Mincemeat...too often maligned and definitely misunderstood

 

Mincemeat recipe from BBC Good Food James Martin

As a child, mincemeat seemed like an unpleasant mystery to me.  I didn't like the idea of "minced meat," and definitely did not want to consider having it in a pie. As an adult I remember at my first Thanksgiving held outside of my familial home, a "friends-giving," a friend brought a home-made mincemeat pie of which he was quite proud.  No one ate it.  

Even once I understood that the mincemeat pies of today no longer contain any actual meat, but simply ground suet (the pre-cursor to vegetable shortening), the idea did not thrill me.  Somewhere between that time and 2020, with my long-time love of historic foodways, vintage recipes, pre-1940 women's magazines, and watching every single episode of Victorian Farm, Edwardian Farm, Wartime Farm and Tudor Farm I could get my hands on (multiple times), I longed to try these recipes.  The first batch I made was in 2020.  Having actually broken out and used my digital scale, I was awestruck by the accuracy of using grams rather than standard American measurements in a recipe.  I got exactly the amount you see above as predicted by the recipe.  Perfectly so. This amazed me for some reason.  So much so that I now prefer to work with recipes that provide gram measurements. When we tried it in little pies, it was delicious. I used the best quality ingredients. One might even say it was divine. My sons and I loved it. *A single note of warning, if you can find a butcher to grate you 300 grams of suet do it.  Your arm will thank you. I bought my own and grated it frozen.  It worked, but it ain't easy.

Those four pint jars went a long way. I looked up uses and had found a mincemeat muffin recipe which was very good.  Fast forward to 2023 when I made my second batch. I had planned to gift some to my neighbors only to find out they were moving to a more vegan diet. I ended up keeping the lot.  Not everyone can bake or wants to, and many still hold an unnatural, albeit understandable fear and misunderstanding of mincemeat.

Fast forward two years later as of today and when going out to our garage refrigerator I remembered I had one jar left.  I wondered...could it still possibly be good? I opened it and gave it the smell test.  It smelled fine.  It didn't smell off, or like an old refrigerator, or even stale. I thought about using it up, as of course, the holidays are right around the corner, and it's almost time to make more mincemeat.

Last year's holiday season was a blur.  My adult son had to suddenly move back home in early December.  The remainder of December was spent re-arranging our home and lives to make the necessary space. Note to self: holiday time is not the ideal time to do this.  During that time my former husband underwent massive heart surgery and my husband's car died. We experienced a significant and noticeable lack of merriment over last holiday season. With life settling down a little this year, I am looking forward to re-instating my traditional baking, including a plum pudding put together on stir-up Sunday.

But back to the mincemeat. This well preserved food item reminded me of just how long we had to make do and preserve food as best as we could before refrigeration.  With the rising prices of the  present day (where suddenly ground meat and stew beef are luxury items), I am eternally grateful for having been raised by two people who survived the depression. My list of skills in preserving and using up and making do is virtually endless. As is the ingrained personality trait of "waste not, want not." In a world that feels like it's moving backward, these are the skills to have.

So, I took my now nearly two year old jar of mincemeat and pulled out the mincemeat muffin recipe, only I decided I felt it would be better as a scone.  I pulled out my scone pan and got to work, just a little bit nervous of how the final product might come out. Turns out I had nothing to worry about.  They came out beautifully and I topped them off with a simple vanilla orange glaze. I've included the recipe below with my gluten free modifications.  So I say, give mincemeat a chance.

                                           

Mincemeat Muffins original recipe from Dinner With Julie.  My substitutions for my gluten free version are below:

Gluten Free Mincemeat Muffins

250 grams of Better Batter Gluten Free flour

1/3 cup white sugar

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp pumpkin spice mix or cake spice mix 

3/4 c whole milk

1/3 light olive oil

1 large egg

1 packed cup of mincemeat (the home made is on the dryer side compared to a store bought such as Tiptree so do not pack for a jarred brand that has more liquid)

Icing: 1 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1-2 Tblsp orange juice w/zest mixed together until smooth.

Mix together dry ingredients, toss in mincemeat and blend, add wet ingredients.  Bake at 375 w/either 12 muffin pan or 8 section scone pan, 25 minutes.  Remove from pan and put approximately 1 Tblsp of glaze over each muffin.  

"Time and tide wait for no man." - Geoffrey Chaucer

 

(My first creative effort in over four years - I attended a wreath making workshop.)

Where have I been? 

Shockingly, my last post was in April of 2020.  The world was knee deep in the unknown of a pandemic.  Four years have gone by in what feels like a blur.  What have I been doing? 

