Archive for Grandmother’s Wisdom
What About Plastic?
Posted by: | Comments04/01/2009
Thinking back to my Mother’s kitchen, I’ve begun unearthing the images and ideas from my childhood about how we held food, wrapped and saved food, and functioned without any plastic readily available. There are many reasons for this, of course, including our health, the environment, and the use of non-renewable resources to make it.
Waxed paper is a valuable addition to the kitchen and is used to wrap sandwiches, line cookie sheets and cake pans, and as a liner in a jar top for acid things. It’s hard to use as a cover on its own since it does not cling like plastic. With sandwiches, you have to fold it quite like a present with the ends tucked under and for kids a small piece of masking tape helps.
I don’t buy plastic anymore so I have been saving the ‘clean’ bags to reuse in the kitchen. You know how hard it is to open some of the chip bags, salad bags, and cereal bags…well they make wonderful reusable bags for left-overs, sandwiches, and snacks. I also take the produce bags back to the supermarket to use again, bring in my own peanut butter jar to refill at the bulk station (have them weigh it first empty), and reuse the coffee bean bag from the bulk coffee section. Saving and reusing bags and containers has actually given me more storage options than I ever had before!
For reheating food in the microwave (I’m so undecided about a microwave…but one thing at a time) I have bought glass lids and pie plates at the second-hand store. The lids cover a dinner plate or pie pan equally well and usually cost under $1.00 . I have also found storage containers of glass, ceramic, or stainless steel at great savings, hopefully with glass, ceramic, wooden, metal, or bamboo lids. On line there are sites that sell Japanese style lunch boxes (tiffins) made out of stainless steel or bamboo which will last for years and have many different size and shape compartments. Stainless steel water bottles are also coming down in price and I have seen them for under $10.00.
Best of all, I am using my Grandma Armstrong’s glass refridgerator containers with lids that allow safe stacking. These have been in use since the 40’s or so. I find my grandchildren handle things more carefully when they know it can be broken! An added bonus!
Let me know your ideas about reducing any new plastic into your home and what you do instead. Together we CAN make a difference!
Women In The Kitchen
Posted by: | Comments03/14/2009
As a girl, I remember the women gathered in the kitchen to prepare big family dinners and during canning season. Until I was old enough to help (+/- 6 years old), I wasn’t allowed to ‘get under foot’. It was too dangerous with that much action going on! As soon as I could be of help, I was welcomed with open arms.
This was where I learned to use a peeler and a small paring knife on carrots, potatoes, and other root crops. As children we learned to shell peas and lima beans, shuck corn, and peel long strips of skin from apples to throw over our shoulder. Climbing up on a stool, puddings were stirred and all sorts of cooking skills were absorbed from Mother, Aunts, and older cousins.
Being in the kitchen with the women was a priviledge to be treasured. It was a time and a place when men were busy with other things and women could talk to each other without having to explain themselves. The topics were varied and intimate, cosy and caustic, and you had to remember to keep your mouth shut or someone would say over the top of your head: “Little pitchers have big ears!” and all the juicy bits would stop!
As a teenager, I suddenly stopped liking the kitchen with all the women. I wanted to be with the boys and felt terribly put-upon to have to do all this cooking and kitchen work. Why didn’t THEY have to do it too? It was particularly hard when the work men used to do while women were in the kitchen no longer took place. Now they were watching TV, drinking beer, and laughing while we were working. Humph!
As I got older I began to value this time with other women as being a wonderful way to be by ourselves, together. There is a freedom in this – a freedom of thought, a freedom of speech and ideas, a freedom to truely be who you are without censorship or misunderstanding. I appreciated the companionship of women as I never had before.
Now, as my family grows up and forms their own families, the men are in the kitchen as much as the women. This is a more equal relationship/partnership and shares the work load among us all. I love the idea that the women can go out in the backyard, have a beer and laugh while the men fix dinner. I love the way these men are actively caring for the children. The family community seems more accepting of us all and all that we are.
However, I have come to realize both women and men still need the relaxed company of being with their peers, men with men, women with women, as some sorts of talk and understanding only comes this way. Bottom line, we are different. Blessings on those differences; blessings on my girl friends!
Feed A Cold; Starve A Fever.
Posted by: | Comments03/11/2009
This was a common expression when I was young and helped govern what happened when we got sick. There were different foods given to us depending on the ailment and they were all easy to digest and assimilate. For intestinal ailments that involved nausea and/or diarrhea, ginger ale or mint tea with honey were given first, sometimes by the teaspoonful. Next came chicken broth or beef broth, and then a small amount of milk toast or a very ripe mashed banana was added provided all went well. For babies and young children the pediatrician advised a solution of one quart of distilled or boiled water with 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt and 1 tablespoon of sugar, or honey if the child was old enough, as often as possible to prevent dehydration. This was all that was given until 24 hours after the last bout of diarrhea, and absolutely nothing else. Giving anything else would cause the diarrhea to commence again which increased the chance of dehydration.
For head colds, all dairy and wheat were eliminated as these caused alot of mucus. Anything with vitamin C was consumed and healing soups were recommended. We could eat most foods provided they were easy to digest (not too fatty or rich). If a fever was present, liquids and broths were the only sustanence until the fever broke since it was believed that the digestive system needed to rest so that the body could use all of it’s resources to fight the illness.
Later I heard that the actual expression (from Hippocrates?) was: If you feed a cold, you will have to starve a fever. This still makes sense to me and since the foods changed even for a cold, it seems my Mother and Grandmother also believed this. Another thought was that you didn’t give kids treats when they were sick because it would make them want to be sick!
