3 December 1955 “News,Recipes, Dresses, Photos, and Catching Up”

On 1 December of this year, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white passenger in Montgomery AL. Again, here we are in 1955, well before the 1960’s, openly dealing with racial issues.

Interestingly enough, ten years earlier a woman we don’t hear as much about, Irene Morgan, had a similar situation happen in Virginia. From her arrest and refusal in a 1946 landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-1 that Virginia's state law enforcing segregation on interstate buses was illegal. This is amazing to me, that ten years earlier this was already illegal in Virginia, yet we allowed it to happen again in Georgia.

What this really makes me realize is the danger and evil inherent in complacency. You know there were many, even back in 1944, who were white and found such ideas of segregation barbaric. There had to be a new found feeling of equality for all after the wars we had fought, yet those good meaning and wise, as usual, were quiet and kept to themselves as the loud crass small minded people rallied and shouted and eventually caused all the problem that  lead to the riots in the 60’s. I feel that so often happens throughout history. The uprisings are often simply to defend a simple idea that most people probably agreed with in the first place, equality and fair treatment, but it is always the small minded fear monger who shouts the loudest.

Just think of the pain and suffering even reverberating today that could have been ceased if the quiet intelligent loving and compassionate masses just stood up and said, “Well, so what? Who cares where any of us are sitting. We are all sharing this bus, let’s get along” but that is never the case and then a few crass individuals always begin to represent we as a whole.

Now, the 1950’s are just represented as if every white person was trained to dislike black people which is NOT true. Yet complacency lead to the upheavals of the 1960s which, I feel in some way also hurt the black people as well. Certainly we would have all been happier and made quicker strides to equality had we been sensible and just realized we are all human beings. If peace talks and actions were made to make equality a more central point to our living together, then the riots and ‘taking sides’ would not have had to happen.

Yet, I see today the same thing will continue to happen. Those who disagree with others who are ‘different’ will rally and shout and make a scene while most of us really don’t care and why shouldn’t we all have equal freedoms. I mean, if we all are allowed to worship and believe and act as we feel right as individuals, than we should not be threatened by the actions of others as long as they don’t directly affect us personally, but I know it won’t matter. There will always have to be the loud squeaky wheel making a fool of themselves and ultimately causing troubles for the majority of us.

Really, when you think about it, simple good manners of listening and discussing, not saying things in front of crowds or to strangers that we would not want to say to our mothers, simply using our manners, really could go a long way to help heal the various wounds we encounter.

It puts me in mind of that famous quote by Martin Niemoller ( a protestant minister and activist) which goes:

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Jew.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

This quote has been changed sometimes to touch in various ways such as:

In Germany they first came for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me -
and by that time no one was left to speak up.

There are many ways today we could alter this to suit the current trends of hatred. And, when it comes right down to it, hating is merely misunderstanding and loss of compassion is fear of the unknown. It really is amazing what keeping quiet and ‘minding our own business’ can lead to. This certainly reflects many things going on in our political and social world currently and could even be extended to include our being quiet as the big box stores enter and take over our towns.

Complacency seems the real root of all social evil. Let us, we Apron Revolutionaries, not be lead by silence, but use the manners and quiet strength of will and character to set examples by our actions. And do affect change through our attitudes towards one another and our examples of good living and caring for EVERY person, rather or not they subscribe to our beliefs or way of thinking. Why segregate when we can encourage and come together as a community? When someone is down or being hurt or mistreated they cease to be a Catholic or a Black or anything other than a fellow human. We are all in this together, so I know we can make a difference by caring to speak up when we need to, never shouting and always with compassion, reason, and intelligence over hatred, fear and mistrust.

Again, I find some of the very basic elements of homemaking so pertinent to the world as a whole. Wouldn’t we all get along a little better if we sat together at a table to a nice meal, and waited our turn to speak, being sure to listen to our guests when they spoke? Just a thought as we lead into this season of cheer and forgiveness.

Now onto recipes:

I unfortunately, most likely as I was having a good time and not paying attention, did not get many photos of my Thanksgiving food. I felt bad and still can’t believe it as it looked so lovely in my nice china. I do have a picture of the table set before we ate.

My turkey turned out beautiful and moist. Many commented on how juicy the white meat was. My trick there, though it seemed counter to most of what I was being told in my cookbooks, was I kept it covered for the majority of its roasting. While most recipes have you keep it uncovered and of course basting it, they tell you not to cover or foil it until the end. I did the reverse and let it create its wonderful juices and then for the last hour let it brown uncovered, with frequent 15 min interval bastings of the broth mixed with orange juice, maple syrup and the reserve juice from my freshly cooked cranberries. I also spread some of the cooked cranberries about the skin for the remaining half an hour. It made a beautiful picture and was a delight to eat!

Here is the recipe for my stuffing/dressing:

Mayflower Johnny Cake Stuffing (this is my own ‘made up’ recipe and name, do you like it?")

First, bake cornbread. The smell is wonderful as you are preparing the early items for Thanksgiving dinner. I posted my recipe in an earlier post for cornbread. (If anyone can tell me how to have it so anyone could search my recipes on this blog, please let me know. Does such an option exist with Blogger?)

I made my cornbread the day before I made the actual stuffing, as I wanted it to be a little hard. Then I simply crumbled it into a bowl (I made two 5 x5 pans of it) added 5 TBS softened butter, some chopped celery, 1/2 cup of my cooked cranberries, chopped chestnuts, 1/4 cup maple syrup, and one egg and salt and pepper to taste. Then, just mix and stuff bird. It was a lovely mix of sweet and savory with the turkey. Sorry I haven’t any photos, it looks rather lovely and golden.

Now, I have been in a flurry of preparations it seems, for here we are a few days after Thanksgiving and I just hosted a Christmas Cookie Tea and Tree trimming party. I also made a new dress in the bargain. Let’s start with recipes.