In the last four years I have:

finished my undergraduate degree in psychology

completed my graduate degree in Social Work

completed two internships

and have been working full-time in my chosen profession as a mental health social worker for the last 1.5 years. 

I have also gained two grandsons, said goodbye to two very reliable vehicles after many years of service, had one son graduate highschool, one son enter college, and one adult child move back home.  With that came the bittwersweet end of 20 years of homeschooling as I watched two little boys grow into very fine young men. I also lost two beloved dogs to different illnesses in a six-month time span, and later adopted two more.

I have struggled with my health as I navigated last stage perimenopause and now, the beginnings of menopause. During this time my husband remained supportive and steadfast as we both wondered why people do not talk of these things more often.  Needless to say, there will be future posts on this topic.

I have navigated two moderately disturbing plumbing emergencies, the kind that often plague homes that are 230 years old, and watched every year for the last four years as Spring began in my garden, and I full of robust intentions, approached Autumn feeling overwhelmed and facing a yard that more resembled an abandoned property than the English Garden of my dreams. To add to that, a dear woman who had been my garden saviour, passed away at an age far too close to my own, and I cannot enter the garden without remembering her.

It's been busy to say the least.  However, throughout it all, I have never wanted to end this blog.  This insignificant hobby, few of followers.  I just did not know where or when or why I would begin again, nor how it would look. 

I am still not sure. After years of stewing in academics, I found myself dry, uninspired and even unable to read for pleasure for some time. I spent so much time in achievement mode, finding time to unwind became another item on the list.

Underneath all of these events, tidings and happenings, I am simply a woman navigating life, aging and change, and although I very much inhabit the modern lifestyle in many ways, I have never lost my yearnings for simplicity, quiet, and the simple comforts of home and the work of my hands.  My sons and I dream of having our farm again, and of the peace and solitude of country life.

So, intrepid reader, whoever you may be, here we go.  

Mrs. Miniver, Gluten Free Hot Cross Buns, and The New Normal

Gluten Free Hot Cross Buns (adaptable for plain dinner rolls)

Recipe Below

It's been such a long time since I've posted, being immersed for so long, like so many others in the busyness of daily life, full-time courses, children, husband, pets. 

I had strangely high hopes for this new year, and perhaps, as insane as it sounds, I wasn't that far off, but the goodness didn't quite come in the packages I expected. 

It was a strange feeling to have especially since the year started off quite badly, with losing my beloved companion and friend, my elder Pomeranian, Martha, on January 6.  I had to make what was hands down the hardest and most difficult decision of my life in letting her go.  I still miss her everyday and have moments where I get teared up by her absence.  This all coming from someone who has buried every single member of my immediate family by the time I was 38 (excluding my children.)  I'm also a hospice volunteer, so death and I were already old friends.  I thought certainly, especially since she had been suffering since I'd adopted her six years ago with a collapsed trachea that we had managed with medication, that in expecting the time to come eventually, it would some how be less painful. 

It wasn't.  

Her ashes sit in an urn behind the sofa, the sofa where she slept every night and where she and I enjoyed our quiet time together sans husband, children or our other dog Lucy every morning while I had my coffee.

To say her loss devastated me is an understatement. 

But I soldiered on.

In February, after my other dog exhibited signs of depression and loneliness we adopted another little dog who is simply wonderful.  But she is not and never can be, my beloved Martha. 

So even with that dark start, I still never saw the current conditions of the pandemic we are under coming.  Yet here we are. 

We count ourselves some of the lucky ones.  Having been a home schooling family for 12 years, when my older son got sent home, there was a feeling of familiarity and my younger son is still home schooled.  Because we are gluten free, and I was raised by poor people who survived the depression, I already shop ahead, and always stock up a little, just in case one of us got sick or the unexpected happens. I also am very blessed in having the knowledge of how to turn not much of anything into something to put on the table.  

Still, my children have feelings of uneasiness and we all seem to be holding our breath a little while fighting for a sense of normal as much as we are able. 

After many years of not making them, today I made hot cross buns for Good Friday.  The recipe came out quite perfectly and I can only call it divine intervention because usually gluten free recipes are tremendously unpredictable.  I've included it below. 

Every day, we count our blessings, reminding ourselves of how comparatively easy and 'first world' most of our current problems are.  We are not at war, infrastructure and staples are not in short supply, although we might have to be more patient and frugal.  We have a place to sleep at night.  We are blessed that we will survive on the income we currently have and so far, by the grace of God, we have our health.

If you're looking for something to remind you to count your blessings, I can't recommend Mrs. Miniver highly enough.  A 1942 view of life overseas during WWII.  She is the picture of keeping calm and carrying on.

