24 March 1956 “Academy Award Film, Keeping Plants, Ironing, and Cupcake Bread Pudding”

  The 1956 28th Academy Awards were held on 21 March of this year. An uncharacteristic Hollywood film, Marty, won the highest honor this year.The film received international success, winning the 1955 Academy Award for Best Picture and becoming the second American film to win the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Marty and The Lost Weekend (1945) are the only two films to win both organizations' grand prizes.

This is a great film. You can buy it HERE (around $11). I really enjoyed it and found it’s portrayal of ‘normal’ people a very modern approach to the usual 1950’s films.

My Fair Lady opens on Broadway this month in 1956 with a young Julie Andrews. This is an interesting ‘interview’ from that same year of the production. I like the bit where the American is teaching English Julie Andrews about a Cockney accent. And of course Julie Sings. There are some wonderful actual recorded numbers from the Broadway show, so give a watch.  This would have been so wonderful to see live on Broadway!

I have a vintage album of the songs from this musical on 33 with the original Broadway cast. It is fun sewing music! You can buy a modern copy HERE.

We were having a discussion of things the other day about what we like to do to give our homes a nice feel or that extra touch. It made me think about the importance of keeping Houseplants. I really feel Houseplants are that final layer of decorating. It is the icing on the cake of a home’s interior. Their is a permanence to it. A feeling that one has been around and will be around to care for and watch them grow.

From a design point of view, I just love how the texture and variation of the foliage in similar shades makes such a statement. Here is a grouping I keep on the piano. By keeping the majority of the containers white it ties to the white of the Bust and is offset by the deep tones of the piano. The lush green of the plants give that feeling of warmth. Not all the containers in the grouping need to have a plant, as you can see here, yet it gives you that ‘opening’ for when you find the next one you must have. I am actually on the lookout for a nice Boston Fern for the empty urn in the background. you can see, as well, that the picture (one of two) is also of a botanical image and it’s frame is in white tones. If you pictured this same grouping without the lush greenery, it might not have the same feel.

This grouping in the same room, fills out a corner space that might otherwise be overlooked. The Peace lily sits on a Victorian twig-built Adirondack table. All of the plants I have pictured are happy with medium light and actually prefer to not be in direct sunlight too long, as in their natural environment are on forest floors shaded by larger trees. Again, this same vignette of antique table, lamp, corner would seem rather bare without the shot of green. I collect old stoneware containers, as well, and you can see how the old green bottle on the floor ties into the color tone of the plants.

A closer view of that same corner shows how the accent of the Baby’s tears in the front and the Grape-leaf ivy in the back add a softness to the table elements, including an antique brass kerosene lamp converted to electric and a picture of my Hubby as a boy with his mother on their boat. Somehow the plants, to me, add another personal element that always looks correct with family photos.

Now, for the novice to plant keeping, you don’t have to worry. Keeping plants alive is not as complicated as some think. I imagaine what often happens is someone new to plant keeping will see the pretty flowers on miniature roses or some other flowering plant that is a little tempermental and needs alot of light. But, there are many plants that are happy to be not watered for a week and don’t need direct sunlight, including the plants I have shown you today in my home.

Here is a quick list of some easy to care for house plants:

Peace lily– The plant handles lower light levels common to apartments and when the Spathiphyllum is thirsty it tells you with wilting leaves. It usually holds its pretty white flowers for some time and can be encouraged to rebloom with cutting the dying blooms. My Peace lily is not currently in bloom, but I don’t really care. I think for anyone just starting out with plants, focus on the foliage. Use the color, texture etc as your guide and if you get blooms, wonderful, but the texture and variety of the foliage is such a good tool to ‘brighten’ a room, I think they are often overlooked. These prefer indirect light and as stated, if they begin to droop you have waited too long to water, but fear not. Give them a drink and in a few minutes they will perk back up.You can find these very easily locally or you can buy them HERE from the Corner Store.

Soft succulents– These toughies require some indirect light, do well in small pots, store water like a cactus and come in a variety of sizes and colors.Technically, a succulent is any plant with thick, fleshy (succulent) water storage organs. Succulents store water in their leaves, their stems or their roots. So, these little darlings are perfect for those who ‘forget to water’. You must still water, but they are used to being dried out so more forgiving. They do like light, but often do well with some indirect light. The Jade plant is a good example of a hardy version of this. I also like succulents in the garden and though New England is hardly a desert environment, the popular hens and chicks do rather well here and are so adorable peeking out between rock walls and pathways and winter over very well.

