As I paged through the recipe books and the loose recipes, I realized that me scouring over the recipes had the potential to damage them. In order to preserve the books in their current states, I started to scan every single recipe into my computer. Besides being better for the books, it also allows me to sort recipes by category and keep better track of which recipes I’ve used and which ones I haven’t.
And right now, I have the time.
For the first time in my life, I am a stay-at-home parent. I have been a parent for over 12 years and this is the first time that I have actually been at home all day, every day with my kids. I’ve gotten to get a lot of organization done around the house, really had a chance to assess the needs and figure out some systems, get the gardens figured out a little bit, you know, just stuff. I can see the need for a routine. I can see where I could’ve done better in the past. It’s a very different sort of challenge for me.
When I hang out with adults, I find myself downloading information onto them. I crave conversations where I’m not breaking up stupid fights, or teaching someone manners. I need to talk to people that have fully developed frontal lobes and have had a little life experience. I need to feel like I went to college for a reason and that my brain is being used. When I have a chance, I need to do something for me (like make old recipes and write about them) Which brings me to this.
As I scan recipes into the computer, I often read the backs of the newspapers and magazines and try to place the recipes in their proper place in history. Often it’s just snippets of things. I found a recipe with the showtimes at a theater for Aristocats. Quick check on IMDB told me that the movie came out in 1970. Suddenly the recipe meant a lot more. I have one recipe whose back discusses the funeral for an astronaut, another that mentions the Civil Rights Act of 1964. These recipes all have roots.
Anyway, back to the original point of this whole thing. I found this on the back of one of the recipes. Right now it speaks to me. No idea when this was published or which newspaper. I could hazard a guess, but that’s not the point. Just take a second and read what is written, even in its incompleteness.
It would be easy to talk about sexism here. It would be easy to talk about wasted potential. I don’t have to do that because you already know. Being an actual housewife where you raise the children, where you clean the house and have supper on the table is a hard job. And this applies to men that do the job also.
Not to be ignored, however is the little blub in the second column. Were you aware that over half of vacuum cleaner attachments are not being used? I’m guessing that’s true even today. Maybe this is the sort of experiment the first column suggests we do?