The Homemaker Plans Her Week: Fresh, Bright and New

 

In my home this week, I'm trying to find my bearings.  With the need to work at the house in town to get it cleaned up, I'll still be giving up part of my week to that, but the change will be that I can tend to those things in the morning when my energy is higher and then come home and putter about my own house.  I've given myself a target date of two weeks to get the house cleaned up and ready to put on the market. 

It's always a bittersweet moment when you realize that your time is more or less your own once more after having given it over to someone else's need.   It makes me feel a bit lost.  That's why I need to see how I fit into my own life once more.

Drawing for MFK Fisher's book

 

If you'd like a copy of MFK Fisher's book, How to Cook a Wolf, then please leave me a comment below this post.  I recently purchased another of her books and didn't realize that it was a compilation of several of her books including How to Cook a Wolf.  I would love to give my copy to one of you.

Comments will be printed off and numbered and I'll use a random number generator to choose the winner.  I'm only able to open this giveaway to the U.S. and I apologize to any readers from other countries for that.

Diary of a Teary Homemaker: Savoring the Last Moments

 

Saturday:  I think now that you have items stored, the best thing is to use and replace. Make it be a way of life and at some point, if something happens you have what is needed. Then, when things are better, continue to store, use, replace. This is a way of life, not a one time or one event thing.  Becky~ Frugal Measures

I probably will have font issues with this post because I've used quotes from other's pages.  Y'all forgive me this round and just enlarge so you can see it better.

M.F.K. Fisher How to Cook a Wolf Chapters 17-21

 Chapter 17:  How to Be a Wise Man

A wise man can always eat well ~ Chinese Proverb

Why do we permit and even condone the feeble packaged bread that our men try to keep strong on! (and women...and, worst of all, children!

Why do we let our millers rob the wheat of all its goodness and then buy the wheat germ for one thousand times its value from our druggists so that our children my be strong and healthy?

M.F.K. Fisher: How to Cook a Wolf Chapters 14, 15, 16

 

I'm not sure the arrangement of these next few chapters make sense, but it is the order in which they appear in the book and the order in which I shall comment upon them.

In our last post, we were talking about eating food and now we are not.  Just so you know.  But we will be again...

Chapter 14 How to Make a Great Show

By economy and good management, by a sparing use of ready money, and by paying scarcely anybody, people can manage, for a time at least, to make a great show with very little means.

from Vanity Fair by Thackeray

The Homemaker Plans Her Week: STOP For a Moment

 

In my home this week, we woke to another morning with frost temperatures.  I'd say I slept late, but I really ought to say I went to sleep late.  I was riding a wave last night after our small group meeting and just couldn't settle down.

Such a bittersweet week ahead.  No kidding, all last week I kept thinking, "Just four more evenings with Caleb.  Just four more talks with Katie..."  I realize that all is not at an end, but I am so well aware that a big change is coming for us all.  

Diary of a Homemaker's Week: Just Say Yes

Saturday:  Yesterday evening while we were at Katie's with Caleb, Sam texted that he'd haul John's mower over to the town house so the grass could be cut.  I suggested to John if the truck was going to be there anyway that he and Sam might bring home the gas grill Katie is letting us have.

I thought Caleb was tired on the way home yesterday and I suspect he didn't get a nap.  He acted just fine, was playing and giggling with Grampa while I made supper last night.  Following our usual routine, as soon as dishes were done, I got him wiped down and put into his pajamas.  Afterwards we snuggle on the couch while he watches tv, unless he's in the mood to stomp about in Katie's ankle boots.  Not last night.  The moment the pajamas were on, he gave me a hug and said, "Night night" as though it were a moment, he'd been waiting for all afternoon long.  Then he ran to give John a hug and 'tiss' as he says, and he went to put himself to bed!  I had to scramble to get his milk ready, but I think he would have gone right on to sleep without it.

M.F.K. Fisher How to Cook a Wolf: Chapters 11, 12, 13

Chapter 11 How to Make a Pigeon Cry

The more I read of this book, the more I learn.  I've heard of squab often enough, also known as pigeon.  For the first time ever, I understand the purpose of a dovecote on the estates and plantations of old.  The dovecotes were there to house the pigeons that the estate owners raised as food.  And here I thought they were just a quaint thing that had gone out of favor in ages past.  As it happens, they have fallen out of favor.  When was the last time you heard of anyone ordering Squab?  But somehow my naive self never realized that the dovecotes were like coops for chickens and sties for pigs.  It was a necessary part of housing a necessary future food item.  Apparently, the best way to kill a pigeon is to suffocate it.  Another bit of learning for me.  