We had some lovely hot chocolate with our cookies whilst trimming the tree, homemade of course. We doubled this recipe and it made enough for over six cups, of course these are 1950’s cups that are probably about 6 oz. if you use a modern mug, it will make less.

1 1/2 oz. unsweetened chocolate

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 TBSP instant coffee

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

3/4 cup water

2 cups milk

combine chocolate, sugar, coffee, cinnamon, and water in a saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. When the mixture comes to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for four minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in the milk and heat, but do not let the mixture come to a boil. Remove from heat and beat with a whisk until foamy. Pour into cups, top with whipped cream and a peppermint stick for a garnish!

We also made, of course, homemade whip cream (never use canned or premade if you can help it, it is SO easy to whip cream and you can flavor it how you like). To which I add bits of broken candy cane. They were scrumptious!

I made chocolate gingerbread. It was quite good, but I think next time I will use twice as much ginger. Though the dough itself was a chocolate version of gingerbread, I felt dipping it in chocolate and then a sprinkle of peppermint candy looked nice and added a pretty touch. I was told by one guest that the cookie without the chocolate dip tasted like teddy grahams. I have never had a teddy graham, so not sure that is good. I do think it will need more ginger for certain. Here is the recipe:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup molasses

2 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup milk

Directions

1. Combine butter or margarine, molasses, and unsweetened chocolate in the top of a double boiler. Heat until chocolate melts. Stir until smooth.
2. Sift together flour, 2/3 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, and salt. Stir in melted chocolate mixture and milk. Mix well. Chill until firm.
3. Roll dough about 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out desired shapes. These can also be rolled into balls and baked and dipped in chocolate.
4. Bake at 375 degrees F ( 190 degrees C) for about 10 minutes.

These peppermint meringues were fun to make and looked a treat! If you are not familiar with meringues, but have had ‘sea foam’ candy, then you will be familiar with the texture. They are an odd confection in that they are not baked so much as dried in a warm oven for hours. If you take them out too soon they will be sticky, the trick is when you can lift them from the tin foil easily, they are done. Also it is better to have the oven a little cooler and leave them longer otherwise they will slightly brown and that is not exactly correct. But, if that happens, as did with me, they still taste good.

These were quite good, but next time I will use peppermint extract, as this recipe only called for finely ground peppermint candy canes, which did not quite give them enough flavor for my liking. I also decided, as you do, to dip them in chocolate, because honestly gals, what isn’t better dipped in chocolate? We even debated as to whether bacon itself might not be improved by some!

You can see how glossy and lovely it makes them look. This close up shows the lovely little bits of peppermint candy. These could have looked lovely with a sprinkle of candy canes as well, but sometimes, ladies, we have to show some restraint. Even in baking we need to take Coco Chanel’s advice and step back and remove one thing and then we are done.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 2 egg whites
• 1/8 teaspoon cider vinegar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 3 peppermint candy canes, crushed
• Melted chocolate for dipping. (a few chocolate chips of your favorite brand with a little butter in a double boiler works rather well and you can also add an extract flavor to the chocolate at that point if you so desire)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 225 degrees F (110 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
2. In a large glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites, vinegar and salt to soft peaks. Gradually add sugar while continuing to whip until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes. Fold in 1/3 of the crushed candy canes, reserving the rest. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls, one inch apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. Sprinkle remaining crushed candy canes over the top.
3. Bake for 90 minutes in the preheated oven, or until dry. Cool on baking sheets. (Mine actually took closer to 2 hours to completely dry. I will tint my batter pink next time)

I am going to make some peanut butter meringues (if I can figure out how) and dip those in chocolate, as well as coconut. They look so pretty and last well so would make a great homemade Christmas gift or housewarming or hostess gift. You could make up your own ‘chocolate box’ with pretty tissue and maybe decoupage lovely vintage images on the box lid.  And, be the belle of your cookie swap when you unveil these lovelies!

Now, in the case of meringues you will be left with egg yolks. So, what I did this morning, as hubby actually requested eggs Benedict for breakfast, was thought, “Great!” as Hollandaise uses only the YOLK. So, I made a large batch of that reserving the egg whites to make a few more ‘trial’ flavor meringues.

Here are some shots of guests, you can see my close friends are kind enough to dress ‘accordingly’ for my soirees.

A guest arrives bearing her cookie contribution.

The gals in the kitchen.

Here we are before the tree is trimmed. You can see my new dress somewhat. The fabric is really quite lovely and it is very comfortable.

Here we are trimming the tree. More tree trimming.

Now, my dress. I have really only a few dresses under my belt (excuse the pun) so far, but have got to the point where I don’t want to just copy a pattern. With this dress, I used a bodice pattern that fit me from another dress and made up the rest. I pleated the skirt, as I had such success with the dark plaid wool dress, and the pattern of the plaid proved to be a great grid work to pleating!

Now here are some things I learned with this dress that I tried to make it easier or more finished early on. Rather than cutting an interfacing, I decided to cut two of the front and back bodice piece. This allowed me to sew them together and then flip them out have a nice finished edge to them as soon as I sewed them together. With the skirt I took four yards as they were, decided the length I wanted it hemmed and then rolled up the remainder of the fabric into a thick double hem that I then stitched BEFORE I made it into the skirt. It was so easy this way, as I just had one long yardage to work with and again the grid of the plaid made for a wonderful straight line. The color of the thread blended so beautifully with the plaid. The large hem you see here (about 5 inches) is actually the material doubled, so it really helps all the yardage hand nicely.

Here is a close up of the fabric. You can see there is just the slightest hint of gold thread, which makes it wonderful for the holidays, but still wearable all seasons, really. As it is sleeveless, it can be worn with a blouse or cardigan in cooler weather or even be a great summer dress with sandals!

