There will be left over. Sometimes I use the kitchen scissors to cut the edges or I use my hands. In this case, I want it to look rough as if it was crafted in a stone cottage by an old woman and baked a brick oven. So rough and rustic, but with a darling little flourish of leaf and berries on top. Just take your extra dough and cut out whatever shapes you like with a knife. Now score the top to let the steam escape and bake, Yummy.
Here it is ready for the oven. I wiped the flour off before I baked it, my hands were messy, but that is the sign of a true cook! I also brushed it with melted butter lightly. Here it is out of the oven. Look at that lovely buttery pastry and meats don’t you just want a bite! These type of pies, and steak and kidney etc, I always feel are even BETTER the next day. They hold very well and are great for hubby’ lunch. I adore sweet and savory together so a pastry such as this holding meats and rich potatoes is heaven! And this is a great way to use plain old cheap ground beef in a new way. Or if you have left over cooked meat, any kind, get a good meat grinder and grind it all up, heat in with some olive oil, garlic, and a dash of sweet such as cinnamon and potato and throw that into a pie crust (remember you make some extra and it is in the ice box!) and you have a lovely meal.
New things today for site. I have added on the bottom of the MAIN PAGE, Vintage Video. Each week I will highlight some fun, educational, silly, interesting, what have you video pertaining to the Vintage world. Check it out. The videos start on the Main Page and then you click to go to the Vintage Video Page to watch the rest. Enjoy!
We have been having a rather serious discussion in our forums about the Role of Homemaker in the modern world. It has become rather serious but very interesting. We have been going back and forth and as the conversation progressed, I began to actually feel bad for one of our Forum member’s view of human value associated with money and also her view of marriage. Here is one of my long winded responses to the ongoing discussion with her.
I am sorry that you feel we are trying to 'kick you out' and I must say, on my part, that is not the case. I find the discussion interesting. It is true, in my own opinion, I think your views of 'obligation' and 'paying back' seem a bit cold and unfeeling to me. That is my opinion. I would hope that we could do things for one another (such as pay of loans) without EXPECTING something in return. I think one of the biggest differences I found in my year of study and immersion into 1955 was that I got a sense of more openness and giving in the past. People did tend to be LESS materialistic and value was not as heavily placed on money, so a situation where a wife should feel that she need to 'perform' in the bedroom to 'payback' a husband for paying a loan would seem ludicrous, because one did for the other out of kindness, love and to help another WITHOUT expecting in return.
I suppose, maybe, why I seem saddened when I read your responses, is I keep seeing so much value on money vs. humanity. I also see that when you use terms such as 'balance of power' in terms of a marriage it sounds as if there are two warring factions or two great nations needing to keep themselves armed 'in case of attack' that is a sad state to me, to even have to view marriage or a relationship with a human being in that light.
When you say, Yet, I am utterly terrified of the idea of being financially dependent, of losing the respect of my peers, of falling off the career ladder & not being able to get back on, and of somehow betraying feminism, of belittling the gains of my mother's generation who fought for the right to be paid as much as men & respected in the workplace. The glass ceiling is alive & well because companies still believe that women will leave. In my field, college professor (Philosophy), you are told that you can have children or you can have tenure. Men, needless to say, do not get that spiel from their dept. chair.This says to me that you are so frightened and scared about what others think. About if your peers will judge you, or if you will suddenly be dependent upon someone who only wants something from you in return, that you are somehow going to let down a generation, that you might lose out on a career, all of these are fear and worry OUTSIDE yourself. That does not make me angry with you or want you to leave, if anything it makes me want to hug you (and believe you me, I am not a hugging person) because quite honestly, all I see in your comments is the plight of modern man (And woman of course). The fear. The worry of appearance or judgment. The idea that if someone does something 'nice' for you they MUST want something back. It makes me think of times when I see an elderly gentleman hold a door or be kind to a young girl who then becomes angry at him. He was doing a kindness because she was a fellow human being and yet she felt as if he was 'after something' or 'belittling her' So much of our modern life is about over analyzing and putting everything into little psychological boxes to study and give 'labels' to that we live in a sort of science lab devoid of human kindness. Perhaps because we have so many generations of people worrying about who and what their role is instead of just following their heart and getting on with it, that we cannot trust anyone.
So, Rowena, I , 50s gal maker of this site and Forum, do not want you to leave. We are not that type of place. I almost feel on some level that such a harsh action would almost feel more genuine to you, because such action of anger or upset over a difference of opinion somehow is more tangible then honest to goodness kindness. I may not understand your point of view but I can try to understand 'where you are coming from ' with your point of view. I also think of some of the ladies responses seemed harsh, perhaps they seemed hurt. You see, we too are modern and cannot help but be suspicious of things, we wonder and worry are you a 'troll' or a 'spy' and we wonder this because they exist in this modern world of anonymity and unfeeling modern machines. Look at our very community here, we are all just sitting alone somewhere writing to one another. The modern world IS a very suspicious and cold place and we can feel that we are being attacked or worry what our peers will think of us or worry that our REAL value lies in the money we earn or have control over rather than in our real soul and heart as a human. And that is the saddest bit of the modern world for me. The verly loss of human trust and kindness.
But, you shall not lose that here, Rowena, you have it in all of us. We can disagree and still be compatriots. Don't give up on us and we shan't on you. Let us continue to grow as a community of understanding and care and leave suspicion and anger outside in the Modern world.
50sgal

