A few days ago, I started thinking about the difficulties of looking at the past through rose-colored glasses. Let's face it: life without electricity, equal voting rights, or antibiotics would be way harder. To explore this point further, let's look at life without two rather nice appliances (albeit just for the two weeks that we… Continue reading Hand wash only (II)
Category: homesteading
Hand wash only (I)
It's easy to wax nostalgic about the "good old days," that halcyon golden age when kids didn't do drugs or drink underage, and life was simpler, without cell phones and social media complicating things. (Yes, I'm guilty of this!) There are a few things wrong with this kind of thinking, though: first, the "good old… Continue reading Hand wash only (I)
Line-drying laundry
For a few weeks the dryer in our apartment building has been broken. Problem? Easily solved. After putting in a call to the landlord, we hung our clothes fresh from the washing machine out to dry on the balcony.It's easy to string a line of twine from the hooks already hanging from the balcony ceiling.… Continue reading Line-drying laundry
Two years
Dear blog,Today you are older and hopefully wiser. (I'm not sure I am.) We've done quite a bit this past year...cooked from recipes from 1967, 1903, and the 1st century ADvisited Downton Abbey through Victorian and Edwardian recipesanalyzed nutrition, 1900-stylefallen in love with making ice creamcanned tomatoesgotten nostalgic with old family photosharvested from my kitchen… Continue reading Two years
How to render suet for cooking
Back when I first started this blog, I learned a few things right away about historical cooking. First, some old recipes are very similar to their modern counterparts (like pie). Second, animal fat is wonderful. From salt pork to lard, it's all delicious.Lard may have fallen out of favor with the onset of fat-free food,… Continue reading How to render suet for cooking
Spring greening
Ah, spring! When a young lady's fancy turns to...plants?Yes, it is all plants, all the time around these parts. When Josh and I go for a walk, I coo over the tiny purple stars blooming in the myrtle. I envy the flocks of daffodils cheering up the still-drab grass. I tend lovingly to the starts… Continue reading Spring greening
Starting seeds
Earlier this week, it was finally starting to feel like spring. The air lost some of its chill, birds chirped in the tree outside our dining room window, and the first crocuses poked up from neighborhood yards. Of course, this morning it's snowing, so we need a good dose of cheer to pick up our… Continue reading Starting seeds
Maple sugaring (II)
Last week I wrote about my family's maple sugaring tradition. Today I'll add an amendment: while we love most of the maple sugaring process (tapping trees, collecting sap, boiling it down in the evaporator), we have a hard time with one part: finishing the syrup.This is the part where the syrup has been boiled to… Continue reading Maple sugaring (II)
Maple sugaring
In our family, February and March are the maple syrup months. Temperatures dip to freezing at night and warm up during the day, so the sap runs easily from the trees. Evenings are spent out in the sugar shed, boiling sap down to golden syrup in a gas-heated evaporator. On weekends, we enjoy pancakes with… Continue reading Maple sugaring
Staying warm
I flew back home to Ohio on Saturday night, and after staying up far too late talking with my parents, we discovered that the house had its own welcome-home present to offer: a broken furnace. Plus, Northeast Ohio was going through a cold snap...which meant the temperature could get down to a bracing 3 degrees… Continue reading Staying warm
Abby Murphy 