I also attempted to make this dress so I could wear the zipper in the back.I am not sure if you can see it in this picture or not, but this is the back with the zip. The two bits that fold down are going to get two vintage buttons as ornament and some simple closures over the zipper so it will look like a different dress when worn this way. It is rather wrinkled here, as I had not as yet pressed it. 

I have found now that I have allowed myself to have  a simple silhouette to work with, my imagination has increased on ways to adjust or add to this. Really, the conformity of dress people seem to think existed in the 1950s was actually the equality of fashion, where one was given a silhouette to work with and then could add or create their own take on it with different necklines or ribbons etc. Now, the real conformity exits in jeans, hoodies, printed t-shirts and jersey tops. Try to make your own jeans and you will stop sewing in one minute! Yet, a simple dress pattern is easy to master and then the sky is the limit. You can add or alter to your hearts content and have a lovely wardrobe you can add to. I am sure, for you experienced seamstresses, this dress must seem simple and not perfectly done, but, much like the kitchen, I learn something with every dress to apply to the next one. It does reinforce the fact that homemaking is never a completely mastered skill, one is always learning. That, of course, is part of the joy of the career. There is little time or place for boredom, as you are always learning and expanding your ideas and then challenging yourself.

Well, I have rattled on long enough, back to work. I hope all of you are getting excited for the upcoming holiday. We shall have to share all we can with our recipes and ideas for vintage Christmas.

Happy Homemaking!

30 November 1955 “Party Prep and a ‘How do you Do’”

Okay, gals, just a quick one today!

I am still busy post Thanksgiving, as I am hosting a Christmas Tea for the ladies tomorrow afternoon followed by a Tree Trimming Party. It will not be a big affair, but I am busy none the less.

I promise a nice big post with photos and recipes from Thanksgiving and also this party. I am making chocolate gingerbread (no chilling in the ice box) and peppermint meringues that I will dip in chocolate. I will also be preparing some peppermint marshmallows for tomorrow to have with our hot chocolate while we trim the tree.

We are getting our tree tonight and almost every old photo I see of Christmas trees show that they were rather bare by today’s standards. I rather like it! I am not sure if I can find such a tree, but perhaps I can ‘barter’ my way to a lower price, “Why look at that tree”, I might say, “Bare as a newborn babe, I couldn’t possibly pay full price!” or something along those lines.

I am not sure if they merely used different strain of pine in the old days, but honestly most of the trees I see even in Home and Garden and High end magazines of the time show them rather thin and branchy! Are any of you old enough to recall of your trees were ‘scrawny’ by today’s standards?

Well, back to work. If I can complete my new dress, I shall show that too as well as share the idea I have for it if it works.

Until later, then, Happy Homemaking!

29 November 1955 “A chance for a REAL Vintage Tomorrow?”

I have been very moved by a modern documentary someone suggested to me. It has made me realize how much what I have learned about this year in 1955 means for my future.

Though I have enjoyed my year of ‘pretending’ I don’t want to pretend away the future. What I began to love about 1955 on a very personal scale has left me wanting it more on an overall scale. I soon began to realize, it is not a particular time because of just the fashion and music, but the feeling. The community, the spirit of the time, of the old America that I now long for. I realize, too, that by 1955, that is when our current America of convenience and low cost was put before people and community. It was only just beginning with increased trucking in of products from all over not just local. From mass production increasing to a homogeneity. Yet, it was new then. We had choices and I feel that we have now lead ourselves down the wrong road.

The wonderful news of the whole thing is we can have a realistic vintage world in that we, today, have so many freedoms and choices, yet we allow ourselves to have those choices made FOR us by corporate America. I honestly believe now that if we can seriously choose to make a change with our money we can change our environment. Our towns and communities can grow and heal and get itself back from the Walmart and the Starbucks and the McDonalds. We have to make the choice however, but if we want to continue to HAVE the choice we MUST make it if not for ourselves for future generations. When there are only a few chains that provide everything there will be NO choice for the future generations. There COULD be a time when Wal Mart and a few similar stores are literally ALL we have to get our products from. Products that are NOT made in our country and when they are made in China and India, are made at the cost of young children's freedoms and health. We may have no say over the government choices in those countries, but we allow them to continue child labor by giving them someone to supply the products too. On top of all that, we take away from our own town.

Who cares if something costs a little more or a lot more! THEN we have to learn to do without or to use less! That is the MAIN GREEN solution, not more products that purport to be safer but fewer products made and spread out.

We have allowed our country and its people to be defined by our need to consume and shop, so we must use that same power to work towards the old America of unity and community mixed with our new freedoms and that can only be done through our shopping. By choosing the right places to shop or to encourage or help to start a local place. To do without sometimes. The fix to our economy is NOT to buy more things to spur it on, but to let that dead horse die. We have to change the very fabric of how we think and react with our wallets. The world economy, the green nature and health of our planet, the very health of our towns and the emotional health of one another HAS to be addressed and put BEFORE a new flat screen TV or a new iphone! When will it stop?

I love my journey to 1955 and part of my sadness of not having the world is turned away when I see that 1955 isn’t just a point in time, or a full skirt or a hat and gloves. It is about people and community. Some how along the way we lost sight of people and each other. Our country was founded to be a place for freedom from those who felt they had none. Now we are so easily passing that freedom over to large corporations that are literally run by a few people. Why do we want a company who has no real invested interest in us to grow and prosper. Do you think if our community suddenly lost it all and couldn’t shop at Wal mart and they saw the profits go in this area, they would pull together and help us? No they would pull out, but a local store run by the man you see on the street or whose daughter goes to your child's school would.