NOW, if you are still here and reading all this, you MUST go to the FORUMS page and if you have not joined (you have to join to read and comment, don’t worry it’s free!) and read all of the discussion and back and forth of this topic. The Topic heading is called “A very worthwhile role” Here is the link to the direct Discussion. Once you have joined you can read and chime in. I think it a very important and interesting topic. Do, if you have the time, read all the responses. I think debate and discussion so important to we Apronites.

Happy Homemaking!

6 July 1955 “Better Use For Leisure Time”

I have mentioned before that since starting my project some of the 1950s ‘educational films’ I used to laugh at now seem to actually be good life guides. It is interesting how what once was easy to mock and think, “How silly, who even lived like that? What a strict time.” Now, however, I often find some of them rather good advice. So, I wanted to start this post with this short.  I like how it mentions how things were in the past for father and mother. I really think it is worth watching, so watch it first and then read along.

It really does show how today the work concept of 40 hr weeks really had begun then. Yet, here is the advice that says, look how far we have come to have only 40 hrs a week to work, so use your time wisely. Yet, I feel most of us (I know I certainly did!) waste or while it away. There really is a lot more satisfaction to ‘filling your free time’ with activities than just sitting about.
Here is another example of a movie I once laughed at.

In fact it was used in the funny Mystery Science Theatre 3000 episode. It is true, what they joke about over the movie is hilariously funny, I grant you that, but now watching the movie without their jibing over it, I realize this video, too, is full of sage advice: Helping one another, looking good for other memebers of the family as well as themselves, dinner conversations more about pleasing one another than monopolizing the conversation and being rude. We may see this now and think, “How robotic” but really it was certainly seen rather stiff even then, but the element of truth of kindness and concern for others is quite true and wouldn’t we enjoy our time together more if we do think and act a little more in this vein? I think so, what do you think? I know when they say such things as “Pleasant unemotional discussion” it sounds stiff and odd, but really, wouldn’t you rather have a pleasant conversation at dinner and I think they really mean, no shouting or arguing, as it does affect digestion.
That brings me to another point I have noticed in today vs. then: We are very concerned with diet and food and how it affects us etc yet so many people eat their food in front of TV or in uncomfortable ways, propped on laps or out of pizza boxes. It has got to be better on the digestion to sit square and properly in a chair at a table, napkin on your lap, good conversation, than slapdash on the sofa watching the idiot box; just a thought.
Well, speaking of food, I bought some lovely blueberries the other day for a pie and wanted to try this quick and easy pie crust in one of my books. I did and it was quick and easy and so good I have to share it with you.
It was very easy and if there are any of you out there not quite ready to try your hand at homemade pie crust, this is the one to try first. There really can be no mistake, as you do not roll it out, everything happens in the pan. Simple and easy.
Here it is before it went in the oven: and after: It served up rather pretty, I think and it tasted wonderful. The crumbled ‘extra crust’ on top gave it a nice crunch.
Included in last nights dinner was a fresh salad made entirely from my garden. I snapped this shot in my garden as after picking the salad fixings in my antique bowl, I thought it looked picture perfect. There was lettuce and crisp cabbage and sweet snow peas and some chervil and basil as well. There is such a feel of satisfaction and contentment in eating from your own grown foods. I wonder, if we get the nerve up, what it will be to eat a chicken dinner from one of our own ‘homegrown’ birds. I know that the eggs are so wonderful and bright compared to store bought.
Well, as tomorrow is talking point Tuesdays, maybe I will just end today’s post with the Talking point: What do you think of the two movies I included today. I know they may seem severe, but do you think there is any truth or good advice in them? Would you think your life could be improved by taking some of the advice. What out of the two do you already do? And, finally, do you think it realistic in the modern world to try to follow such advice? I am anxious to see how you all feel and what you think.
Until later, then, Happy Homemaking.