As a group, succulents include some of the most well-known plants, such as the aloe and agave, and many almost unknown plants. Cacti are a unique subset of the succulent group. Succulents make excellent display plants in dish gardens.Succulents should be watered generously in the summer. The potting mix should be allowed to dry between watering, but do not underwater. During the winter, when the plants go dormant, cut watering back to once every other month. Overwatering and ensuing plant rot is the single most common cause of plant failure.

Philodendron – Most of the varieties grown for indoor use grow downward like an ivy. Lots of colors, although with lower light the colors will not be as vibrant, few pest problems and require limited quantities of water. They come in many variety of leaf color and configuration. But also grow large and shrub like in the case of the lacy tree philadendren as I have in my house.

Aspidistra - Also know as the cast-iron plant. This tough as nails houseplant was a favorite in Victorian times along with the Kentia palm. Back then houses were anything but bright and airy – much like apartments! In the Southern United States you can find Aspidistra growing completely carefree as a groundcover in dense, dark shade. They come in a variety of leaf colors from solid to speckled with yellow or stiped with white or yellow. These plants were favored by the Victorians and as a Victorian house was often very low light, it attested to the plants hardiness. I love this old photo of this man with the Aspidistra next to him. This is also an easy plant to find, even at your grocery store. I also have it HERE in the Corner Store.

Baby’s Tears-I am not sure what it is about this plant, but I just love it. It does not like direct light, and does prefer to be moist.  Here is a close up of the top of my Baby’s Tears plant. Doesn’t it look like a lush jungle? It is the perfect plant to make terrariums which is a great way to enjoy a plant.

My seedlings are doing nicely as well. I have an entire tray of Basil I started last week (about 72 or so little plants) that I plan on planting around my veg garden squares to both define the space and look pretty as well as provide for alot of Pesto to store this fall.

The second leaves on my Cucumbers and Tomatoes have started. The second set of leaves are always telling as they have the distinct shape of the adult plant. here is a tomato Have any of you started seedlings yet for your garden?

We were also talking about ironing sheets on the Forum and I thought this video was a good demonstration on how to iron a fitted sheet.

How to clean an iron:

If the substance stuck on the bottom of the iron is waxy, you should turn the iron onto its highest setting and run it across newspaper until the residue disappears.

If the substance is oily, then just wet a rag with ammonia. Next, just rinse the iron off with some water and the gunk should be gone.

Vinegar works as a cleaning agent for many irons. Pour some on a clean cloth, and wipe the surface of an iron throughly. If that doesn't work, combine vinegar with baking soda. With a soft cloth, scrub the surface of the iron.

You can get rid of any build-up in the vents of the iron by taking a cotton swab or a pipe cleaner and gently sweeping the residue out of the area. If you attempt to use something of a harsher nature, like a tool or a knife, you could scratch the base of the iron, causing future problems.

To clean the reservoir of your iron, pour a solution that is one part vinegar to one part water in. Turn the iron on. Allow it to steam for about four minutes. Drain the iron for an hour, and be sure to repeat the process with clean water before you iron any clothing items.

The other day I had made some lovely white cupcakes. As I was out of cupcake papers, I merely greased the muffin tins to make them. Unfortunately, some of them came out ‘headless’ or not in cupcake form. So, rather than be upset, I realized I could use them later for a ‘cupcake bread pudding’.

Last night, I needed a quick dessert and rememberd I had stored the cupcake mistakes in the ice box. Though they had hardened some, I did not care as it works perfectly for bread pudding.

Now, I did not use a recipe but just sort of made up my own. I know that bread pudding has milk/cream and butter and eggs and usually sugar (though in this case I did not use any as the cupcakes were sweet enough). So, here is my recipe for

Cupcake Mistake Bread Pudding

So, I broke up the cupcake mistakes into a buttered baking dish. This was about 5-6 cupcakes.

So, for the amount I had, I used two eggs about 1 cup of milk with some cream mixed in and 3 TBS butter. As I learn more about cooking/baking, I often find myself just ‘making it up’ as I begin to understand how various ingredients are meant to work together. As long as your mix of butter, milk and cream fills up the dish as you see here, you are right on the money. This gives it a very ‘custard’ sort of mixture.