I want back what I think has become to mean Vintage to me and that main tenet, the main focus of that is personal pride and accountability. It is easy for someone to just roll their eyes and say, “Oh, well, it’s cheaper there” but they might as well just run downtown and through bricks through the windows of the local community and wipe out any real honest individuality from their children’s future. I only hope we have enough time to stop it and we are not too late.

I know this movie is not Vintage, but please, please watch it if you can. It really does show the change that the box stores are doing to us. It matters little if you are Republican or Democrat, Christian or Jew, our country was founded so we could all coincide and get along and help one another. Now even corporate America run channels on TV that help us to feel there is an actual Divide in the this country, but that is only so we can not see the real problem. The real divide in this country is between the people and community and the corporate machine that wants to take away our personal and community rights to have our own towns run our own way. Don’t fall for the smoke screens, really go out and look at your town, is it hurting? Think before you go to the local chain store and wonder could I buy it locally and if so try it and if not, wonder when last in your town you could go locally and wonder, how much longer before there are no more choices locally, only the big box store. Then you can see it for the monster it really is. It isn’t an evil entity, but its results and need to be ruled by profit and money is and does ultimately hurt our towns, ourselves and our future generations. Don’t teach your children to choose low price over people and community.

I am sorry if this is so impassioned, but I just really want our vintage world to be revived, and it can be for all not just those of us who might like vintage fashion or music, but so that individuality can grow.

Don’t worry, this doesn’t mean I am not going to continue my vintage project and am very seriously meaning to make next year 1956, but I feel as if I am a time-traveling reporter who needs to go back to ‘before it all began’ and report back to all of you so we can be reminded of why we do need to change. That our lives and the lives of our children and future generations CAN now what has been lost because they can have it back. The moral backbone of this country need not be a particular political party or religion but the very humanity of its people. We must come together and care for one another so that we don’t continue to become complacent and want the companies to make it easier for us to become slothful consumers who are ultimately empty and unhappy.

So here is the LINK to watch it on HULU. You will notice the ads in between seem even more conniving because of the content. PLEASE watch it if you can. It makes you think and that is what we need most to think. The homemaker was always the thinker, we have to be to do our job, yet that very job was made to look silly or unimportant. Now, I can see not only is it a very important job, but it’s main skill of thinking things through is one of the best lessons any of us can have. Have a great day, my fellow Apron Revolutionaries. We can make a difference, I know we can!

28 November 1955 “Touching Base”

Busy time, this holiday weekend. I didn’t want any of you to think I had forgot about you, so here I am. I hope all had a great holiday and maybe we could share some stories an such.

So, for today, here is a full episode of Jack Benny show from this year (1955), enjoy! It’s sponsor is Lucky Strike Cigarettes. It is too bad smoking is bad for you, because I have to say, it does look lovely to watch! I know, that’s bad, but believe me I considered it for this year, as I am almost certain my 1955 counterpart would have done so. I probably would have started during the War years and then everyone was doing it, so would have stuck with it, what do you think?

I will post some recipes for those leftovers and some ideas for a ‘tree-trimming party’ as I am throwing one this coming week!

Happy Homemaking!

25 November 1955 “Thanksgiving Eve”

I thought this home movie from 1950’s Thanksgiving very sweet. I love the clothes and that dancing is part of their tradition. We might need to add that to ours next year!

I am planning on doing as much today as I can to make tomorrow easier on myself:

  I roasted the chestnuts last night and Gussie helped me shell and separate them over tea.

Today, I made my cranberries (from our local farm, grown right here in Sandwich MA!) to which I added clove, cinnamon, and nutmeg and of course sugar. I cook mine in Orange Juice, as I really love the scent of orange with it. It is actually amazing how easy it is to make. I know many of you like the canned, but along with the canned you should make some fresh as it is so easy and SO GOOD. I mean you literally put 1 lb of washed whole berries in a pot, add one cup O.J. one cup sugar and then spices as you like. Then, after 10 minutes or so (you can hear the little devils pop!) you just pour it into the pretty container in which you wish to serve them and ta-dah! You’re done. I then quickly zested some orange rind on top of it as it really mellows the flavor and will mirror the glaze for the turkey. (I reserved some of the juice from these cranberries to make the glaze for the turkey.) So that is done for tomorrow, just a reheat needed.

I am sampling my johnny cake (corn bread) right now, which I baked to make my stuffing. I am not sure if this is called Johnny cake anywhere other than New England, but its name goes back to the Colonial days. Here is the history of it from my 1950’s New England Cookbook. You should be able to click on it and get the history and recipe. Basically, our Colonial Grandmothers baked ‘Journey Cakes” of corn for our grandfathers to take with them. Journey became Johnny, I think this is because our accents were once English and Journey sounds rather like Johnny to our later ‘Americanized’ accents. However, if you did not have the time nor inclination, you could certainly mix up a quick batch of Jiffy corn mix. It is, I believe, still made by a smaller company. And, honestly, much better than just buying a bag of ‘cornbread stuffing mix’ as you can season it as you like and of course, do as I am doing now and take a little break to sip coffee and nibble a hot piece of ‘Johnny Cake’ while you plan the next item on your list!

I am also going  to attempt, for the first time ever, Parker House rolls. I am using my Boston Cooking School book from the 1950s for this. I am going to make these up today and put them in the ice box and then bake them fresh tomorrow. It seems not too complicated, but we shall see. I couldn’t find if any prepackaged dough rolls were available in 1950s. I know the Pillsbury rolls didn’t appear until the 1960s. Do any of you know if they had pre-packaged dough rolls to bake in 1955? Well, I just didn’t feel right buying a package of Pillsbury rolls, since I should really try some homemade anyway. I cant imagine the packaged could compare to homemade, but we shall see. I will share the recipe.

I am also roasting an acorn squash and sweet potato and apple in maple syrup with rosemary. I am going to cut up and peel those things today and let them soak in their ‘juices’ tonight and just roast them fresh tomorrow afternoon.