In the words of W.H. Auden "Stagger onward, rejoicing."

Ingredients for gluten free hot cross buns (for plain dinner rolls omit spices, raisins).

• 2 cups of unbleached flour (Better Batter Gluten Free)
• ½ cup ground oats (whole, not quick) I grind my own in a processor as needed.
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1 packet of yeast (3 tsp) (I used Saf brand)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp extra xantham gum
• 1 cup of milk warmed to 110°F (whole)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) of melted unsalted or salted butter
• 1 egg
• 1 cup of currants (or ½ cup raisins chopped)
• 1 teaspoon of salt (1/2 tsp of salt if using salted butter)
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
• Dash allspice
• Dash mace

Mix dough together adding ¼ cup loosely packed additional flour.   Scrape down the bowl and let it rest 15 minutes.  Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Divide dough into portions forming into balls adding flour as necessary for handling. 

Form into 8 to 12 balls.  Place into buttered pan lightly touching. I used a dark spring form pan.

Let rise 40 to 45 minutes covered in plastic wrap in a warm area.  Bake 350 for 15 to 20 minutes, turn down heat to 325 and bake an additional 15 minutes or until knife comes out clean.  Remove from pan and let cool 15 minutes and apply icing.

Ingredients for Icing

• 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons milk

The Garden in October

There is a hush going over the yard and garden.  Plant and insect life are quieting down while the animal life is scurrying about like the white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland.  I got one, rare day in the garden undisturbed today.  I began at 6:30 a.m., as soon as it was light enough to see outdoors.  It was 38 degrees and it couldn't have felt any better, to be out in the smell and feel of wet, cold, earthy nature, without thought or sound, and only with what was in front of me.  The sun had yet to rise enough to lighten the backyard.  It was bliss.  With full-time classes, home schooling and a home and family, these hours are the golden hours that I cherish. 

I'm very much in love with the unique toad lily

and her orchid like appearance, without the orchid like temperament. 

Sunny Calendula

A blue beauty whose name I've lost

And another flower whose name is buried in past records but whose fiery orange fall show is much appreciated.

Never one to disappoint, the foxgloves have reseeded astoundingly well this year.  Because it is a bi-annual, letting it seed is absolutely necessary to seeing it again.

And my favorite, alien looking flower, Monkshood.  This is pre-flowering.  Soon there will be an impressive purple show. 

Lastly, rosa rugosa rose hips.  They were on the list to dry but went rather quickly before I could get to the them.  I did manage to get some horehound in for cough syrup however. 

Hope ~ Mother Nature Prevails

However strong one's need for tidiness in the garden, nothing should outweigh the importance of supporting your local ecosystems.  Due to pesticide use and loss of its critical and only food source, the milkweed plant, the monarch butterfly has been experiencing shocking declines in the last decades.  Where once millions made their annual migration to Mexico, those numbers have reduced enough to cause scientists some alarm.  So every year, any milkweed plants that sprout in my yard or garden stay exactly where they are, and they are left to go to seed each fall. 

Every year since my boys were toddlers (they are now 13 and 16) we have sought out and hoped to find one monarch caterpillar which we bring in, supply with daily fresh milkweed leaves, and then watch the most magical and wonder-filled transformation from striped caterpillar to a chrysalis that rivals the crown jewels, and then the grand finale, a beautiful butterfly.  

The transformation really is amazing and we happily and joyfully release the butterfly the day he or she emerges and wings are dry. 

This year, we found not one, but four and one came inside quite by accident!  He was so tiny I didn't see him.  I also found one empty chrysalis which means one happy butterfly is already on his or her way to start the cycle anew. 

The increased numbers this year give me hope.  

I'll never forget the first time as a child I found one of these chrysalis creations.

Chrysalis Photo Credit: Joyful Butterfly 

To say I was awestruck is an understatement.  I had never seen anything quite so beautiful.  As an adult it creates just as much of a sense of wonder in me today as it did then, and only cements my belief in the magic of God's creation.  After all, the gold specs are hardly necessary and not part of the butterfly's finished form.  It seems to me pure delight and whimsy on the part of our creator. 

We have four assorted size caterpillars this year and I couldn't be happier.  A fitting way to end a busy summer and welcome the oncoming autumn.

Early Summer Blooms

The showiest among them have peaked already, and as the solstice clock now begins winding downward toward darker days, I can't believe we're already half-way through the year.  Gone are the peonies, irises, daffodils, tulips, lily-of-the-valley, the hyacinths and the early roses.  There are things to be pruned back, and a few remaining new plants to go in, where I've focused on native plants and hopefully, hardy perennials that in the future won't require too much attention from me. 