Now, you can add any thing at this point that sounds good, cinnamon (which I did) and of course, I love syrup, so I poured some of that in for good measure.

Then you bake at 350 F for 45-50 minutes. You want to bake an egg/cream mixture like this longer and lower temp, so that it can rise properly.

It turned out beautiful and it tasted wonderful! Here you can see all the lovely browned bits. I served it with warm cream to pour on top in little bowls. The rest went with hubby today for his dessert in his lunch.

Desserts such as these and meals such as meat/veg pies and casseroles can be a homemakers best friend. They allow you to take all the leftovers and make them into a wonderful dish. There is no waste and you can get inventive.

I have been lucky enough to get a few people to do guest blogs for the website. I will be trying to feature this more often (hopefully weekly) as time goes on. Today we have guest blogger Rue from Rue’s Peanut Butter and Jelly life, so go to the SITE and scroll down to read her ‘Guest Blog’.

I am also putting up the very basic bones of the new INTERIORS page. It is very rough at this point, but you can see the layout and what is to come. Now I just need to ‘flush it out’ everyday.

Until later, then, or I shall see you on the Forums page. Happy Homemaking!

21 March 1956 “Clotheslines: We Can Do It”

Recently on the Forum began a discussion of clotheslines. Here, in 1956, clotheslines are a normal part of both urban and country life. Even the modern suburbs popping up still have their clotheslines, even though that great American invention, the clothes dryer, is yet another status symbol on the list of ‘must haves’ for any self-respecting middle class homemaker along with the latest Washing machine  and Dish washer .

Today, in 2010, the return to the clothesline is no longer for the vintage lover or the Green minded. The recession has lead to many ‘vintage’ ways of doing things out of necessity. Which, surprisingly enough, was the reason they were done originally. Not to recreate a time lost or to set an atmosphere nor to make your ‘carbon-footprint’ (whatever that is-says my 1956 counterpart) smaller. You did it because you HAD to and today, with increasing cost, the need to run that energy sucking appliance, the dryer, has lead to many needing to return to this habit.

Now, as I often believe, Form should follow function, and utility should be beauty’s bedmate. You can slap up any old line, throw some wet clothes over it, and call it a clothesline, but you can also take a very utilitarian object and make it beautiful. And, as there are different esthetics, one person’s idea of ugly is another’s beauty, so luckily there are SO many wonderful way’s to dry your clothes!

This was becoming an increasing view often found only in slums in urban living in 1956. The increasing Laundromats available to the urban dweller made such hanging of clothes become more and more a ‘working class’ act. Today, however, the return to it is increasing and no longer a ‘slum act’.Modern cities are now gaining a ‘vintage’ look due to necessity and need to pinch pennies. As they say, “what goes around comes around”.

If you’re lucky enough to have a nice little suburban plot of land, or even acres in the country, a clothes line can be a permanent beautiful fixture, much like a trellis or arbor.This clothes line is not only sturdy but a beautiful piece of architecture for your yard. I believe, as inside as well as out, that the main element of any design is ‘good bones’. Your yard needs some good architecture to be buitl around and to dicated where to plant and sit and relax. This type of utility combined with beauty is only increased, I believe, by the addition of the clothes. I think even a trailing vine or some lovely roses planted near by, a chair and side table and you have a chore with joy attached. And who doesn’t love the smell of fresh sundried laundry?

Even the old rotary clothes line of the past is making a comeback.I recall pre 1955 when I was an avid TV watcher, I loved watching garden design shows and it seems every other one had the designers tossing out these old reliable work horses. Again, in the time of plenty and spend spend, why not have a flower bed instead of a place to economically dry your clothes. But, as in WWII, when flower beds and lawns became Victory Gardens, so too now are the yards getting a little more utility. And, there is not reason this old stand by can’t be situated in the yard in a considered way, so that there are flowers or better yet herbs (utility) nearby. Especially a lush bed of lavender planted nearby, so the wind carries the scent onto your clothes. It is like natures dryer sheets! This woman has proudly made a space for her dahlias and her laundry, and with a bench to enjoy both!

 

This is such a simple and basic set up that can be so beautiful and can be easy for any homemaker. A post hold digger and some wooden posts, screws, drill, paint and line and you are in business. You can color it how you like, even plant a vine on one of the posts. HERE is an easy tutorial with costs and supplies list that is helpful.