I will even prepare my mashed potatoes today, which I will whip with garlic, chives, and sour cream. And of course, homemade gravy will come tomorrow with all those delicious drippings from the turkey.

I also made the trip to my local fishmonger today. Though I do not have a butcher close by, we are lucky to have so many wonderful fish markets as we are on the ocean. I purchased some mussels, a lovely haddock filet with skin and one lobster. I am going to make my bisque today and decided to include the other seafood as well to ‘stretch’ it. I am going to boil the lobster this evening and then hubby and I can ‘sample’ some of the hot fresh darling tonight and the rest will go into the bisque.

It was a very lovely New England moment, as the fish market is right on the water, and there was a cool grey mist hung in the air and the scent of the tide stung my nose. I was wearing a dress and the wind caught it up, but my hands were full of my bounty and I was thankful for petticoats, as those in the parking lot got a fine show of those crinolines. The gulls cried. The air had that thick wet briny  feel that I could wrap myself in. It is not a joke that I am most comfortable on the water and can only nap on boats. Hubby always laughs that the rougher the sea the more likely I will be down below snoozing away with the puppies! It is true.

I had forgot I was going to talk about centerpieces, as there are some interesting bits in my books. I did not get flowers, but will most likely make up something from the yard. We have holly and there are a few hydrangea blooms still holding tight to their branches.

I thought this sort of sweet, using what you have. 

This also has such a simplistic innocence. There is also talk of placement of centerpieces from the center of the table to one end. There is one mention, where they balance the ends of the table with an arrangement on one end and bright dessert (in this case a cherry pie), which I thought a fun idea to use your pretty dessert as decoration. This, of course, left no one at the head or foot of the table, therefore making a more informal seating arrangement.

So, lets remember those who have gone before us, even fought and defended our country for us. In this image I see two past heros, not only the soldier, but the grandmother, the silent holder of eons of women’s history. Let us remember both of these figures tomorrow and do all we can to make a future they would be proud to live in.

So, Happy Thanksgiving to all, and those of you who do not celebrate, eat a Turkey sandwich in our honor tomorrow and we can all silently toast the APRON REVOLUTION!

24 November 1955 “ Thanksgiving Menu and My Role of Homemaker”

I have been rather busy today with much holiday to-doing. Having had a fun ladies afternoon yesterday did mean my having to push a few things to today, but a homemaker’s schedule is rather elastic and needs to be. When your place of work is also a dwelling for you and your family, a restaurant, a laundry, a bookstore, an entertainment lounge, and of course an Inn, there has to be some give and take. I can only imagine adding young ones to the mix increases the need for some flexibility to the schedule, of course trying to hold to some structure for the sake of your own sanity as well as the little ones. But, I digress, perhaps I spend too much time picking through chestnuts at the market today, or considered the fresh cranberries too deeply, none the less, this post will be not as involved as I had originally planned.

I have finally decided the finalized menu for my Thanksgiving and it is as follows

                                                        Shrimp cocktail

                                                                ~--------~

                                                         Lobster Bisque

                                                                ~---------~

                        Roast Turkey in a cranberry orange glaze       stuffed with ‘Johnny Cake and Chestnut Stuffing’ (in other words cornbread). Mashed potatoes with garlic chives, roasted Acorn squash, Yams, and Apple in Maple Butter. Creamed Onions. Cranberries and green beans with orange zest and slivered almonds.

                                                               ~------------~

                                     Grapes, various cheese, Cheese wafers and Parker House Rolls.

                                                             ~-------------~

                                   Godiva Cheesecake (guests contribution) served with homemade chestnut maple syrup vanilla ice cream.   Roasted Chestnuts and Coffee.  

                                                             

I might actually make little Meal cards to place at each setting.

Now, one or our lovely fellow Apron Revolutionaries, Linda,  asked me the following questions yesterday:

I hope you don't mind me asking here 50'sgal but I have some questions for your dear hubby the answers to which you might be able to relay. Seeing he's on holidays I thought he might have time to answer them via you if they're not too intrusive.

Does he love the new lifestyle with his precious housewife? Does he think it'll last? Does he HOPE it will last? Does he mind the 'perceived' financial loss without you not bringing home a pay-check? Is he proud to say 'a homemaker' when asked what his wife does or does he feel himself needing to expound on how intelligent, artistic, talented you are? (My husband is proud of the fact that he provides for me, that he gets special treatment and we have a smooth-running, peaceful home.)What are some of his favourite 'changes' from this year? Is he surprised at how skilled you've become so quickly and how well you've adapted to this 50's lifestyle? Does he have any advice for us ladies? Please excuse my boldness in asking these questions... Linda

He does, indeed, love our current lifestyle. He has seen me ‘go through’ many phases and crazy ideas before, but this project, being now almost a year old, seems to have a staying power he feels confident in. He sort of thought, in the beginning, it was just another idea I had. Though, even when my schemes peter out, he usually enjoys the ride and they are often over due to their not really applying to our life any longer. I think if I told him I wanted to go out and work, he would not think twice about it and probably would like the extra money, who wouldn’t? But, he sees that I am happy and knows that I have a genuine role and occupation in Homemaker.

Actually, concerning telling people what his wife does, he is indeed proud of it. He often comments with proud about his packed lunches when people see him take out his linen napkin and knife and fork and eat a full home cooked meal with a homemade dessert. He told me once, a co-worker asked if his wife, “since she is just a housewife” minded those calenders (those horrid ones I dislike where they take old adverts and then slap on things like “Housework is pointless” or some such) to which my hubby replied, she does not like them, but she doesn’t mind, she is, after all, a homemaker guru and many other people have been inspired by her ‘housework’. I laughed at that, as I am so very in the learning phase I thought the term guru funny, but was proud that he ‘stood up for me’ and said I was a homemaker without feeling the need to explain.

