Friday, April 30, 2010

Quote of the Day


There are some things beyond the gift of gold,
A richer treasure's needed now and then;
Some joys life needs which are not bought and sold—
The high occasion often calls for men.
Some for release from service give their pelf,
But he gives most who freely gives himself. ~ Edgar Guest

(April 18-24 was National Volunteer Week).

Thursday, April 29, 2010

The Online Bookshelf - Susannah and Sue


Preachy, but with nice illustrations by N.C. Wyeth and Alice Barber Stephens, from Project Gutenberg.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Male Bonding


I happened to be standing in the kitchen the other night, holding a morsel of cheese, when lo and behold Funnyface appeared, waving his plumy tail and smiling ingratiatingly at me. At least, I think it was a smile; at any rate, all of his teeth were showing.

Determined to make him earn his nibble, I commanded him to sit in my sternest voice (if I have learned anything about German Shepherds, it's that one does not ask them to do anything. One tells them, preferably in tones that would stop a combat infantry patrol in its tracks).

Nothing happened.

“Sit!” quoth I, again.

Still nothing. “SIT!”

At this point in the proceedings, the spousal unit wandered in, looked at the dog and snapped his fingers. Once. Funnyface immediately sat down.

Me: Do you know how irritating that is?

He: Yep.

Patterns of the Past - Vogue 6041


From Vogue patterns, and undated, although it's obviously the second half of the 1940's -- post-war but pre-Dior.

I'd love to see what the hat on the lady in black looks like from the side.

Knitting-A "Jumbo-Knit" Cardigan from 1954

Bernat cardigan from 1954

From Bernat Handicrafter; Jumbo Knits for the Family, dated 1954. I love how she has accessorized this; sporty gloves, large bag, and a bracelet that can double as a knuckleduster should she find herself in the wrong part of town. Instructions and a larger image on my Flickr account.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Faux Food Encore


Fish Cutlets

2 c. cooked or canned fish
1 c. thick cream sauce
1 t. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 t. paprika
2 t. lemon juice
1 T. chopped parsley
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 T. water
fine dry crumbs

"Remove bones and skin from fish and flake. Mix cream sauce with seasonings and blend with fish. Chill 1 hour. Form into cutlets. Dip in slightly beaten egg diluted with water, roll in crumbs, and fry in deep hot fat (375° F) 3 to 5 minutes, until golden brown. Drain on soft paper. A small piece of uncooked macaroni may be inserted in the end of each cutlet before frying*."

(*To make it look like a real cutlet, dontcherknow. From The Super Market Cookbook, published 1955).

Saturday, April 24, 2010

More Knitting Humor



Viewed in several places on the Internet but swiped from Agnes' blog.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Quote of the Day

Always acknowledge a fault. This will throw those in authority off their guard and give you an opportunity to commit more. ~ Mark Twain.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

The Online Bookshelf - John and Betty's History Visit


With black and white photographs of Edwardian England; from Project Gutenberg.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

My Desk


For one brief, shining moment, about a week ago, I actually could see the top of it.

Patterns of the Past - Handbags to Needlepoint


From McCall's Needlework and Crafts, Spring-Summer 1958. Interesting color schemes.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Money Laundering


The moral of the story is; always check the bottom of the old dryer before you hook up the new one.

Knitting - A Suit Blouse from 1948


From Modern Knitting, 1948. The blouse is knitted vertically and uses yarn overs to create the picots down the front. Instructions on my Flickr account.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Sunday, April 18, 2010

La Patronne Ne Mange Pas Ici

From Dressed Game and Poultry, by Mrs. Harriet deSalis, 1888.

Blackbird Pie. Stuff the birds with the crumb of a French roll soaked in a little milk, which put in a stewpan with 1-1/2 ounces of butter, a chopped shalot, some parsley, pepper, salt, a grate of nutmeg, and the yolks of two small eggs. Stir over the fire till it becomes a thick paste, and fill the insides of the birds with it. Line the bottom of the pie-dish with fried collops of rump steak, and place the birds on them neatly. Add four hard-boiled yolks of eggs, and pour gravy all over, cover with puff paste, and bake for one hour and a quarter.