If you like this set up but don’t want to build or use wood, you can buy good metal versions of these retractable and stationary metal clotheslines. You can find these in the Corner Store HERE. There are even Sweater dryers for the line! HERE.

If you would like to construct your own , there are a few options. Here is a great TUTORIAL on building one.

 

 This dreamy bucolic scene of washing can be yours. In fact, you can see how simply this homemakers line is, simply old tree branches set in the ground. It can be as grand or as simple as you need. This is a simple set up where one side of the line is tied to a tree and the other a post.

A pulley system line is another option.

Don’t let apartment dwelling get you down, however. They eve have lovely versions that can be mounted to the side of your house on a deck or simply out one window and then the other of your apartment building.

The pulley system is nice as well. You can, as was done here, put it right out your back door or whever it is closest to your laundry room. This means, even in winter, you would not have to worry about walking about in snow. You could even have a summer and a winter setup, one in the yard the other the winter pulley system. They also work great indoors in basements and laundry rooms. For the Pulley clothes line system  HERE is a great tutorial. And you can buy the pulley, line all those things HERE. There are also simple retractable type, that you can pull out, use and then put away, if you don’t have the room for lines in the yard all the time.

I put a few in the Store, but I think THIS little metal one is cute for indoors or a small outdoor line. But they also have LARGER VERSIONS that work outside.

I actually thought this was a cute modern segment on someone making an ingenious clothes line with simple things.A great use for the extra ‘swim noodles’ that often accumulate at summer time, or buy some for this purpose, as they are not expensive. If you slit on side and insert a wooden dowel the size of the noodle hole, it is great for drying rugs, towels, things you wouldn’t want clothes pin marks on.

I think this is a great little modern video about a woman who made her own clothesline.

It also brought up something that was discussed on the forum and that some neighborhoods actually will NOT allow you to have a clothesline! Again, another aspect of our modern society. The look or appearance is more important the saving money, environment, or continuing a valid homemaking skill. I hope that is not the case in your neighborhood, if it is, I say march down to town hall and find out what you can do, signatures etc?

Now, check out the new section on the CORNER STORE for any laundry ideas. And, if you have any good ideas let’s discuss them HERE on the Forum topic of clotheslines!

And check out today’s Video of the Day on the SITE (on the bottom of the page) from 1958 about the new modern synthetic fabrics and the ease of modern laundry with electric dryers and synthetic fabrics. Interesting parallel to today’s topic, I think.

The more we make little changes that are economical the more we find the ‘side-affects’ are often Green choices and choices that enliven or teach us skills. It might be quicker to pop that load in the dryer, but think of the extra time outside, smelling the air, hearing the birds. Even if it is a cool autumn day, what a better activity than just staring at the computer screen. I wonder, as people begin to see the benefits and tactile pleasures of hanging out one’s clothes, how long before we can get a ‘virtual laundry line’ for or computer or AP for the i-Phone?

Well, it is a lovely day outside, so I am off to dream and plan my own laundry solutions. Tomorrow I will return with some recipes, some photos of Martha’s Vineyard in March and just a good ole’ chat. I shall see you on the Forums, and Happy Homemaking!

17 March 1956 “Happy St. Patrick’s Day”

Here is a 1950’s Celebration of St. Patrick in Ireland.

IRELAND HONOURS ST. PATRICK

Richard J. Daley became Mayor of Chicago in April 1955.  The very next year, the city's newspapers announced he was planning "a parade" for March 17--St. Patrick's Day.

Other American cities had a history of grand St. Patrick's Day parades.  Chicago's Irish had staged a few parades on-and-off since the 1840s, and there was a long-running event on 79th Street.  But holding a major, city-wide parade for the  feast day was not a Chicago tradition.

March 17 fell on a Saturday in 1956.  Led by the mayor, the City of Chicago's first official St. Patrick's Day parade stepped off from State and Kinzie at noon.  The route went south on State to Adams, then continued west on Adams to Des Plaines Street and Old St. Patrick Church. Today, Chicago goes so far as to dye their river way green!

This photo of two young Irish-American’s in the South End of Boston during a 1950’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade is rather good, I think. South has for quite some time been a highly concentrated area of Irish Americans. What is rather sad is today, as much is the case around the country and world really, the increase in property values and need of space pushes out the poorer old neighborhood residents to make way for high-end condominiums and housing. Many places are losing their ‘local color’ and merely becoming homogenized versions of everywhere else. Much like the continuity of the big business  from one city to another, so to do we accept the ‘gentrification’ of various parts of cities.

