Depression Style Cooking And Other Things

You can learn a lot by reading old magazines. The problems we are confronted with nowadays seem new, but in reality, every generation had to deal with them, more or less. Nowadays people complain about the rising costs of life, forgetting that we still live in the times of plenty compared to our ancestors. I'm always reminded about it while scanning through old ladies'magazines from the end of the 1930s.

They have a lot of useful advice on housekeeping, crafts and cooking, and weekly menues in two variants, for those with more or less money. I used some of them as a source of inspiration while planning my own meals. The difference with modern recipes is that ingredients were simple and inexpensive, while the cooking process was often complicated. Nowadays it's vice versa, the recipes usually require fancy ingredients, while cooking methods are very simple.

For instance, in Libelle n.13 which came out on the 29th of March 1940, there is an article about potatoes which discusses several possibilities of preparing them: potatoes stewed with bacon and onions, potato balls in tomato sauce, potato patties with cheese etc. Another article suggests housewives try several ways of making and serving an omelette.

I have a Granny who was like this, she seldom used cooking books but could make several dishes from mashed potatoes or cabbage. Here, for instance is a great way to serve cabbage differently: cabbage burgers. It's my own recipe, which was inspired by my Granny who just turned 90, by the way:

Chop the cabbage very finely (actually I think you are supposed to rasp it, but chopping is OK, too), mix it with an egg/eggs, add salt and herbs to taste and enough flour to make a sort of sticky dough, roll in more flour to form small patties and bake on both sides until ready.

Old ladies'magazines published much more than just recipes, as they contained short stories, romantic novels and information on history and life in different countries. Libelle n. 17 from the same year, for instance, had an article about Dutch princess Wilhelmina and her daughter, who lived in the end of the 18th century.

Wilhelmina:

Though she was of the royal blood, Wilhelmina encountered all the problems modern mothers have. She lived in the times of the nearly complete lack of morals by everyone in society, while trying to raise her children well. Her daughter Louisa had to marry a German prince and her mother wrote several letters to her giving her advice about her future life as a married woman.

It's noteworthy, that according to Wilhelmina the happiness in marriage was the result of fulfilling your wifely duties, not of the romantic feelings. She also advised her daughter to flee temptation and not consider herself stronger than others as everybody can fall into sin if he doesn't take care.

Both hers and her daughter's family had constant financial problems so that they had to scrimp and save, for instance, Wilhelmina sent her daughter expensive tea from Holland but recommended mixing it with a cheap brand.

After her daughter's marriage Wilhelmina's other children left, too, and she became an empty-nester, so while her husband was away on business she entertained herself with reading books, doing crafts and painting. When her eldest son was planning to marry, it was Wilhelmina's task to see to the renovation of his future residence according to the modern standards.

The article (written by Dr Mrs Klijnhout) doesn't say that Wilhelmina was engaged in state business or in political intrigues, she seemed to be quite content being the wife and mother and doing usual feminine stuff, first raising children, then marrying them off and engaging in hobbies and crafts, and trying to practise economy yet she seemed content though she lived in the times of social upheaval. I think she is a good example to the modern women.

More On Spring Fashions

Last year I took a solemn decision never to start sewing again, only to break it when I saw this magazine with latest spring fashions on sale:

I had problems with it in the past, but decided to give it another try, as I really liked some of their designs. Not trusting my own skill, I decided to begin with something very easy, like this skirt:

I thought it too long though and made the pattern shorter. I was planning to sew a summer skirt from light fabric, but got this one instead:

Luddite that I am, I did it all by hand and it turned out quite nice, imo. Next time I'll try something more complicated.

Personal

Just some recent pictures:

Lamborghini Aventador (not, it's not mine:)

Our renovated terrace (the table was built by my husband from two old ones):

Blijdorp (a zoo in Rotterdam):

Exploring a swamp:

Playing golf (OK, midget golf:)

I'm glad to report that I won the 2nd place in our private little tournament:)
Have a blessed Sunday!

Gaelic Psalms

These psalms, sung in unaccompanied Gaelic, are a part of European cultural heritage. They are also stunningly beautiful:

Vanilla Cheese Cake

I thought it was time for another recipe, so here it comes: Vanilla Cheese Cake.

It was inspired by this magazine:

 I  changed the basic recipe to make it more economical so I think it's OK to post it.
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You make the crust from crushed cookies+ melted butter.

Further, you will need 1kg of quark, 1 pkg vanilla sugar (8g), 1c brown sugar, 4 eggs and 4tbsp flour, which you mix together and pour over the crust.

I baked it according to the magazine's advice in the slow oven (+130*C) for 2 hours. Let it cool and serve with strawberry sauce (I used store-bought):

We just ate the last of it today. 

Homemakers Should Not Be Made Feeling Guilty For Enjoying Life At Home!

Housewives are often made to feel guilty by others for staying home and enjoying life. The people around will often begrudgingly acknowledge that there can be situations which demand that women stay home, for instance, taking care of small children or homeschooling, or (in the case of conservative Christians), if the husband insists on it, but in all those cases the underlying idea is that if the wife stays home she'd better  spend all her time cleaning or cooking or homeschooling, and if she's done all that, she should engage in some money-making activity, such as babysitting or a home business.

God forbid a lady at home would spend some time in creative pursuits such as drawing or learning to play the piano, and if she sits in the garden with a book while the children are taking a nap, she is looked upon as some sort of a criminal.

Homeschooling mothers will often have it easier because the society will assume they still have enough to do, but if your children go to school, you will get all sorts of nasty comments from the people around concerned with you "doing nothing" during their school hours. As for the ladies who are childless or whose children are grown, not even advanced years can save them from being pushed to find a job, especially now, when Western governments seriously discuss how to make their subjects work until 70 (in the case of Sweden, I heard till 75).

