Where Have I Been All Day?

Where haven't I been is the question! I left the house at 8:30am to do a few things. This is a list of my stops for the day:

1. Lottie's estate sale
2. Fikes-Parkhill Liquor store
3. Office Depot
4. Estate Sales Plus sale
5. Gardners Books
6. Home to unload the car and eat lunch
7. Utica Square post office
8. Lowe's
9. Target
10. Reasor's
11. Back to the Utica Square post office because I thought I left my sunglass case there
12. Hicks Brunson to buy a new sunglass case because it wasn't at the post office or in the car or in my purse
13. Home to unload the car and put away the groceries
14. Home Depot
15. Phoenix Cleaners

And suddenly, it was 4:30pm and I still had not been to these places:

1. Credit Union
2. Goodwill to drop off donation
3. Hobby Lobby and/or Michaels to find frames for a couple of new prints, since I haven't been able to find anything at the estate sales

I'm pooped, but I need to cook dinner and then sort through my estate sale purchases to separate the items I'm keeping from the items I'm planning to sell. (If you speak to The Husband, don't tell him I'm keeping anything. Thanks.)

Being a housewife is tough and tiring. And the vacuum cleaner is still staring at me. I'm just going to ignore it this evening. I'll speak to it tomorrow.

How about you? Where did you go today?

Magic WD-40

Everyone knows that WD-40 is magic, yes?

Pair WD-40 with a razor blade and magic truly occurs. You know how hard it is to get the sticky residue off from a price tag?

• Spritz it with WD-40
• Wait a minute or two
• Scrape the residue with a razor blade
• Wipe with a paper towel
• Wash
• Use

I learned this probably 20 years ago. It changed my life!

The American Woman's Cookbook (1942) - The Friends Who Honor Us

Another funny tidbit from the 1942 edition of the above cookbook.

How to put together a guest list for a dinner party. Page 724-725:

"The guest list must be carefully considered. When inviting persons for the purpose of introducing them to someone else, be sure that as far as can be discovered, there is no third person to inject a discordant note. One cannot take full responsibility for the emotional responses of all one's friends and acquaintances, but some caution can and should be exercised. When entertaining a group of professionals it is well to have several professions represented so that the conversation will be general and pleasant and not turn to moot professional questions that may start a sharp debate.

Many families, too, see in their social life an opportunity to train their children in the social graces and amenities. This, of course, can be overdone if not carefully thought out. Many guests are not interested in children and some are annoyed by them. But family parties are always the logical and pleasant opportunity to give the youngsters their chance. In any case, children should be prepared for what is ahead of them. Being more at ease in their own minds about what may happen and what is expected of them, they are much less likely to "show off" or behave like the "enfant terrible." Being reminded of the uses of the knife, fork, and napkin beforehand, too, and not reprimanded in the presences of others, will make for better behavior."

I guess this was the era of children being kept in the background. My goodness, I'm glad things are different now.

Our 7 year old niece frequently declares "dinner party" at The Sister's house. Mom, Dad and both girls have to dress for dinner and sit at a pretty table. She's also quite the party organizer (birthdays, etc.). She lists everything needed; plates, napkins, forks, balloons and so forth.

These are good skills for the niece to learn young!

Yesterday - A Perfect Wednesday

By 9:00am, I was showered, in clean clothes, and had make-up and jewelry on.

Not that I'm not showered and dressed early in the day. It's just that I had MAKE-UP and JEWELRY on by 9:00 am.

I was at Tulsa's Old School Bagel Cafe early for breakfast. I left there and went to an estate sale, Red Crown Credit Union, Gardner's Book Store, Sam's Club and my Mom's house.

It was a full day.

After a couple of busy hours at the house, The Husband came home from work. He and I had dinner at Sonoma, one of our favorite places.

I cannot think of anything that was wrong with today. I hope you feel the same about your life.

The American Woman's Cookbook (1942) - Table Service - Styles of Service (part 2)

Page 81-82:

Chapter: Table Setting and Service

Hot Food Should be Served Hot on heated dishes.

Cold Food Should be Served Cold on cold dishes.

When the Host and Hostess do the Serving at Table, the host serves the meat, and often the vegetables, and the hostess serves the soup, salad, dessert and beverages.

In the Maid-Less Household, the hostess will find great convenience in the tea-wagon, or any other kind of serving-table that may stand at her right, ready to help her.

Before the Dessert Course, the table should be cleared and crumbed. the salts and peppers, the bread and butter plates, and all other accessories or dishes that will not be used in the dessert course, are removed on a tray. When the table is crumbed, a small folded napkin and a plate should be used, and the crumb-clearing is done at the left of the guest.

When the Dessert is Finished, the dessert plate is exchanged for the after-dinner coffee cup, if the cofee is served at table.

At the End of the Coffee Course, the cups are exchanged for finger bowls if these were not placed with the dessert.

Suggestion from me:

Instead of using a napkin and plate to crumb the table, consider picking up a vintage crumber set. I have a couple of hammered aluminum examples:

Number 2

Or you can use a napkin and a silent butler, four hammered aluminum examples are pictured below.

Where Has The Past Week Gone?

My, the week has flown by.

The Husband's Cousin Charlene from Denver was with us last Friday-Tuesday.

On Wednesday, I got busy and packed away 95% of the Christmas decorations in the house. I usually have that task done before New Year's, but I didn't this year so Cousin Char could see the house all decorated.