An apothecary rose, the last to bloom and the slowest to grow.  Its rosa rugosa mates are more than triple its size.

Foxglove

Clematis

Lupine

Clematis

Clematis

Spiky sea holly (ouch!)

Yarrow

The Illusion of the Simple Life

Although not truly 'vintage,' (although some might disagree, 1978 was awhile ago,) this is one of my all time favorite articles from Family Life Magazine, an Amish and Mennonite publication by Pathway Publishers that I used to subscribe to.  This was reprinted in the January of 2013 issue. 

While living on and working a small family farm with an Amish made wood stove, a fireplace insert, more than a dozen sheep, half a dozen goats, geese, ducks and chickens, home schooling, gardening, knitting, sewing and gluten free baking, I could relate. 

I still think of this article with every, single change of season and it always warms my heart. 

Always especially timely about now as Summer begins, because things are just growing enough to become over bearing, and time consuming, and there are moments when I wonder why I didn't just settle for astro turf throughout the yard instead of an endless array of plants, herbs, fruit trees, nut and berry plants, rose bushes, clematis, and a host of other growing things.

How to Do it All and Not Lose Your Sanity

Step number one:  Realize you cannot possibly do it all. 

The lack of a post since January can give you an idea of the grueling semester I underwent this past Spring, and just finished yesterday.  Despite some classes being on-line, I have news for those who think on-line classes are easier.  They are not.  At least not if you're doing the work.  They usually have far more reading and writing requirements, discussion posts in which you must be active and papers to write.  I also had my last in-person class for the next three semesters and it was my second semester of my four credit Anatomy and Physiology class that met every Saturday.  Every Saturday since last September, bright and early at 8 a.m. I've been in class.  It was unusually challenging for me as I had no Biology or Chemistry background.  But I passed the final semester with an 86.  Lest you think me an outlier, out of 16 original students in September, only two of us finished the class this spring.  Out of about 8 students starting this Spring, only one finished, and he was taking it a second time, so there you go.

I also had an introductory statistics class that was rather challenging, and a psychology class.  I have a brief, ecstatic two weeks off before my summer classes begin and then only three remaining semesters until completing my Bachelor's. 

In the meantime, I have been itching like crazy to get out in the garden, to do a monumental spring cleaning (which is normally done in March), and settle into a somewhat normal routine.  At least for a little while.  In the next two weeks I should have some garden pictures to share and some more appropriately themed posts related to the original intent of this blog. 

However, here is a little cross-over post I shared on my Facebook page, that pretty sums up my concerns for the upcoming summer:

"So, I once read somewhere on the Interweb that in order to make dry and unexciting reading material more interesting, simply add 'Harry Potter and ...' at the beginning of your texts. So, for your enjoyment, my summer reading list:

Harry Potter and the Principles of Sociological Inquiry, Harry Potter and Research Methods in Psychology and last but not least, the cliff-hanger ending of the trilogy: Harry Potter and Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research and Everyday Experience.

I will then continue the series with my own ad hoc novels: Harry Potter and My Overgrown Garden, Harry Potter and The Sentient Dust Bunnies, and last but not least Harry Potter and Dumbledore Tackle the Filing Pile Cyclops. Gonna be a great summer, jam packed with unexpected thrills and excitement. "

January Brings the Snow ...

For the first time in quite awhile, I've had a bit of a break and some time to get a few to-do items off my list.  Things I had been putting off for months, nay, even years. Not important things mind you, but creative indulgences.

Being back in school full-time again on January 20th gave me a new and revived appreciation for "down time," at least as much down time as an adult parent gets. So I did and am doing some things for me, and started checking off some long awaited unfinished projects, and put a small project of a favorite cowl on the knitting needles.

Next, was getting the heddles cleaned and re-arranged (many were twisted) on a new-to-me loom I bought two years ago and getting a dry run warp on it.  It gave me a chance to see what was missing, what needed purchasing or replacing and how it all went together.  It was my first time dressing a loom unsupervised.  It was quite a few years ago that I took classes at my local weaver's guild, so thank goodness for Interweave Press, a big holiday sale, and Tom Knisely's videos. 

For experienced weavers looking at this, please, do not panic.  It is awaiting installation of a second steel rod on the apron bar and cording to allow for closer tying off of the threads.  Not to worry.  Also this warp was made primarily of what was on hand just to get a feel for things, and for my funding to increase enough to order some nice Harrisville worsted weight yarns. 