The chapter is dedicated to the other meats...  Pheasant, Pigeon, Rabbit, Duck, Chicken and Geese.  

M.F.K. Fisher "How to Cook a Wolf": Chapter Ten

I had so many observations about this chapter that I had to make this one a separate post.  

Chapter 10: How to Carve the Wolf

Part 1

I guessed that this chapter would be about meat...or rather, the lack of meat during WWII.   Fisher believes that only a few really need meat for nourishment as a necessity but that most eat it 'out of habit'.  I am not going to argue for nor against.  I have over the years cut way down on the portions of meat served in our household.  It began in those days of deep economy, and it has stayed with me because as costs rose, the budget, though ample, never quite caught up to whatever the current economy might be.  That's just facts.  As I get older, I find I need a little meat at two meals simply to keep blood sugar and energy levels where they ought to be.  

The Homemaker Plans Her Week: Or Does She?

Here we are with a new week ahead and I am unmotivated to plan to do anything at all.  No doubt the result of a restless Saturday night (as usual, nothing unusual in that at all) and poor sleep and a too too early awakening to the day.

As well there's a bit of malaise because time is spinning out too quickly now.  Two weeks ahead and then off goes my daughter and her son to a whole new life.  And as if that loss isn't nearly enough, the stress of how quickly I can make things move with getting the town house cleaned up and ready to sell is real.  I know my nature (Get It Done!) and that of my husband (We'll get to it sometime) are vastly different and situations like this really do start my anxiety amping to the maximum.  

Diary of a Homemaker's Week: Keep on Going

 

Saturday:  Last night, when sunset drew near, I realized that we weren't getting home for Shabat again. Shabat comes whether or not the candles are lit in my home.  God hasn't shut down the world yet because one person missed Shabat, but I longed suddenly for something resembling a Shabat evening.  

With the early advent of sunset these days, Caleb was still awake.  He's never been part of our Shabat here at home the way Josh and Isaac often were there for a time.  But I looked out the window at the setting sun and began to sing Shema.  Caleb, who is a busy little fellow, stopped and stood stock still.  He was still throughout the prayer I made over his home and ours and the homes of our families.  The moment I said 'Amen', he strongly followed suit.  That Amen had a sweet solemnity to it.  And then he began his previous play all over again.  But I believe the peace in that house was sealed with his 'Amen'.  The power of a child's prayer, even a plain 'Amen' is something to be considered.

M.F.K. Fisher - How to Cook a Wolf: Chapters 8 and 9

 

Chapter 8:  How to Rise Up Like New Bread

Newspapers tell us, with government permission, that wheat costing some five cents a pound is "refined" until it is not only tasteless but almost worthless nutritionally, and that the wheat germ that is thus removed is then sold for at least a dollar and a half and the end put back into the bread, that in loaves it can be sold for a little more than the ordinary price and called "Super-Vitamized" or "Energized" or some such thing.

I admit this paragraph made me laugh out loud.  Just one more example of how the health industry was built.

I Wonder as I Wander: Another Rambling Post

 

I have snippets of things I want to write about that never seem to make it into a post.  They don't 'fit' but nevertheless, I'd kept them thinking they might fit somewhere.  

So here is a post of Random thoughts, likely not entirely connected to the rest of the body...sort of like a normal conversation, at least in my house, since we tend to wander around.  Enjoy!

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I was tidying the bathroom the other day and noted that John had left his crumpled and obviously empty toothpaste tube on the counter.  This is his way of letting me know that he is out and needs more.  I am not upset over this method of letting me know that one item is gone, and another is needed for several reasons.  

M.F.K. Fisher's How to Cook a Wolf: Chapters 4-7

 

As I said in the last post the following chapters are filled with recipes and those I am not going to share.  However, there are good points made in each chapter that I would like to share.  Note please that the order of the chapters makes no sense at all in my opinion, but they are presented as Fisher wrote them in her book.

Chapter 4: How to Boil Water

Do you know how to boil water?  I'm going to confess to you that per what Fisher has to say, I did not.  There's boiled water and then there is a point where water has been cooked to death and isn't fit for a thing or so Fisher assures her readers.

The Homemaker Plans Her Week: Hurry Up Slow Down

 

Knowing that a move is in the offing and knowing that while Katie has packed some things (quite a lot if you consider her wardrobe which was quite large) and even knowing that she hasn't that much to pack as her possessions are few...I'm beginning to feel antsy about the packing side of things.  Katie has a plan.  She's moved all on her own without any help from me in the past.  I'm trying to let things alone and just let her do what needs to be done until she actually asks for my help.