A few years back, hubby and I had made a trip with the intent to buy a home in Savannah GA. It was a lovely city and many of the older houses were so beautiful and being fixed up and the city really having  a rebirth. One day, with our Real estate Agent, we were being shown around the city. There was almost an exact line where you could go to one street and it was fancy fixed up houses and the next would be rather run down and a bit scary. She was showing us a darling Victorian house on such a street. It was literally the next street after a ‘fixed up’ street. I remember getting out (we three white people) and many African Americans sitting about on porches and really looking at us. I felt, for the first time in my life, frightened by that racial difference. I asked our Real Estate Agent what was going on. She said they were upset because of the gentrification. She said, ‘Don’t worry, this is the right place to buy, you can get a good price now and others will follow”. “But what happens to those who already live here” I asked naively. “I don’t know,” says she, “they’ll find somewhere to live”. That was the moment that hubby and I knew we could not make the move. The thought of having to both be the object of their anger and hatred and also to know we actually DID contribute to their need to be moved out of their neighborhood was the last straw for us. We enjoyed the rest of our trip and decided to stay New Englanders. That is not to say that is not happening all the time here, though, so don’t think I am saying it is a Southern thing. We just seem to be displacing people.

The Irish were once on the very bottom rung of social order. After the Potato famine of the 1840’s, thousands fled to America. In one year Boston’s Irish Population jumped from 30,000 to 100,000! Many turned to servitude for employment and 70% of servants in Boston were Irish, two-thirds of which were female. Indeed, many of that time considered the Irish a ‘servant race’ in a sense.

The established working classes in America resented the influx of the Irish, as they would work for anything. And, though many Irish were servants, Employers would place signs with NINA scrawled across the front which stood for No Irish Need Apply.

We can look back now and be appalled by the blatant ill treatment of the Irish influx of people, yet places like the South End in Boston that had been the stronghold of the ‘undesirable’ Irish is now being taken over by development. Those, indeed many who are not Irish nor have that heritage, are moving in as they can afford the high rents and taxes, while the old families, now that their once ‘slums’ are desirable, have to move out. It is true, that if they owned their property they could make money from its sale, yet have to give up their place, home and cultural identity to that location. Such ill-treatment, then, still exists, it just has a different face and name.

Really, our country is made up of various groups of people who came here to leave hardship behind. Once established, they seem to forget their own plight and are happy to then oppress the next influx of people. Today there is still much talk of African American and Native American unfair treatment, but we must remember that almost all the various races that were forced here underwent ill treatment. We seem, we humans, to have short memories. Perhaps, sadly, it is just human nature. Rather a grim St. Patrick’s Day post, but the Irish are such a part of Boston today, that they are hardly considered a lower social order anymore.

Here is an old record from 1950’s about Southie town in Boston. A remembrance of pride and feeling of belonging to your neighborhood, even if it were a poorer area of town. The end makes me almost tear up when they talk about the fighting in world war II and there stands the Irish lad from Southie.

Sticking with the theme of the day, here is a rather good Irish Soda Bread recipe. I am not sure how common this type of bread is throughout the country, but around here, it is fairly common to buy Irish Soda Bread, particularly in March.

Nora's Irish Soda Bread

Mix Dry Ingredients

• 3½ Cups flour

• 4 Teaspoons baking powder

• 1/3 Cup sugar

• ½ Teaspoon baking soda

• 8 oz. Raisins, softened (soak in hot water, drain)

• ½ Teaspoon salt

• 1 Tablespoon caraway seeds

Mix Wet Ingredients

• 2 Eggs beaten

• 1 Cup sour cream

• ½ Cup buttermilk

• 3 Tablespoons melted butter

• Combine wet and dry ingredients, knead together

Add to greased, floured 9” pan. Cut an “X” in the top.

Bake 55-60 minutes at 350°

Wouldn’t this be a  lovely dress to wear today, showing the green? I am going to be wearing a green cotton dress (the one I wore in the photo for the TimeWarpWives interview-though it is B&W there, it is actually a soft green cotton)

Are any of you doing anything special for the day? Any particular way your area celebrates the day?

Happy Homemaking and keep those Apron Strings Tied!