Next I am working on finally getting the replacement heads for my great wheel (that I ordered also about two years ago or so but that arrived unfinished) waxed and ready to go.  The great wheel itself needs its annual cleaning and protective waxing.  I still haven't taught myself to spin on it yet, but I had wanted one for YEARS, and was finally able to find an affordable and solid one at a local antiques store a couple of years ago but it needed some pieces.  The body however, and the great wheel itself, was pristine. I also decided to entertain myself watching Norm Kennedy again, who is just so darned entertaining, as well as being a wonderful instructor.

Lastly, I have my eldest son turning 16 today and one of my finches decided to take ill with a swollen foot which I've diagnosed as a genetic gout. She is feeling much better and the swelling has greatly reduced since I pulled her out yesterday and she is using her foot again.  So I'm thinking by tomorrow she may be ready to re-join her friends. In the meantime she gets her own private room, bath and meals served on the antique dolls china. For those interested, I treated her mostly with homeopathic medicines and an excellent propolis salve.  She instinctively soaked in the water and was much improved only a few hours later. Mother nature is a wonder.

(*Update*, after close examination under the magnifying task light, which I'm sure she did not enjoy, I found she had gotten some threads from the cage cover tangled around her foot. I promptly removed the cage cover (it was a three sided piece of fabric that helps keep seed scatter down (which is terrible for finches and they seem to poop sideways!) and replaced it with one that could not shed.  Using my husband as a surgical assistant I was able to remove the threads from her foot and she healed just fine, but she did lose one toe, on it's own, quite naturally, as the circulation must have been cut off too long.  She is now completely back to normal and with her three mates.) 

I was wise enough to get all the holiday decorations down and the house thoroughly cleaned before the first of the year.  After this birthday, my holiday baking is complete until Valentines Day.  My full-time class load resumes officially the 23rd but my on-line classes open the 20th allowing me to formulate my plan of attack which is a good thing before my Saturday in-person class starts again. 

I am saving my big project for summer break from classes, a new doll's house built from a kit, The Vermont Farmhouse Jr., with an addition.  Currently the dolls reside in a painted Melissa and Doug house.  I've had the kit now for almost a decade.  Time to make time.  If you look at the picture of the spinning wheels above, to your left you see a  reproduction settle back chair.  One of my prized possessions.  I ordered it from Seth Tudor (Tasha Tudor's son) more than a few moons ago, and it is signed.  This past November, I wrote him and asked if he would indulge me and make a 1/12th scale version for the doll's house as an upcoming 50th birthday present to myself.  He was kind and gracious enough to produce an exact replica (also signed) and I couldn't have been more delighted.  So far the New Year isn't starting off too bad.

The Mystery of Lebkuchen, Black Walnuts and a Merry Christmas

"No one is useless who lightens the burden of another." ~ Charles Dickens

This year was the first year in some time that I tried some new recipes.  Last year I barely had the energy to muster up enough Christmas spirit to muddle through the holiday.  This year I juggled remaining coursework for my classes, but still managed to get some baking in.

In honor of uncovering my very German heritage this past year through the discovery of my previously unknown paternal family history, (mind you I already had a healthy dose of German in my maternal grandmother) I was inspired to try a Lebkuchen round.  It also appealed to my recipe (or receipt depending on how far you go back) research on historical food ways. Yes, I have been known to read cookbooks and household books of antiquity for fun and entertainment. 

As with most heritage recipes, its history is an interesting shade of gray.  Some say it translates literally as "life cake," others "loaf cake." I was also intrigued by their lineage, going back perhaps to the 1200's or longer, making their way like many rarities through the hands of monks and then becoming a holiday staple.  Rich in spices and then later nuts and candied fruits and glazed they became a specialty. 

Virginia Pasley's The Christmas Cookie Book listed no less than three versions. I chose the more common "round" as opposed to the cakes. 

I was most intrigued by the amount of honey.  I was certain it was once considered a digestive and probably a health cookie.  The interesting thing was its longevity, supposedly getting better with age. 

My first impression of the dough was that there was no human way to roll it out, much less cut it into rounds.  It was a goopy, sticky mess.  But after sitting a day in the refrigerator, it went much more smoothly than I imagined.  (I am also struggling with the need to be gluten free, so I can never be sure how regular recipes will transfer.)

I was also blessed to have some real candied angelica on hand to add, along with some slivered almonds.

Because it was my first time making them, I opted not to include a glaze figuring that with a cup of honey per batch as well as brown sugar, the sweetness would be plenty. 