This idea of moving, as always, makes me want to declutter my own belongings.  It happens every time anyone I know is moving.  It's not that I long to move, though on some level I do find the idea of it exciting.  I mean the ability to make a fresh space my own is very appealing to me.  But anyone moving does drive home the fact that I am not a minimalist.  My space is clean and neat and tidy, but I have a LOT of stuff and a lot of furniture.

Diary of a Homemaker's Week: Autumn Leaves

Saturday:  Caleb handled the evening well yesterday and I'm grateful.  I'd told John my plan on the way home: Go in and turn on the tv to his program, give him a few potato chips as a starter course, while I got food on the plates.  He had one fit of temper with Grampa that earned him a well-deserved smack on the bottom and then all was peace and calm.  I find that he is a great deal like his mama.  He knows well when he's deserved punishment. He took it with a single wail, and he was done.  Punish him unjustly and he will cry loud and long.

He spoke his second full sentence yesterday evening.  He tends to call me Mamama.  When John told him to stay in the living room, he told John "Mamama's in the kitchen."  

M.F.K. Fisher's How To Cook a Wolf: Chapter 3

 

How to Distribute Your Virtue

This chapter was packed with a load of ideas on how to economize in the home as well as in the kitchen.  

But first she begins with a strange story of a man who was poor and who gradually decreased his cost of living until he found himself at the end, licking a plate clean because he hadn't any water to wash it with.  And that was the straw that broke him.  He determined to take a loan, go live in a proper boarding house where food and water were provided and never again lived in such an impoverished state.

There may be a lesson in this...At least it proves that when he is living with himself a man can do things that in front of other people might seem ugly, or undignified, if he needs to in order to live at all.

Making Recipes Budgetwise

 

I've been on a recipe kick now for several months.  The intent was to find something new that we'd like to eat.  I have several sources that I love to follow but I started to notice something.  Some recipes were simply not budget wise, though they sounded delicious.  Even those deemed to be budget meals weren't really budget friendly, in my personal opinion.  I could see so many exchanges that might be made and not affect the quality or taste of the recipe in the least.  Substitutions can be made in most recipes, and you'd have a far more budget friendly meal.

I realized too, that the most common 'budget' recipes all came in at around $10 for a family of four and that was just the main dish.   I suppose if you only make dinners then that is an acceptable amount to spend.  If you eat at home seven days a week that's only around $70, right?   When you consider that it costs around $70 to feed a family of four a restaurant meal, then I suppose it seems like a good exchange, one meal for seven.  (I can't judge about fast food meals as we seldom eat those and then we always order the cheapest option or best sale item).

M.F.K. Fisher: How to Cook a Wolf, Chapter 2

Chapter Title: How to Catch the Wolf

This is quite a short chapter really, but the essence of the chapter is: Are you prepared?  Do you know how to substitute for shortages?  Have you practiced thrifty meals enough to know which your family will eat with real enjoyment?

At the start of the chapter Fisher shares the story of her grandmother sitting with a group of new homemakers during WWI, and the discussion in the group had been all about baking without sugar or butter.  All of the young homemakers had successfully substituted some item or other for those that were scarce, had made their cake and proudly felt that their way was the best.   Fisher's grandmother, who was a seasoned homemaker, listened quietly and then folded her hands in her lap.  The younger homemakers looked at her attentively.

The Homemaker Plans Her Week: October Blue

In fourth grade we had a teacher, Mrs. Williams, who read poetry to us.  'The Tale of Hiawatha', 'The Battle of the Light Brigade' and more.  The most standout poem she read however, eludes me.  I've never found it anywhere, but I recall it vividly because you see it was autumn and outside the classroom window was a sky that was impossibly blue and in the poem was a line about "October blue skies".  I recall the tone of the poem was rather poignant, or so I think I recall.  Considering all I can remember is three words it's not terribly likely that I recall an emoting of any sort of feeling from the poem.   However, each year come October I look up at the sky and know just what the author, whomever he or she might have been, was viewing and why the words were written.  

It's a Brand New Month: October Goals

 

I wrote out a list of goals for September at the end of August.  And then the world as we know it was shaken to the core by Steven's accident and the necessity of helping where we might.  You'll understand when I share that in reading through September's goals, I was very surprised to find that despite this, I accomplished roughly 80% of what I'd planned.  I don't know how, but I did it.  That was a very nice surprise.