Hare Cutlets A La Chef. Take a freshly-killed hare, save the blood, paunch and skin it. Roast it, then cut off the fillets and cut them aslant and flatten them. Put the bones of the hare into a saucepan with two onions sliced, one good-sized carrot, a tiny piece of garlic, two cloves, and a bouquet garni, and one bayleaf. Moisten with a glass of white wine, and let all this steep and stew for an hour; then pass through a sieve, add a quarter of a boiled Spanish onion, and thicken with the blood of the hare. Make some hare stuffing, and moisten with some of the sauce, and make it into cutlets. To form cutlets similar to the fillet cutlets, place them in a frying-pan, and let them poach in water. Place the hare fillets and the stuffing cutlets in the pan and fry to a good colour in clarified butter. Put a small[Pg 24] piece of the small bones of the hare in every cutlet and dish them in a crown. Fill the centre with a mixture of small onions, mushrooms, and small pieces of bacon, cut into dice which have been stewed in some of the sauce. Hand red currant jelly with this dish.

Croustade of Larks. Bone two dozen larks, season, and put into each a piece of pâté de foie gras (truffled). Roll the larks up into a ball, put them in a pudding basin, season them with salt and pepper, and pour three ounces of clarified butter over them, and bake in a hot oven for a quarter of an hour. Dish them in a fried bread croustade, made by cutting the crust from a stale loaf about eight inches long, which must be scooped out in the centre and fried in hot lard or butter till it is a good brown. Drain it, and then place it in the centre of a dish, sticking it there with a little white of egg. Put it into the oven to get hot; then put the larks into it, and let it get cold. Garnish with truffles and aspic jelly

Pheasant Cutlets. Take a well-hung young pheasant, cut it when prepared into neat joints. Take out the bones carefully and shape the joints into cutlets; flatten these with the cutlet-bat, season rather highly and cover them thickly with egg and finely-grated breadcrumbs. Put the bones and trimmings into a saucepan with a carrot, a turnip, an onion, a handful of parsley, a bouquet garni, a bayleaf, pepper, salt, and as much water as will cover them. Let them stew slowly till the flavour of the herbs is drawn out, then thicken gravy and strain. Fry the cutlets in hot fat till a bright brown. Serve on a hot dish in a circle with one of the small bones stuck into each cutlet; pour the gravy round.

The entire cookbook may be read online at Project Gutenberg.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Quote of the Day


...what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born? ~ William Butler Yeats

Thursday, April 15, 2010

The Online Bookshelf - The Little Red Hen


Written and profusely illustrated by Florence White Williams, from Project Gutenberg.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Patterns of the Past - Girls In Their Summer Dresses


From Modern Needlecraft, Spring 1951. These are adorable...the little gingham sunsuit with the ruffled bonnet, and the pinafore dress in the center that opens out so it can be ironed flat. Monuments to a time when walking to school on a spring morning in a pretty dress that smelled of starch and Ivory Flakes was the best feeling in the world.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Role Reversal

The spousal unit never forgets birthdays and anniversaries. I, on the other hand, never remember.


(Sigh). Many happy returns, dear. May your next wife be normal.

Knitting - Joan Crawford's Dress


(From Modern Knitting and Needlework, Spring 1949). You, too, can knock 'em dead at the Brown Derby or Ciro's in a dress just like the one Joan Crawford knitted for herself. All you have to do is download the instructions from my Flickr account and start knitting.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Basket Case


I had purchased it to hold paper and kindling next to the fireplace...oh, well.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Perfer et Obdura

“In a maidless household, a boy or girl of twelve or more years can be taught to set the table correctly and to wait on the table. Too many mothers err on this point. It will take time and patience to teach a young person to quietly leave his place at the table to perform the necessary service, but it is most essential to instill the idea that the mother is the hostess, not the servant of the household. Whenever possible, the mother should remain at the table to direct the conversation, to watch the wants of those at the table, and to insure a successful meal.” Meal Planning and Table Service, 1923.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Friday, April 9, 2010