I think his number one favorite change is the food. We eat really good in this house, if I do say so myself and I DO! He also likes the smooth running of the home, as it allows him to focus on his work at work and when he comes home he can honestly enjoy his ‘free time’. He can write (he also loves writing and I can often hear him tapping away on his vintage typewriters upstairs in his little study) read and practice the piano without worrying about food, clean clothes, or a messy house. He also likes the money we save on eating out, as when we lived in the city we ate out almost all the time and it does add up! He appreciates the separate roles we have, as it allows our time together to be about what we like to discuss or find interesting and not, ‘Oh, will you clean out that, or oh did  you think of anything for dinner, or what should we do about this or that?” As any of you know, who are homemakers, when you treat making a home as a job, you do your best to keep it smooth running as you would at any work. But, I know he LOVES the food and always gets excited when I present some new creation or recipe. He most anytime can pop in the kitchen and have some homemade snack available. He also told me he likes my wardrobe as he often, even now almost a year later, will say when he gets home, “Oh, you look so nice” or “You look cute today” something along those lines.

He is not surprised at my skill level, as he says I can do anything, which of course is not true but darling of him to say so. I have always been the one to go full steam ahead into things and often surprise him at my results so he said, when I told him I was going to live in 1955 for a year, he just sort of took it in stride.

His advice, and I think it quite good, to the ladies is to have confidence and pride in the role of Homemaker. If you want your husband or significant other to take it seriously and to see it as an actual career, you have to believe it yourself and believe in it. I can see how much work it is to run a home and I applaud any who want to do it. If you want it and take the time to discuss it logically, showing the financial benefits, your husband would have to be nuts to disagree with it. The separate roles of breadwinner and homemaker are not just that roles, not labels. One is not oppressed or put upon if the roles are clearly defined and agreed upon by both involved, so don’t fall prey to the modern concept that having a two income family somehow makes you more liberated. Your quality of life is better because you CAN’T overspend, so you end up spending more time together and after all, isn’t that one of the best parts of being married, getting to be with and make happy the one you love?

So those were his answers and I hope you enjoyed them. You can see what a treasure of a hubby I do have. I think really a marriage really does need to have mutual respect and understanding. If one partner thinks what they do is not worthy or not enough or not a ‘real occupation’ it is true, how will the other partner feel that way? A marriage is a partnership, a chance in this world of ups and downs to have a partner there along for the ride, to laugh and cry and share and even get angry with, when you’d rather blame someone other than yourself, even if you know it is your fault, because you know you will do the same for them. I am proud of my husband and myself. I am proud of the role of homemaker and all it entails. As with anything we do in love from being a bagger at a grocery store to president of the united states, if we believe in doing a good job and trying to do the best we can where we are, make our self and others around us happy, then anything can be a rewarding career. Somehow we seem to have lost the sense of pride of place and worth in ourselves that says, ‘I am defined by my actions and reactions to others and not by the sign on my office door.’

Well, that is enough philosophizing for me today. I have chestnuts to roast (in the oven, I will share the results don’t worry), cornbread to make, cranberries to boil down and just to throw a little extra in, I might sew together a new dress for Thanksgiving, and who said being a homemaker was boring or lazy work?!

22 November 1955 “Thanksgiving Preparations”

Well, Gals, this is a busy week for we Americans. That Holiday that’s main focus is food is approaching: the Thanksgiving Season.  We have turkeys to stuff, pies to bake, much to-doing.

Here, an old advert for aluminum foil, shows you how ‘easy’ it is to do everything the day ahead.

Very cute commercial, but I think we all know it would be better to cook the turkey in an actual roaster pan, but then you wouldn’t use as much aluminum foil!

Speaking of marketing ‘ease’ yesterday, at the big chain market, I saw end caps with premade stuffing, canned gravies, prepackaged this and that. Well, gals, if any of you want a time to foray into homemade or a chance to try the more ‘complicated’ homemade dish, this is your holiday. Save the premade, packaged and already made for any old day, heck this IS the holiday of cooking and baking!

Though the real focus is to come together and be thankful for what we have, the real reason for This seasons, does seem to be to eat. So why blow this chance to try any and all homemade items?

So, to help us prepare (and to amuse those non-American readers) I thought we could share some various preparation ideas from my various magazines and cook books.

Let’s start with the table.

This table setting is from my vintage Better Homes cookbook( you can see the holes where it fits into the binding). I thought it interesting how they did the centerpiece with fruit spilled down the table. The baked pears are a nice touch to that festive turkey, though I do see some ‘sliced’ canned cranberry sauce. I know those pink mints are homemade, as the recipe is in this cookbook. IF any one would like that recipe, let me know.

Now this book informs us of both a formal and informal place setting, stating that informal seems more the norm for the modern family. However, by today’s standards, I am sure the informal could be viewed as formal. I thought I would share it with any of you who are unfamliar or would like to try this set up. This is how our Thanksgiving will be set this year.

First we have the description and drawing of the setting.

You can click on these images and they will enlarge for you ease of reading or printing out for your own use, you could paste and hold punch them into a vintage ‘scrap book’ of ideas and recipes!

Next, this informal setting is broken down into the courses.Here we start with an appetizer served with the cocktail fork. I will be doing this, as I have some lovely crystal sherbets that I am going to serve shrimp cocktail in for our meal. These will be set, with the fork, to start the meal, then cleared to the next course, which will be the soup. I am doing a lovely Lobster Bisque. I am quiet excited about this. I wanted Lobsters to play some role in this feast, as they are plentiful here and we love them, but they are too dear to provide an entire lobster for each of my guests, so I will be making my bisque on Wednesday. I will boil two lobsters, some of which hubby and I can have for dinner and the rest will be for my bisque. It does say you might want to omit soup course if serving appetizer, but Thanksgiving is about the food, so I feel a small shrimp cocktail followed by a small bowl of bisque will prepare the pallet for the meal. I have not decided if there will be a separate salad, I think I might skip straight to the main course, as there are so many sides to accompany the main dish of , of course, turkey. I wait all year to taste turkey and all year to eat goose at Christmas, so the mouth will be watering after the soup course to get at that delicious bird!