I somehow managed a successful batch and the first bite both intrigued and surprised me.  It was chewy.  Very.  But not dry, although it seemed it should be, and the more you chewed it the more the honey seemed to appear.  It was indeed good, and definitely a cookie for the "older set." Missing the sprinkles, frosting and chocolate and having a high spice content, I can't see many children loving this cookie.  But it is truly the ideal tea or coffee cookie, or breakfast, if the case may be.  In the cookie box, they are unassuming and plain, unless you opt for the glaze.  I was glad that I didn't. 

My other culinary experience this year was with the black walnut.  My first time.  Having a black walnut tree in back of my house and thinking someday I might go through the laborious task of harvesting some, I bought a bag from a reputable national purveyor.  As a matter of fact the store selling them was almost out.  I was excited and filled with the expectation of some kind of mysterious nut-filled experience.  I rushed home, opened the bag and was filled with ...

disappointment, horror and even disgust. 

They smelled like nail polish, and left a horribly bitter after taste.  THIS is a black walnut????!!! I thought.  So I hopped on-line, hoping I had simply gotten a bad bag and indeed they were described as having the scent and odor of everything from bleu cheese to mustiness and being an 'acquired' taste.  I couldn't have been more saddened given my love of English walnuts in brownies and cookies and fudge. 

I can't imagine what the cooks of yore were thinking when they put in cups of the stuff into recipes while most modern black walnut lovers suggested a "sprinkling."  Yuck.  So much for that! 

I also made a favorite fruitcake recipe in the antique gem pan (a real fruit cake, with real organic dried fruit, no neon colored fruit remnants here) chocolate gingerbread, Italian chocolate, cut-outs, hot cha cha's, peanut blossoms, and almond joy cookies. I'm still not exactly sure how I got it all done in about 3 days, but I did.

And it was just in time for a pre-Christmas celebration with my oldest daughter who couldn't make it Christmas eve this year (in which we broke out the Rumptof, which goes surprisingly well with ginger ale) and then a quiet but lovely Christmas eve and day at home with the remaining children and my husband.  We watched a wonderful movie about the writing of A Christmas Carol called 'The Man Who Invented Christmas,' and watched our favorite performance of the book with Patrick Stewart on Christmas Day.  I may myself read through the original this evening, because it is truly literary perfection. 

And with that in mind, may your holiday season bring you joy, and your new year gladness, and may God bless us, every one.

Mrs. Hey's Hot Cocoa and Hoosier Headwork

Mrs. Dan Hey ~ From the Farmer's Wife Magazine ~ October 1938

One of my favorite all time articles from my vintage collection is that about Mrs. Dan Hey and her 'hoosier headwork' in planning school day meals. 

It is filled with wonderful tid-bits of the time. She came to St. Paul as a Country Kitchen guest, recommended by the extension folks at Purdue University as a rural homemaker who did a good job of planning meals and solving school lunch problems.  She was also the President of the Indian Home Economics Association. 

She put up 400 quarts of meats, fruits and vegetables the prior year, as well as home cured hams and bacon. The family doctor says the Heys do not give him a chance for living -- they are all so healthy. The Heys had three children, ages 18, 14 and 7.  This particular article was about Mrs. Hey's planning of the school day meals. 

According to Mrs. Hey, any plan for meeting the food needs of school children must take into account the whole day's meals. A glimpse into her own kitchen would show that the day's food preparation proceeds according to a well-planned  pattern.   Breakfast is not a heavy one, but quite satisfying for their needs.  There is fruit, orange juice, or tomato juice, apple sauce, canned pears or stewed dried fruit.  There is sometimes a cereal - a prepared cereal in the warmer weather perhaps with berries or sliced bananas, and hot oatmeal or a wheat cereal in the colder weather.  Instead of cereal there may be eggs or bacon and eggs.  Then there are rolls or toast, and always hot cocoa for the children and coffee for the grown ups. 

Since the children are away at noon the parents eat more of a luncheon than a dinner.  Then comes the extra meal in the late afternoon, for the minute the children are inside the door after school, it's eating time again.  They are always hungry then and again at supper time.  Supper then is the hearty meal of the day.  It is depended up on the supplement a moderately hearty breakfast, a fairly light lunch and a "piece," so it includes meat, two or three vegetables, one a green leafy one and a light dessert.  On Dad's night out -- Kiwanis Club -- the children could have their special favorites, which usually meant macaroni and cheese for one thing and on Friday nights, some of the children's friends might be brought home, and supper often boasted friend chicken.  The meals are easy to plan for their cupboards are always well stocked. 