The same goes about spending money. It's true, with one income families money is often tight, but it's not always the case, and even if the woman doesn't marry into a wealthy family, she still can have enough money to spend due to the careful management of finances; but if she goes and buys something for herself once in a while such as a new dress or a glossy magazine, or hires a housekeeper to help her with her domestic duties, she will get all sorts of nasty reactions, accused of wasting her husband's money etc etc.

It never comes to the mind of her critics that she also contributes to the family finances by the wise money management and thus is entitled to some rewards. After all, many husbands don't think twice of spending money on various toys men are so fond of, why can't the wife buy something for herself now and then. (Of course, I'm not talking about the situations when the family encounters financial problems and the wife keeps spending money on useless stuff).

The critics don't understand that home is different from office and factory, where the employees must show at certain hours, perform their duties, then go home and forget all about it. The wife at home has flexible working hours, and the nature of her activities will change according to the season, the age of her children, her husband's job etc. No two households are the same, thus the life of one homemaker will be different from another.

One will be more engaged with her children, another will take care of aging parents or grandparents, yet another woman will accompany her husband on his business trips. The duties of a homemaker simply can't be compared to the standardized work of a post-industrial society.

With all the accent on "diversity" in the media, what our society really values, is uniformity, we have all to be the same, so that we will all be equal. The housewife is dangerous because she isn't subjected to the government regulations and her activities can't be measured and taxed. And, as some people put it, "she doesn't contribute to the country's GDP."

I also have to laugh about the remarks of those critics (chiefly men), who state that housework is much easier nowadays because we have the vacuumcleaner. Of course, those men are also not exactly ploughing the fields themselves, or working 16 hours a day in the coalmines, but the thought how much easier they have it nowadays, doesn't really cross their minds.

The Bible calls the woman "a weaker vessel". I know that feminists point out this verse as the proof of dscrimination, for me, however, it's really about protection. Women are more fragile than men and have to be protected from strenous work, if they are to perform their biological function of bearing and raising children. In the 19th century, various governments across Europe were worried about lower class women and girls working too hard which led to them not being able to perform their domestic and maternal functions, and took steps to protect femininity, such as 1842 Mine Act in UK. (You can read about it over here, scroll down to the year 1842).

The homemaker may not work 8 hours after each other non-stop, like her husband does, she can take a break during the time he is at work and her children are at school, but in the evening when the husband relaxes with a cup of coffee in front of the TV, and the children are in bed, she will wash the dishes and make lunch for the next day and plan her shopping. This is no less work, even though it's done outside of office hours.

As a homemaker, if you do your duty by taking care of your home, husband and children, you shouldn't feel guilty or ashamed for enjoying your free time by doing something you like. You are not a machine and you also need rest. Home shouldn't be a place to stress out about meeting deadlines, but rather a haven of comfort and peace, and if your husband is satisfied with the way you run things, you can safely tell your critics to get lost.
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My Easter Tree

That's how they were supposed to look:

That's how they turned out:

Close-ups:

Aren't they cute???
All in all, I'm quite content!

From The Home Front

I should probably be writing about spring cleaning right now, but the truth is that I haven't done any as of yet:) I've been feeling sick the whole week with something which looks like spring fever but could very well be flu and have difficulty with walking the stairs! (we have 3 staircases in our house:) I feel like a 60+ person.

The weather has been really strange this year. We had basically no winter and then we sprang right into summer, with the temperatures above +20*C, so that I had to take out my summer clothes, and then the temperature dropped back to +12*C.

I have nearly finished my craft project (bunnies and chickens for the Easter tree), I'll try to post the pictures tomorrow. Also, despite all my resolutions to never do it again, I bought not one but two sewing magazines and hope to start working at a new project next week. There was also a new issue of Delicious with Easter recipes in the supermarket today and I just couldn't walk past it without buying:)

It's amazing how expensive all these magazines are, considering that you can buy a dress for the same amount of money at a Goodwill store, and it will be a brand and in a good condition. My friend and I have been patronising it lately and found some nice clothes there recently, as good as new:)

Our cat Frodo has been injured pretty badly in a fight, and got an abscess in his ear. I tried to treat it with betadine, but rather unsuccessfully so we had  to take him to the vet in the end, who right away started to try to persuade me to neuter Frodo, which I refused to do. It only cost me 66 euros this time, which is a huge amount of money, of course, but I had expected to pay at least twice as much!

Well, thank Heaven for antibiotics, the cat got better and even managed to fight again and to come back with the scratches in that very ear, but luckily they healed. The ear looks pretty mangled though, and the fur which they had shaved at the vet's still hasn't grown back fully, so he looks rather ridiculous, but doesn't seem to care and spends most of his time outside.

My Granny turned 90 two days ago, we gave her a photo album as the birthday present and she was very happy with it. I got my birthday present beforehand, being more of a "diamonds are the girl's best friends" type of person, I always asked for gold and jewels, but this year I wanted to have an e-reader. My husband promptly downloaded 50.000 free books from Project Gutenberg which I don't know what to do about now.

That's about all for today, I really hope I'll feel better tomorrow and write about something more sophisticated, or post some nice pictures of our terrace which we renovated this year. Greetings from the not-so-sunny at the moment Netherlands!

For God And Fatherland...

If you are prudish, I suggest you don't watch the video. Otherwise, it's quite funny:



It's practically the first time that mainstream culture seems to acknowledge the fact that the main purpose of sexual encounter is procreation and encourages reproduction instead of hedonism. Europe could do with more indigenous folks, so wherever you are, do it for you country!:)