Next, these two bits about serving an informal dinner or a Family-style dinner are rather interesting. Again, just click on them to enlarge for reading.

It does give some good pointers on how best to serve food and beverages. I mean, why not learn the etiquette and just make it part of your normal meal time? Again, such things  becoming commonplace to a child will make he or she feel comfortable in their life rather they are eating alone, as a couple, in a fine restaurant or at the white house! I like the bit under family style, which has one pass their dinner plates to the hostess in exchange for the dessert she serves them. I, however, for thanksgiving, will be following the informal rule of clearing before dessert. I think this gives time for people to chat about dinner, rest their stomach as the coffee and tea brews and then the table is reset for dessert and hot beverages are served.

Do any of you have any particular traditions or table settings you use? Will you use a more formal or informal service for your holiday meal. Are any of you going to try something new and ‘vintage’ this season that you have not done in the past? Are any of you going to use this opportunity to wear vintage or use a fun frilly ‘hostess’ apron? Do you dress for your Thanksgiving dinner?

Tomorrow, I think we can discuss centerpieces and I have some interesting things on serving Buffet style. Do any of you serve your dinner this way? I also want to cover stuffing, cranberry dishes and desserts.

I remembered I was also suppose to share my fish chowder recipe with you that I made for my MIL birthday dinner. This is the basic recipe I usedI did some of it differently. I cooked the onion with four strips of bacon and did heat the cream in that same pan to enrich it with the bacon fat and onion. I also added 5-6 TBS. salted butter. I used chicken stock, because I had some in the freezer, but in the future I will get the fish with the heads and bones to make a stock. I used Halibut (which had the skin on) and cod and I also cooked scallops in it as well, cut into chunks. Then I broiled a few whole scallops wrapped in bacon and served one of those each in the bowl as a garnish to the chowder. Here is a bowl as served at my MIL dinner. I thought the it looked rather pretty. You can’t see here, but I garnished it with fresh chopped cilantro, which I just love the taste of. I also served a salad with warm cod broken over it and a fresh lemon wedge squeezed before serving. It was quite yummy and served with my home made cheese crackers.

That recipe is so easy. It is merely a stick of butter softened to room temperature, two cups of flour, one and 1/2 cups grated cheese (use what you like, I used both aged cheddar and swiss) then spice it as you wish, I used chili powder, hot sauce, garlic, salt and pepper. Then I crumble it with a pastry blender and then, once it is sort of cornmeal looking, I use my hands and blend it until it becomes a ball of dough. Roll it out to about 1/4 inch and cut with a pastry cutter or pizza cutter into whatever size you like. Bake about 12 minutes at 325 F or until lightly browned. These are SO good on salad, in soup, or make whatever size and shape and serve with cheese and such. I made larger crackers this week to serve with smoked blue fish and cheese for hubby and I while we were on our ‘holiday at home’. So good! People also are VERY impressed when you make your own crackers, but they couldn’t be any easier! I think a food processor makes it easier, but I don’t have one and prefer to use my hands. If anyone makes them in the processor let me know how they turn out.

Now, here is a link to a Thanksgiving episode of Father Knows Best. I wish I could just post it, but unfortunately you have to go to Hulu. Here is the Link.

20 November 1955 “Realizations and New Books”

This morning, as I was ironing my linen tablecloth and keeping an eye on my ‘mock hollandaise’ on the stove, I had to laugh. “Just think of yourself a year ago” I said to my alter ego. “You could barely boil water and now you are making homemade white sauce, ironing tablecloths and think it ‘normal’ to eat with linen napkins in girdles and petticoats”. Times, they are a changing. (this picture really makes me think of Hubby and I)

It is funny how we can adapt, isn’t it?  I am glad for it, I must say. It gives a gal hope. It makes one realize you can honestly change your environment and really, who you are. If you feel akin to someone or a time period or you admire a person, you can emulate their path and then, while doing so, find your own. You then realize how the day to day can really become an adventure. We become the heroines in our own story.

Sometimes I forget to mention here, when I am making things such as the Fish Chowder for my MIL’s birthday, that it is often the first time I am doing it. Many things I have and am doing this year are really quite new to me. Yet, somehow, in this new mode of thinking, the role of the homemaker, I feel a confidence in their attempts. Sometimes I imagine I am drawing on all those who have gone before me.

As I have increased my skills this year, I find that to open the page of a cookbook, or to dream up what might be nice to try, a dress a piece of needlework, is now just an adventure or a matter of fact. It matters little rather or not I have made it before, because I am HOMEMAKER and I can conquer all!

I think I really wanted to remind all of you of my own inabilities before this year in case any of you out there are new at it or have not even tried. Or, maybe you think, “Oh, that is too much work, or too hard”, when quite honestly, it isn’t. Well, that’s not true, sometimes it is hard ,but then you work through it and think, “Hmmm, next time I will try it like this” and before you know it you are a cook/chef and you are inventing your own recipes! Even in the challenge of the thing you see the joy. I mean, yes it is easy to open a box, add water, microwave and eat. But, to me it is the difference between just being born, facing forward and marching to the grave. That is being alive, but it is not living.

So much of what media shows us has us all longing or wishing for silly things or things which might be out of our grasp. Certainly there are those out there who do go on wild adventures, marry millionaires and become movie stars, but their percentage is very low to the general populace. What I have discovered this year is not only the contentment of place ( a place I can change or choose differently if I WANT to as we do live in Modern times) but also the adventure of living itself.