5 March 1955 "Tupperware, Decorating, and Casseroles"

Tupperware debuted in 1946. I think it is one of those quintessential american 1950s icons. It is also very practical and much used to this day.

Tupperware was developed in 1946 by Earl Silas Tupper(1907-1983) in the USA. He developed plastic containers used in households to contain food and keep it airtight. The formerly patented "burping seal" is a famous aspect of Tupperware, which distinguished it from competitors.

"During the early 1950s, Tupperware's sales and popularity exploded, thanks in large part to influence among women who sold Tupperware, and some of the famous "jubilees" celebrating the success of Tupperware ladies at lavish and outlandishly themed parties. Tupperware was known -- at a time when women came back from working during World War II only to be told to "go back to the kitchen" -- as a method of empowering women, and giving them a toehold in the post-war business world. The tradition of Tupperware's "Jubilee" style events continues to this day, with rallies being held in major cities to recognize and reward top-selling demonstrators, managers and distributorships."

Tupperware spread to Europe in 1960 when Mila Pond hosted a Tupperware party in Weybridge, England, and subsequently around the world.

I have a few vintage pieces in my soft sky blue that I love. It is a hard color to come by. I am always on the lookout for it. If any of you ladies have any in that color that you aren't using, let's make a deal. A gal can never have enough tupperware.

My vintage friend and I would totally do a great job if we were to throw a tupperware party. Maybe I should make it one of my summer things as part of this project. How fun, all we ladies in the yard in sun dresses, hats and gloves, oohing and ahhing over the burp of the tupperware lid! Lemonade, finger sandwiches. Sounds like fun to me!

Now onto Decorating:
I am reading (over and over again I might add) Dorothy Drapers Book, "Decorating is fun". I am not sure who has this book or who has seen it. I luckily found it due to a comment by a very nice person early on in my blogs. I immediately ordered it and have not regretted it.

There are only a few photos (black and white) and some random drawings, done by Draper herself, I believe, which do help illustrate her point. This is not a coffee table book of casual perusing while you sip your tea. The images have to be drummed up in your mind and her almost militant approach to her ideals is rather refreshing. I thought I might give little snippets of advice here and then from the book every so often. I hope you will like it.

In chapter 3 COLOR, she tells us this:

"It is the rock on which your house is built. Without a keen sense of color, without the ability to get real enjoyment and exitement out of lovely colors, we might as well quite right now. I firmly believe that nothing contributes so much to the beauty of this world as color. And, happily enough, I bleieve with equal convition that every man, woman and child alove has within him a true instinct for color"

Well, that sounds promising anyway. I also believe color is so improtant not only in the world but in your home. It is funny how it honestly affects your moods. I love my vintage dishes as they have one of my favorite colors (robins egg blue) throughout them. Once this project started and I began our breakfasts all laid out on a pretty blue linen table cloth with my dishes and everything soothing, what a difference to the start of the day. Honestly, my husband now leaves often more rested and with more time to relax with me in the morning before he is off to work. Before 1955, it was just shamble out of bed when you could, throw some cereal in the first bowl you grapped, eat at the kitchen table amongst, perhaps, yesterdays mail or some random things that always seem to collect up on the kitchen table. There was always a scramble for a lost coat or keys, ets. I cannot tell you how nice it is to pull up to a nicely laid table with lovely dishes and a full hot breakfast and actually talk with my hubby before he leaves for work. Even though it means my getting up earlier and making it all possible, it would be a lie to say I do not enjoy it as much as he does.

This morning, the sun was streaming in the dinning room, the hot coffee tasted so nice and it was actually cheery and warm. I almost felt as if I had hopped, Mary Poppins style, into one of the old photos in my magazines I have often coveted. It isn't just a sham. It is real, or it can be. And it isn't pretense, but really living. It was like the joy you got as a child playing house, but with a feeling of maturity I have never really felt. I know that sounds silly, but I almost feel like an actual grown up now, with my homemaking duties.