Quote of the Day


The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children. ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer

(photo from Baha'i)

Thursday, April 8, 2010

The Online Bookshelf - Little Red Riding Hood


From Project Gutenberg, an old-fashioned cut-out boook with delicate little illustrations and a moral. This might be fun to reproduce on cardstock for a present with a vintage look and feel.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Patterns of the Past - 1928 Dresses


From Needlecraft , May 1928. A dressmaking article elsewhere in the magazine states that pattern 750 is a housedress.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Knitting - Beach Shoes from 1951


From Modern Needlecraft, Summer 1951. Pity they don't sell these types of soles any more, but perhaps a truly crafty individual could deconstruct a pair of flip-flops or cheap sandals and use their soles instead. Pattern on my Flickr account.

Monday, April 5, 2010

I Couldn't Make This Up Dep't

From Lowering the Bar: "Authorities in Tennessee said last week that Joyce McKinney, the former beauty queen who stalked, kidnapped and assaulted a Mormon missionary, jumped bail by disguising herself as a member of a deaf-mute theater troupe, and then surfaced three decades later in South Korea surrounded by the world's first cloned pit-bull puppies, was also wanted in their state for conspiring to steal money she needed in order to buy an artificial limb for a three-legged horse."

Vintage Images - Poma Amoris


Vintage botanical print from Dover Publications. The spousal unit set out tomato plants this weekend; I think he's pushing it, but he did have tomatoes two weeks before anyone else in town last year. We'll see.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

A Tale of Two Sundays - Easter


From 1927; Chicken en Casserole, Mashed Potatoes, Buttered New Carrots, Hot Biscuits, Perfection Salad with Mayonnaise, Angel Sponge Cake, Strawberries and Cream, Coffee. Easter was on April 17th, that year. If you lived in the North or Midwest, your strawberries would have to be imported from warmer climates, and consequently rather dear. The rest of the menu is surprisingly subdued, without the ham or lamb that is traditionally part of American Easter feasts. The directions for Angel Sponge Cake are a little alarming.

“Beat 2 whole eggs so that they will hold sugar, then add 1 cup granulated sugar and beat for 20 minutes, adding the sugar a little at a time. Add with more beating ½ cup boiling water. Sift, then measure 1 cup fine cake flour, and sift 3 times more with 1 teaspoon baking powder and ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar; add to the egg mixture. Flavor to suit the taste, lemon is usually preferred, and bake for 40 minutes in an ungreased pan, an angel cake pan is good. Place cake in a very slow oven until it has raised, then increase the heat gradually until it has browned. Be sure to leave it in the oven for the time limit, for it must be turned upside down on 2 supports and the cake allowed to hang until it is cold. If batter is not properly baked at bottom cake will fall out.”

From 1953; Fruit Cup, Baked Ham, Potatoes and Peas in Cream, Cucumber Pinapple Aspic Salad, Frozen Apricot Shortcake, Coffee, Milk.

My copy of 250 Delectable Desserts is missing the Frozen Apricot Shortcake recipe, but here is one for Apricot Angel Cream.

1 cup cooked sieved dried apricots
2/3 cup sugar
Grated rind of ½ lemon
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
¼ cup water
1 cup heavy cream, whipped

“Combine apricots, sugar and lemon rind. Soften gelatin in water and dissolve over hot water. Add to apricot mixture and blend. Pour into refrigerator tray and chill until slightly thickened. Remove, beat until light and fold in whipped cream. Continue freezing until firm.”

I like both menus, except for the gelatin salads. It’s a little early for asparagus, but it would be worth looking for. Steamed asparagus, chilled, tossed with a vinaigrette dressing and chopped hard-boiled egg, would make a lovely salad.

(Free vintage ecards here).

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Thursday, April 1, 2010