It seems to me that "THEY" are working at convincing us that it is easier and more convenient and 'good for you' to purchase a large super sweet exotic flavoured cup of coffee on your way to work each morning and that the price is well worth the time you save.... Hmmmm.... You know, one of the terms I hear often on the Food Network is 'restaurant quality' as if that is better than Home Made...
I have a French Press (just google it to see what sort of coffee maker that is and where you can get one) The French Press takes only the time it takes to boil some water in the kettle, and allow the coffee to steep while you make your toast, another 2 or 3 minutes, and pour your coffee and sit down at the table with your family before and instead of charging out the door to spend 20 minutes with your gas eating car idling in the lineup to pick up coffee and a donut...
I am thinking that some of us have forgotten (or perhaps never knew) the simple ways of food making...
I have a beat up and well used 'school manual' from my Mother. She learned the Household Sciences from this book in 1944 and 1945 while in grade 7 and 8 at Earl Grey School in Winnipeg, Manitoba!
For the next few Friday's I am going to give you some of the treasures from this book, and maybe convince you that HOMEMADE is often easier than going out to get a restaurant meal or to buy frozen processed entrees from the freezer section of the supermarket.
Now, if you look carefully at the pages that I scanned above, you might see the dates and places that my Mom carried this book through the years. I was going to continue the trend but I decided that this really was my Mom's book so other than a tiny note in the back of the book that says, given to Susan in June 1991 this book is all hers! I do remember though that the first thing she taught me to make was a recipe called Two Egg Cake from this book. I made that recipe many times as our family Birthday Cake!
Not only did she use and reuse the instructions and hints and tips and recipes in this book, but occasionally she would add a recipe that she cut from the newspaper that she tended to use over and over again.
PS. See that fancy tape? And you thought WASHI Tape was a new thing! The recipes on this page were taped down using Christmas tape from the early 1960s...
Lets Start with Coffee and Tea... as the book states:
Rules for Making Coffee
Buy Freshly Roasted unground coffee.
Grind it at Home as needed
or
buy freshly ground coffee every two or three days in small amounts because coffee looses its flavour if it stands after being ground.
and the recipe for Boiled Coffee (and I bet you never heard of this one)
makes 2 cups
1 tablespoon ground coffee
1 tablespoon cold water
1 teaspoon crushed egg shell
a pinch of salt
2 cups boiling water
Mix coffee, salt and egg shell and add cold water to mix. Turn into scalded pot (that means water should be boiled in the pot then poured out) Then add 2 cups of boiling water to pot and boil gently for 5 minutes. Pour into a coffee or tea pot and allow to stand 3 minutes til grounds settle. Pour slowly and carefully into your guests cup then into your own cup.
PS. I have to admit I have not actually made coffee this way, but it would work well I think to pour the boiled coffee into the french press to serve.
Some of the other Treasures from this book that I would like to go through is "How to Set a Table for Breakfast, Lunch, or Dinner"
"Cuts of Meat and their uses"
"Uses for Stale Bread"
and way to many other things to explore that were important for the "lady of the house" to know in the 1940's but is also probably good to know in the 20teens...
So what can we learn from this book that will be useful today? If you have a request, leave a comment below...