It seems my generation, and those after mine, often have that feeling of never quite knowing when to grow up or what it means. Now, I am not saying I know what it means, but it does seem to come along with the responsibility of your dailiy living. Making chocies that affect the happiness and comfort of your home and your future seems very mature. And, surprise surprise, it isn't a bad thing!And, I don't feel I have lost any of my childlike joy of the world. I merely feel more a part of the world, as if I would like to contribute to it...as if I have SOMTHING to contribute to it, even if that is just making a happy home and becoming a memeber of my community. I just wonder how many people who flounder about trying for some vast unrealistic greatness, miss out on the joy of simply living. I feel I may have up until now. This playing house and being a grownup it is almost as if it is some secret to happiness. As if it was some guarded talisman of the older generations. Only, they probably wanted to pass it on, but the generations before us seemed to have mislaid it.

Well, I have gone a little off topic...

So, back to color:

I totally agree with this passage about the harmony of a color theme throughout your house:

"Just as the main theme appears and reappears throughout a symphony, so you can carry one note of color through your whole house to beautiful effect. I don't mean that the color scheme in each room should be just alike-anything but. You just bind the whole thing together by light touches of the same shade.

For instance, if you have red curtains in your living room, you might have white walls in the hall with a red design stenciled on them. Then in your dining room you mihgt place a rug of the same color. In your bedroom you would just strike the note lightly-put a red quilt, folded, on the end of the bed. Just for fun you could even paint the ceallar stairs of the inside of your kitchen closets that same red.

In this way you can create a sort of intelligent 'color continuity' that is very satisfying, and smart to boot."

I, myself, like to even go one step further and really make a 'color story' for the house. As I have been mentioning, I am planning as part of my project to slowly make over the whole of my house and garden. I have been gathering things together that I love, objects and things with the color I love, in my house and taking 'color shots'.

I think this 1950 painting by Edware Hopper "Cape Cod Morning" is in, itself, a great color story. It really tells my combination I am drawn too, the shots of red/pink and yellow and green with a base of soft blues and held in balance with crisp white and shots of black.

My love of red and blue and warm shades of yellow and brown with stark couterpoints of crisp summer sail white and black really are going to tell that story. Each room will have it's own interpretation of that story, but I think it really allows you to address the entire house (even if you are going to spread your decorating over years) as a single project and it really helps to curb any decorating fear you might have. I think just gathering together some things you love and really looking at them pretty much tells you what colors you love and what 'style' you feel comfortable with. I hate the idea of trying to copy a look out of a magazine, I mean be inspired, but make it your own house, right?

I love, too, that she goes on to give examples of color combinations for different rooms and then states, "These are just suggestions-not ironclad formulas." And she openly invites you to break her rules, but really she is giving you a good solid base in which to create your own rules.

I think I will post some 'color story' photos tomorrow to get your opinions.

On my own decorating front, my living/drawing room cum library, is now going to stay just a drawing/living room. I have rethought my houseplan and our large finished room in our basement is going to get the first facelift by being turned into our library and my husbands study. His current study on the first floor will become our dining room, making room for an eventual redo I am planning that will give me a bigger kitchen with a breakfast/morning room. I will include you in all the mayhem that I am certain will follow with all that, as well as the success.

I belive I post this recipe before, but I just made some lovely doughnuts yesterday morning and wanted to post about it. Obviously I do not have any Swifting's, but I think it is just basic shortening. That is what I used, though next time I am going to use lard and I think I am going to get a vintage deep fat fryer for my kitchen. There are many things that could be cooked properly in it, and I think if I don't overdo it we should be able to stay away from hard attacks! They were so yummy and even cold the next day, they were not heavy nor greasy at all! Next time I will make icing and top them with coconut and jimmies (sprinkles for you non New Englanders).

My husband actually prefers them plain. But, of course, I adore them dredged through the sugar until they are almost white!

Sometimes the most simple things recieve the most lauded reviews. I had wanted to try this simple little casserole for some time. I was drawn in by the article, detailing a couple and their social life. This image and recipe just looked very middle class american 1950s. Before this project I had never ever made a casserole in my life. Actually the word drummed up horrid images of marshmallow covered meat and veg or overcooked hamburger and overdone noodles. I am a convert.

As far as having time in your busy schedule, the casserole is a homemakers salvation on busy days. We had an impromptu plan yesterday to go with some friends to have a fun evening of cards at my vintage friends house. I had these ingredients in my house and thought, "I'll throw together that casserole and bring it along for our dinner there" It was so easy to make and it was so good.

My husband took the rest with him to work today and even said again this morning, "That was so good". My vintage friends fiance' even commented twice and I think would love to see it show up on their table. I do highly reccomend it, even if you are like me and think casserole is a four-letter word.

Until tomorrow, then, happy homemaking!