Let's not forget Mrs. Hey's school lunch ideas:

I keep on hand a quart or so of homemade salad dressing in order to be able to mix up into sandwich filling any materials I may have at hand:

Minced ham and pickle

Hard cooked eggs and mango

Baked beans, even cold navy beans moistened with mustard or catsup

Left over meats or any kind ground with mango, pickles, pimento or onion

Carrots and raisins

Cream cheese and pimento

For vegetables I often send our favorite, tomato, but a whole tomato is rather soft and warm and quite unappetizing after a morning in the lunch box.  I peel one, cut it into pieces and place it in a small glass jar; then salt it and on top place a nasturtium leaf on which is a small dab of mayonnaise. When the child is ready to eat, he puts the dressing directly on the tomato, and the serving is much more attractive. 

The glass jar may also carry puddings, baked beans, custards, the dabs of pie fillings that are sometimes left over, fruit salad, slaw, stewed fruit, cottage cheese or anything that has been served on the family table that is good eaten cold. 

In the thermos bottle I have sent besides the customary cocoa and soups such things as creamed meats, creamed vegetables, spaghetti and tomatoes, fruit juices and jello.  

When baking a cake some of the batter may be dropped into muffin pans or paper cups to make just a few cup cakes to help in packing a school lunch.  

In years gone by I could not have sent school lunches, I sometimes think, had it not been for graham crackers and marshmallows.  I always kept these in the house and they served in emergencies many times. If you have too much cake icing use the surplus on a few graham crackers.  They will help you out after the cake is gone and you've forgotten to replenish the cookie supply.   Place some marshmallows on crackers and place in the oven.  When marshmallows just begin to melt, put another cracker on top and press down.  Toast slightly.  These marshmallow sandwiches stay crisp and help to give children their needed cereals. 

And now, for Mrs. Hey's unusual hot cocoa recipe:

Mrs. Hey's Cocoa

1 c. cocoa

1 c. sugar 

1/4 c. corn starch

salt

Mix and combine with water to make a paste.  Cook in top of double boiler 1 hour or longer.  Cool and store.  Add as needed to scalded milk and beat until frothy. (I have made this.  Do keep it on low and keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't burn.  She doesn't give a water amount but I would start with 1/4 cup and add as needed.  Store in the refrigerator as ours did once mold on the counter top even though there was no milk or dairy in the mixture.  I'm guessing someone double dipped a spoon, but to be safe store in the fridge.)

We Imagine That Time has Passed...

But has it?

The other day my son and I watched The Great Dictator starring Charlie Chaplin.  The year was 1940.  It would be more than a year before the United States would officially join World War II.  The world was reeling from Hitler's rise to power. At home in the United States, it would be another 28 years before Jim Crow laws were legally removed from the books.  We would then go on to enter two more wars, Korea and then Vietnam.  

Some 78 years later we still find ourselves struggling and resisting ideals and beliefs of separateness and hatred, of dissent and violence, and his speech is just as relevant, just as persuasive and just as painful as it was in 1940, when a man in power was calling for the encampment and extermination of a people who were different in religion, in heritage, in culture, and that of people who dissented, opposed or disagreed, and desired a pure, white, fresh faced nation.

It wasn't until 1920 that women received the right to vote and we fought hard for that right.  I hope that we as women will use our voting power to vote for good and righteousness.  After all, it was not so long ago that we were marginalized and unable to make our voices heard.  When we vote to remove rights away from one, we move towards removing rights for all. Let us learn and know our own histories and strive not to repeat them. 

On Tuesday November 6, here in the United States we have the opportunity to vote. 

I will be voting and I hope you will too. 

The Poetry of Life

"I'd rather be knitting." ~ Me

"The poetry of life always has a practical side to it, and most practical affairs rightly worked out are full of poetry."

(Lippincott's Home Manuals ~Housewifery by L Ray Balderston, A.M. ~ 1919)

In the midst of wearing more hats than the cap salesman  in Esphyr-Slobodkina's 'Caps for Sale,' (which was one of my older son's most favorite books when he was little) and feeling more like the monkey than the cap salesman, I took a few minutes to take a break and post on more pleasant and comforting mundane things.

In case you haven't noticed, America seems to be in awful state right now, so I'm not complaining for the gift of being rather busy.  Very busy in fact and very glad to be so.

The school year usually means a return to 'the busy,' but this year is particularly so, as I myself am also back to a full class load, partially on-line and in person, including a full-day Saturday Anatomy and Physiology class. So, my days go somewhat like this:

Monday through Saturday, alarm goes off at 4:30 a.m, and I am up by my second alarm at 4:45.  Monday through Friday, I get up and prepare husband's breakfast and oldest son's.  I also prepare their lunches.  I get them off to work and school, and most days both are gone by 6:30.  My husband's schedule varies.  Saturdays I get up and prepare breakfast for everyone to leave out for when they get up, eat, get myself together and leave for class at 7:00 a.m, waking my husband up when I go.

