Quote of the Day

When I walk into my kitchen today, I am not alone. Whether we know it or not, none of us is. We bring fathers and mothers and kitchen tables, and every meal we have ever eaten. Food is never just food. ~ Molly Wizenberg, A Homemade Life

An Amazing Array of Free Patterns

I have added two new links to my list on the right-hand side of the page. Kokka.Com and Otsukaya are Japanese sites that offer dozens of free sewing patterns for women's and children's clothes (and a few men's as well). All are clearly diagrammed and a knowledge of Japanese is not necessary (good thing, since my Japanese is limited to phrases like Neisan, biru o kudasai!).

On the Kokka site, just click on any of the photographs. The page that appears will have images of different sewing projects. Click on the images for the patterns.

The Otsukaya link will take you to a page with three columns in Japanese. Clicking on any of the boxes will take you to a pattern illustration and a .pdf to download.

Warning for my fellow Americans; you'll need to convert from metric. A tip of the topper and a big merci to the ladies at Japan Couture Adddicts for the links.

The Online Bookshelf-Pierre Lapin

From Project Gutenberg, the story of Pierre and his sisters Flopsaut, Trotsaut, and Queue-de-Coton, and his epic struggle against Monsieur Mac Grégor.

(Not to mention Madame Mac Grégor, who wishes to put Pierre into a pâté !)

Perhaps She's a Strict Deconstructionist

Trying to determine the political implications (if any) of Babyface eating our copy of the Constitution this morning.

Patterns of the Past-A "Buster Brown" Suit

From Needlecraft magazine, September 1914, a Buster Brown suit. Those strap-type shoes were evidently commonly worn by boys as well as girls.

Maybe He Should Take Lessons From The President

The latest in the Simon's Cat series on YouTube.

A Basket Applique by Ruby Short McKim

From the eBay grab-bag, a newspaper clipping most likely from the mid 1920's-1930's. This basket applique is by Ruby Short McKim, and the pattern was given in the exact size for the corner of a luncheon cloth (the original clippi9ng is only about seven x four inches, so this is a very small pattern). Left-click to enlarge or visit my Flickr account for a bigger image.

And if you go to the McKim Studios webpage, there is a link to a free copy of her classic 101 Patchwork Patterns to download.

Saving Me From Myself

Up to Michigan and back for a short visit with my father (and assorted siblings). The weather cooperated and a good time was had by most.

And the difference between Illinois and Michigan gun purchase laws prevented me from dropping $300 on a M1895 Mauser at the Gander Mountain store in Portage.

Vintage Sheet Music-Oh You Beautiful Doll

Copyright-free image from Dover Publications.

Cruel and Unusual

In 1953 our old friends the Culinary Institute of Chicago published a little pamphlet intended to free the housewife from the arduous task of menu-planning. It was modestly titled Menus for Every Day of the Year and each dish was indexed against a recipe in one of the Institute’s other cookbooks. One had only to turn to, say, the first dinner menu for March to find therein a recommendation of Consommé Madrilene (Book #6) followed by Roast Chicken with Mushroom Stuffing and Hominy Grits (both in Book #4), and Buttered Peas (Book #11). For dessert, Book #12 provided instructions on how to serve Vanilla Ice Cream with Butterscotch Sauce.

All the dinner menus are on the stodgy side. Even those specifically assigned to summer months, when any intelligent cook starts looking for ways to lighten things up, are traditional, starchy, heavy and hot. Editor Ruth Berolzeimer and the merry crew of sadists who thought up the menus for the month of July ought to have been made to prepare and eat them in the average early 1950’s un-air-conditioned home. Here is the first week:

July 1st: Pineapple Juice Cocktail, Baked Pickerel with Shoestring Potatoes, Pea Soufflé, Lettuce Salad with Thousand Island Dressing, Honeydew Melon Rings with Melon Balls, Iced Tea

July 2nd - Stuffed Lamb Shoulder with Franconia Potatoes, Summer Squash Tomato Casserole, Carrot Raisin Salad, Maple Nut Pudding

July 3rd - Filled Beets, Planked Ham Loaf with Duchess Potatoes, Baked Onions and Tomatoes, Royal Salad, Brazil-nut Marshmallow Cream