I was really glad to get the decorations packed away. I finished packing the remaining 5% in the house on Saturday morning. Now, if it would just warm up a few degrees, The Husband will take down the outside lights and we will get rid of the tree on the porch.

Thursday, I went with friends to see Avatar at the IMAX theater. It's a great movie and I would recommend you see it, if you have not done so already.

Friday, since the schools were out due to the frigid weather, I helped The Sister and her husband by babysitting the nieces for several hours so they could work.

Saturday morning I started the day by making our bed! I'd not done that all week, shame on me. I don't know about you, but it makes me feel like the day has officially started when I make the bed. I've also packed away the last little bit of Christmas stuff and have been doing laundry and straightening up.

Now, I think I'll start the new Dan Brown book, The Lost Symbol.

What have you done all week?

The Biz Boil

I have long been a major fan of Biz Stain Fighter.

For years, I have been able to remove the worst stains from clothing, napkins, tablecloths, etc. by soaking the item overnight in Biz and water in the washing machine. There have been very few stains that resisted that treatment.

Now, I have a new treatment for the most stubborn of stains. I just found this from @lazyorganizer on Twitter.

lazyorganizerMy kitchen towels were grossing me out so I had to Biz Boil them. I love the BB! http://macnstuff.com/mcfl/1/stainremoval.html

I will, for sure, give this method a try!

The American Woman's Cookbook (1942) - Table Service - Order of Service

As I mentioned previously, from time to time I will share tidbits from "The American Woman's Cookbook" (1942 edition) with you.

From page 80:

ORDER OF SERVICE:

In many houses the hostess is served first. This is a relic of the old custom of taking it for granted that the giver of the feast prove the absence of poison by first tasting of the food or drinking of the beverage! Some hostesses too justify this custom by maintaining that, when complicated foods are served, the hostess indicates to her guests the methods by which they can most conveniently serve themselves.

However, the custom of serving the honor guest first is growing, and many hostesses now insist on giving the chief guest this additional compliment.

The former custom of serving all the ladies first and the gentlemen afterward is no longer in vogue, for this method consumed too much time and delayed the service. Now guests are served in the order in which they are seated, usually beginning with the honor guest or the hostess and proceeding to the right.

Hmmm, usually at our house we just tell everyone to dig in!

The American Woman's Cookbook (1942) - Table Service - Styles of Service

I am drawn to old cookbooks at estate sales, flea markets and antique shops. I just can't help myself.

It's not recipes I enjoy so much, it's all the other informaton included in the books that fascinates me. Information on how to set-up and manage your household, table settings and service, daily menus, as well as party or holiday menus.

And my favorite bits of advice are how to be a good hostess in this new "servantless" era in which we find ourselves.

From time to time I will share tidbits from "The American Woman's Cookbook" (1942 edition) with you. The purpose of this is:

1. to provide a peek into a style of life that is now long gone (at our house anyway)
2. give us an opportunity to learn something new (old, I should say) about dining customs
3. perhaps inspire us to do things differently in our own home on occasion

Following text found on page 79:

TABLE SERVICE

Styles of Service

There are three styles of service:

RUSSIAN: In this style of service all the food is served from the kitchen, by attendants. The host and hostess take no part in the service. No food is put on the table except the decorating dishes of nuts, candy and fruits. The food may be placed in individual portions before the guest, or may be separated into portions and arranged on serving dishes for each guest to help himself.

ENGLISH OR FAMILY TYPE: In this service all the food is served at the table by the host, hostess, or both.

COMBINATION OR MIXED SERVICE: In this service the main course is usually served at the table, while the soup, salad and dessert are served from the kitchen. Sometimes, the salad is served from a large salad bowl, and the hostess serves the dessert at table.

I vote for the Russian style tonight at my house!

Betty Crocker Does More Than Bake!

She irons!

And I have proof!

I am now the proud owner of "The Betty Crocker Guide to Easy Ironing", which is a 33 page booklet that answers all of our ironing questions.

Two pages are devoted to dampening. Remember when your mother or grandmother dampened clothes before ironing them? My mom used an oversize glass Pepsi bottle with a nozzle. Once the clothes were dampened, she would roll them tightly and place them in a plastic bag until she ironed them later in the day.

I wish I had that old Pepsi bottle...

I don't know when this booklet was published, but there are instructions on how to hang laundry on an outside clothes line to dry and minimize wrinkles. Which would then minimize ironing. I'm guessing clothes dryers were not common when this booklet was published.

Instructions are included on how best to iron blankets, brassieres, foundation garments, nightgowns, pajamas, sheets, underwear, towels, veils, plus many, many other items. (As a matter of note, I do not believe I have EVER ironed any of the aforementioned items in my lifetime.)

So far, my favorite piece of advice from the booklet is this:

"Choose a cheerful spot for your weekly ironing--but don't feel you must stick to it. It's where you want to iron, not where you think you should iron, that counts." (italics theirs)

So, good readers, I have the answers to your ironing questions. Not only about how to iron a variety of items, but the ironing accessories you require to do a great job.

Send me your burning questions on ironing and I will be happy to provide Betty Crocker's answers to you!

P.S. There does not seem to be a section devoted to dry cleaners? What???

P.S.S. Do you think Martha Stewart collects these types of old booklets?