Sundays, I allow myself the luxury of sleeping in until 6 a.m. I prepare everyone's breakfast, try to slow down a little and plan my day.

Monday, my younger son who I home school, is normally at his father's house doing his schoolwork there.  That is my day to run errands, make appointments, get groceries or work on my own home work.  I get my older son off the bus every day around 2:30 or so.  and on Monday's he goes to his father's that night for dinner.   I still have my husband's dinner to prepare. Monday is also my baking and meal prep day if I'm going to make anything ahead.  I've hopefully planned our menu the afternoon before on Sunday.

Tuesday through Friday I normally have both children staying with me.  The youngest gets up around 8, has his breakfast (which I normally make, but he sometimes prefers to grab his own,) and does his morning routine and begins his schoolwork which is in a planner prepared each week by me on Sunday afternoons. He is fairly independent in most cases, and about half the things we go over together. He also takes some classes on-line.

I have the house cleaning and laundry broken out to a few items a day so I'm not overwhelmed. If I stick to this I'm in relatively good shape.  The dogs and birds get daily care.

Assuming there are no pressing mid-week appointments, I start the day with the making of the beds (my younger son makes his own), start any laundry if it's a laundry day, tidy the upstairs and baths, and then check the calendar, take anything from the freezer or prep for dinner if needed, have my own breakfast if I haven't already, and get to work.

I work most of the day on my own course work and household things that need to be done.  Because I'm up so early, I strive for at least a 20 minute nap in the early afternoon.  That doesn't always happen.  I try to shower either just before bed, or first thing in the morning after my husband and older son have left and my little one wakes up.   Then the afternoon is bus duty, more school work of my own and then dinner preparation and clean up.  My husband and sons do help where they can.

Bills, appointments, extra-curricular activities are all in the digital and paper calendars.  I have a third weekly calendar where I note what assignments I have due.

By Friday, my sons are either with me or their father every other weekend.  During the school semester, most of the weekend will be spent on coursework for me. When I have the boys, I try to keep that to early mornings and later evenings and make sure we have some fun time together.  I am of course in class on Saturdays from 8-2 from now through the Spring semester.

On Sundays, my boys are normally with their father and I try to visit a hospice patient if I have one.  I also do my weekly calendar, meal planning and my son's lesson plans for the week (which I've already prepared ahead of time during the summer months.)

Somewhere in there I try to rest.

I don't know that I've quite reached the level of poetry, but I have at least established a mostly reliable routine. My sons and husband do their share, and my youngest is learning to help with the cooking where he can.  (A blessing for his future wife.)

In between I squeeze in a bit of gardening, and was able to put up some elder flower and elderberry and wild black raspberry goodies this year, the Rumptof of course and hope to dry a batch of hops for tea, and I also to keep up with the inevitable little touches that make a house a home.

I have learned the hard way to let nothing wait until tomorrow if I can help it.  I planned for Halloween mid-September.  The decorations (although few in number and mostly vintage style black cats) were out almost a month ago.  Why? Practicality.  We cleaned out the garage at the end of August, and there was no good practical sense in taking things out and putting them back again only to take them out again three weeks later.

If it's dirty and I have a minute, I clean it.  If I find myself idle (say waiting for something to cook,) I put something away, or take a few minutes to read an assignment.  Somewhere in there, I also try to maintain contact with my older daughters, by at least texting or phoning weekly.  Sundays are usually the day my husband and I can enjoy a movie at home together if I don't have too much course work.

I promised myself on the decision of returning to school that I would not let my children's childhood suffer in any way if possible.  Yes there has been some belt tightening on mother's free time, but the baking of homemade goodies, the little reminders of holidays (even though they are much older now at nearly 12 and 15) and my youngest son's flights of fancy on random small projects, I do my best to indulge. Even if it's just for popcorn and a movie on the couch.  After raising two children to adulthood, the fact that the time flies and childhood is over faster than the two shakes of a lamb's tail is not lost on me.The time is so brief, yet its effects are so eternal on the minds of children, so I strive to keep in the forefront of my mind what my sons will think back on when they remember these days.   There is nothing wrong with demonstrating a good work ethic to your children by any means, but it also must be that joy and magic remain to feed the soul.

In all of this, I am looking forward to the winter break, the quiet, and some hand work.  And maybe, just maybe, a little rest.