Fourth of July Dinner – Jellied Sherry Consommé, Broiled Half Chicken Rolled in Bread Crumbs and Parsley, Corn on the Cob, Asparagus Tips in Tomato Cups, Mashed Potatoes, Small Hot Rolls, Summer Salad Bowl (Cucumbers, Radishes, Spring Onions with Watercress and French Dressing), Strawberry Ice Cream Tarts

July 5th - Apricot Juice, Rump Roast of Beef, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Kohlrabi, Lettuce with French Dressing, Red Raspberry Sundae

July 6th – Pineapple Appetizer Salad, Baked Chicken with Sage Stuffing, Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Buttered Broccoli, Peppermint Stick Parfait with Chocolate Sauce, Coffee, Milk

July 7th – Sweetbreads with Mushrooms, Broiled Tomato Slices, Buttered Beet Greens, Cottage Cheese Salad with Thousand Island Dressing, Gooseberry Date Pie

I’m going to have to look for Book #5 which contains the recipe for this last-named dessert. That any cook would combine gooseberries and dates in a pie is enough to shake one’s faith in humanity.

Caturday!

Quote of the Day

Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding. ~ Proverbs 17:28.

(Photo from ABCNews).

Exposed Flanks

He came home last night with a big bloody patch on his back where some fur was missing. We're keeping an eye on it in case it develops into one of these.

The Online Bookshelf-Social Life, Or The Manners And Customs Of Polite Society

Note merely an etiquette book, but containing The Rules Of Etiquette for All Occasions and Forming a Complete Guide to Self-culture in Conversation, Dress, Deportment, Correspondence, The Care of Children and the Home , profusely illustrated in the style of the Police Gazette.

From the chapter on Introductions and Salutations: "As a rule, introductions, to be agreeable, should be desired before being given; and since we are, or should be, in a measure, the endorsers of those whom we present to our friends, a due degree of care should be exercised in so doing, lest inadvertently we force upon another what may prove an undesirable acquaintance."


From The Art of Conversation: "Beware of evil speaking. In the eyes of all right-minded persons much that you have said recoils upon your own head, for no one has quite the same opinion of an individual after having listened to a series of scandalous stories from his lips. Hence, for your own sake, as well as for that of others, eschew the vice of evil speaking as a very pestilence."

From Courtship and Marriage: "The passion of love generally appearing to everyone save the man who feels it, so entirely disproportionate to the value of the object, so impossible to be entered into by any outside individual, that any strong expressions of it appear ridiculous to a third person. For this reason it is that all extravagance of feeling should be carefully repressed as an offense against good breeding."


And should you be unsure of the appropriate form of invitation to an afternoon tea or (how daring of you!) a masquerade, Miss Cooke explains it all for you.

Patterns of the Past -- A Trio of Skirts from 1914

From Needlecraft, June 1914. Skirt on the left, thumbs down. Skirt on the right, thumbs up. Skirt in the middle, looks as though the designer's mother was frightened by a pair of jodhpurs.

Crochet - An Embroidered Rug

Another project from the eBay grab-bag, this one a little rug to crochet of "very heavy Germantown yarn" and then embroider using the chart provided here. The date has been cut off and the magazine is not identified, but the rest of the clippings in the envelope were from the 20's and 30's, and from magazines such as the Woman's Home Companion.

The finished length is about thirty-one inches and the recommended colors for the embroidery are dark green, turquoise, light green, gold, peach, salmon rose, maroon, scarlet, and two shades of blue. If I had a dollhouse, I'd be awfully tempted to make this as a miniature in needlepoint.

Bungalow for Sale

For a cool half-million, that is.

More Midsummer Bounty

Although I admit it's not as lush as the one we had in North Carolina, I love our garden at this time of year.

Vintage Postcards-California

A selection of vintage postcard images from Dover Publications.

Unconventional Weapons

During a discussion about this article I was asked if our cats have the distinctive purr the writer mentions. Yes and no; Reserve Cat is a pretty quiet boy, with a raspy little “Yow!” he seldom uses.


The Drama Queen has two purrs. Purr #1 is a gentle, soothing tremblato that she switches on when she is being petted or cuddled or her ears are being scratched. The other is her Über-purr, deployed only when she is in a secure location, one where either a) the dog can’t get at her or b) he will get thwacked if he tries, ie on top of the china cupboard or in a human lap. Then she ratchets up the rpm’s, vibrating like a badly battened-down table-saw and adding a little trilling top note. It’s surprisingly loud.


Her eyes close in well-simulated bliss and Funnyface stands there baffled, shifting from paw to paw and plotting his revenge.