I will use the kitchen and food as an example again. Yes, we can easily whip things up from packaged foods, but the kitchen is like a mad scientists lab or a wonderful surgery or magical room to which we have the keys. Think of being a child and the joy you had playing house, or thinking of ‘being a grownup’. Well, we ARE grownups, so we can play all we like! I think the adventure of cooking is an amazing journey. Why just buy Miracle Whip when you can ‘whip up’ your own mayonnaise?

Speaking of cooking, I found a new book I am SO excited to delve into. I will share the results and recipes with all of you, of course. As I mentioned, this is my hubby’s vacation week, so we have been playing at tourist in the various towns that dot our little island here called Cape Cod.

The other day we were travelling up the historic road that traverses the cape (sometimes still referred to as the Old Kings’ Highway from our time as a British Colony) and came upon an antique/used book store that we had forgot about. We often frequented this bookstore years ago and having come upon it again, it was like a gift. Yes, in that picture you DO see books outside and many of those do ‘winter over’. It is a unique place. Here is an example of the inside. This is the ‘office’ as you walk in and turn to your right. When you are ready to purchase your books, a lovely bibliophile of a woman stroles out and takes your money. This was an old early 1800’s house and it has done little to let go of that visage. The crooked floors are the old wood planks. The walls, between the makeshift bookshelves and areas where books are missing or perhaps toppled over, show their old wainscot. Perhaps you will spy a bit of faded wallpaper that will wink at you from between the shelves like some old grand dame rocking away her life among the ancient walls. There are two more floors which you can only glimpse when you leave. You see shelves of books through the wavy old single paned glass windows, like a locked up hermit wondering what you are up to in their yard.  It is an interesting place and yet, very much a ‘normal’ aspect of New England and Cape Cod. It is moments like these that I do really appreciate where I live.

I suppose we all love our locales for various reasons. I think, for me, New England is such a nice fit because it wears its history with a certain casual aplomb. In Boston, there are three hundred year old buildings who lean with their aged bricks in Dikensonian patterns mingled with the cobble and brick streets. With this antiquity comes the no-nonsense attitude of the New Englander; The Yankee. Hard winters, stone filled earth, changing tides, having battled it all with out much complaint, a New Englander will tackle a problem without a word, but save the complaining for wonderful old tales to spin around the fire on the cold dark winter night. The brave stoic, the silent lover of beauty with the common sense to come out of the rain and put up what is needed for the coming winter. Do any of you feel particularly akin to your areas or environments? Do they suit you or really, upon reflection, mirror who you are? Let’s hear about it?

Well, back to the point of my story (Did I forget to mention the Yankee yen to spinning tales?)I found two wonderful new books there. Well, they are not new, but new to me. So, for the grand total of 11 dollars U.S. I acquired two wonderful books.

This is the first and the one I am very excited about. This book is by a woman I am just now learning about, Dione Lucas. She was the first woman ever to graduate from the famous Paris cooking school the Cordon Bleu. Here is a quick blurb about her:

Dione Lucas (1909 - 1971)

The first woman to graduate from the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu culinary institute in Paris, Englishwoman Dione Lucas opened her own restaurant in London in the 1930s and began the Cordon Bleu restaurant and cooking school in New York in 1942. That quickly made her the talk of the town and won her a television show in 1948 — making her the first woman featured on a television cooking show and an even earlier pioneer of French cooking than Julia Child. Onscreen, she concocted delicious dishes for her celebrity guests; offscreen, she gave private lessons to luminaries including Salvador Dali and actress Helen Hayes. While working at a hotel in Hamburg, Germany, Lucas claimed, she had once cooked squab for Adolf Hitler, disputing the belief that he was a vegetarian. "I do not mean to spoil your appetite for stuffed squab, but you might be interested to know that it was a great favorite with Mr. Hitler, who dined at the hotel often," she wrote in one of her books. "Let us not hold that against a fine recipe though." 

Until I found this book I had not heard of her. It was interesting, as I was perusing the cookbooks, there was (as is evidenced in interior photo of the bookstore) a stack of books next to where I was looking. There, right on top, was this blue book. I could see by the artwork it was old. I opened the front pages and saw it was copyrighted in 1947 and thought, “Wow, I would have most assuredly purchased this book”.

The book so very thorough and includes a wine serving list with what temperature and what dish wines should be served with. The contents are SO exciting. Here are some of the headings: Hors D’oeuvres, Soups, Fish, Game poultry and Meats, Eggs, Vegetables, Desserts. I am so excited to delve into this book! There is even a chapter on utensils!

I already have dreams of old copper sauce pots swimming in my head. I have now, in my possession, a small set of real old French metal clad aluminum sauce pans that are very small. From one cup size to about a pint and a half. They are PERFECT when I make a white sauce. I promise myself, however, that only a new (and by new I mean a food safe vintage copper pot/pan) will only enter my kitchen by the removal of the one it replaces. I will donate the old for the new.

I really do want to cook and learn my way through this book. I was thinking, if I can successfully manage my ‘website’ by 1956 then I might have a section of it just showing and sharing my progress as I work my way through it with recipes and pictures etc. Would that be of interest to any of you? Before then, of course, I will share what I try here as well.

Now, the second book is Good Housekeeping’s “Complete book of Needlecraft”. It is very thorough and was published in 1956. So, technically, it does not come out for another month and half, but I could not resist it. It has so many wonderful tips and techniques on everything from making of clothes, embroidery, knitting, sewing for the home.

Look at this lovely color photo showing how to use the ‘modern technology’ of machine embroidery and my machine does these stitches as well!

Well, there is so much more I want to talk about, but I have to save more for my next post. A hint is that I want to tackle some trousers, which I have never made. We will have to discuss that next time, now lets talk cooking and books and such…