Sunday, April 22, 2007

Watch your back Martha...

Here I come!

Today Lucas and I made banana nut bread from a recipe my mom has used from her Betty Crocker New Cookbook (copyright date 1961). As the bread was baking, I was flipping through the book and struck a gold mine of useful information. The page was labeled: Kitchen Know-How – Hints for the Homemaker. The page included some pretty common-sense suggestions: Plan Ahead (make a list of things you need at the beginning of the week), Combine Jobs (while you’re waiting for the bread to bake, mop the floor – what fun!), Organize Work, and Be Comfortable (wear comfortable loose-fitting clothes when you’re working in the kitchen – like a house dress probably).

But I didn't have my full come-to-Jesus moment until I read the last one.

Refresh your spirits.
Every morning before breakfast, comb hair, apply makeup and add a dash of cologne. Does wonders for your morale and your family’s too!

Think pleasant thoughts while working and a chore will become a “labor of love”.

Have a hobby. Garden, paint pictures, look through magazines for home planning ideas, read a good book or attend club meetings. Be interested – and you’ll always be interesting!

If you have a spare moment, sit down, close your eyes and just relax.

This is the advice that I’ve been searching for all these years. I can’t believe no one told me this before. Thank god for Betty Crocker!

I also found a poem in the book, about planning meals. I’m going to stitch this onto a doily and frame it for my kitchen, just as soon as I fluff the pillows and fix Kevin a cocktail. Enjoy!

Planning foods that go together
Something soft and something crisp
Should always go together,
And something hot with something cold
No matter what the weather;
Serve bland foods with tangy sauce
And garnish them with green
If you will use these simple rules
You’ll be your family’s queen!

2 comments:

Kevin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kevin said...

For those of you wondering I have been waiting around 15 years for my pillow to be fluffed and that cocktail.

-Kevin