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Oh, good -- the diary is here! I have time to prepare. I am learning things already. I see that one day Sarah hung her laundry out after dinner, and at suppertime, it still wasn't dry. This is my problem hanging laundry: It doesn't seem to dry in the right amount of time indoors, and sometimes outdoors. But if Sarah shrugged it off and simply hung things indoors to finish drying, then I was probably too impatient and too worried about mold. 

Do we know who Joseph is?

I have had a lot of modern habits to change during my practice month of December. The one that took the longest was not staggering out to the kitchen in my pajamas to get a cup of coffee, and then sit staring blankly for almost an hour until I felt like moving. No, I decided to get out of bed and get washed and dressed, and then make breakfast and have my coffee with breakfast. I found that washing my face wakes me up better than coffee. Who knew? Not me until this study. :) I still struggle with the coffee with breakfast, sometimes having it after getting dressed but before breakfast, but I have two whole days yet to get it right.

After breakfast, I take some time to straighten, making the bed and seeing that everything is in its place and washing the breakfast dishes. Then I sit down and list the tasks I need to do that day as well as the food that needs using. I think I'll adapt to Sarah's dinner first and supper later. I'll do my best to follow Sarah's schedule. I've got a half-bushel basket of sweet potatoes from the garden, so I'll be making sweet potato pie instead of pumpkin. This is going to be fun. :)

EDIT ADDITION: I checked the weather for the week, and this looks like my first week's schedule.

Sunday -- laundry, because it's the best day weather-wise all week

Monday -- take down Christmas decorations and clean the parlor (living room) and hallway

Tuesday -- sweep the front porch and walkway and the back patio, mend my sweater

Wednesday -- bake bread, mop the kitchen and entryway

Thursday -- clean my bedroom

Friday -- fix my stove, since it needs fixing, though I don't have a rusted stovepipe 

Saturday -- make a sweet potato pie and homemade noodles to go with chicken

I was going to iron but found out I need to get a silk pressing cloth for my linen first. I'll be doing other things too, like cleaning the bathroom.

Stephanie G, I am happy that you are excited about Sarah's diary.  Joseph is her son.  You only have two days to practice :0  We might have to put running shoes on instead of slippers. Ha

I also am excited that the diaries will be part of this study.  I had missed Sarah's diary when COVID sidetracked us all.  I am looking forward to developing a daily schedule that works for me.  I will have to adjust how I do things considering that I teach school during the day.   I had gotten lax in having any type of schedule in the last few years, and I think following Sarah and adapting to my own situation will get me back on track.  After all, school did not stop because of the Depression, and school teachers had to have a schedule to take care of their school duties and personal responsibilities didn't they :)

Frances M, I think most of us could use a dose of motivation and I feel good about this study. I am happy that you are happy about the diaries, this is one of the few ways to learn about what really went on inside the home during this time. We are not guessing about it because they are documenting each day. :)

Sarah's diary sounds like it is going to be really interesting, I didn't discover your blog until recently and I have slowly been reading back posts but have not stumbled upon it from when you started last time. It's good to know when to step back. 

How are you finding navigating your new forum GDonna?

I smiled at Sarah calling her husband Father. My husband Grant calls me Mother, Ma or Mother of many. I've not heard of any people in my generation with the same habit. They seem to be old-fashioned terms of affection he picked from his Grandfather who was born in 1932. He adored his wife who everyone knows as Granny, she's 90 now and still going strong.  xx

Emma C, thank you for commenting, Charles and I have been learning much more than we ever expected from this study and little things like terms of endearment, new words that we did not know that applied to places in our home.  There will be many interesting facts that will be coming out in the posts. Sarah's diary gives us a good glimpse inside of her home.

I made my last (I hope) personal special purchase for the study and the year ahead and that was a “travelers journal” with inserts to keep a calendar, agenda, and diary. If you search this item on line you can see many brand names or more affordable versions. I spent $36 (!!!!) to get my whole diary kit ready. It arrives in the mail tomorrow just in time for 2023.

Like Sarah: I will record the weather, my meetings, tasks, and as GDonna suggested our daily kilowatt usage (our condo is entirely electric - even baseboards for heat so it’s smart to track it). My husband has a digital app that lets him track this so he said he would let me know each day the amount to write.

I also keep a personal journal for my reflections and thoughts/prayers/worries and a journal for my work writing/lectures for teaching. The traveler notebook lets me carry all these books in one bound leather cover.

Organizing my day by priority: Like Stephanie G I often stumble out of bed and stare blankly (for me at my phone) drinking coffee and I want to shift away from that habit. I read another book called the Mother’s Rule (I’m not Catholic but appreciated the author’s list of priorities though it is embedded in her faith). She recommended the order of the day like this: 1) prayer 2) personal (like dressing and exercise 3) partner (talk to husband and engage your partner if applicable to your life) 4) parent (spend time with child etc) and 5) provide (work outside home tasks and home life items). I have often, sad to say, put “provide” and “parent” above the other three priorities and that has made life out of balance for me the last 8 years. I feel like Sarah did it right and I should try a new way of organizing my day. It doesn’t have to be rigid like I must do my exercise before all the rest are awake in my tiny condo (it might wake everyone up if I did that) but I think the general reorganization of priorities will lead me to a more joyful simple life. Do others have ways of organizing their days? I’d like to learn what guides others too

I'm glad to know I'm not alone!  I used to have something of a household routine too, though it was sort of slap dash and I didn't follow it religiously.  I've lost my way since having health issues related to pregnancy and childbirth with my youngest child (now nearly 3).  I still lack the full energy and motivation I had before, but I haven't lost the desire for an organized and peaceful home, so I hope to at least try and adapt a workable routine for us, with my family's help.

I started calling my husband "Daddy" (or "Dad" now the oldest is 12) when one day he accompanied me to pick up our then 4-year-old from school;  our son saw his dad and yelled "it's Richard!" and all the other mums looked around as if he was some temporary boyfriend, and not my actual husband and children's father.  Although I do call him by his name when no children are present :)

LOL, Stephanie G!  I too, am a morning stumbler.  Not really to do w/the study, but about 3 weeks ago, I changed doing an outdoor chore first rather than later, to get it out of the way, then have my coffee. Big deal for a non-morning person!  It's actually working well in that gives me less antsy-ness. I already have a schedule - just the way I work.  I also think I'm going to start a daily journal like Sarah. I like that it doesn't involve a lot of detail and I think it would be neat to look back on.  I think I'll have to write yesterday's today.  I would like to log sunrise/sunset too, but that seems to be difficult to find for the particular day as the weather news removes it after it's happened. Just for kicks. :)  I don't do the study (my husband would die lol), but I take a lot from it in changing the way I live.  So many good nuggets.  I love this group!

I really struggle with mornings. I have a chronic illness which often keeps me up at night so mornings are really hard for me. I’ve found it got much worse once I didn’t have to drive my children to school anymore. They walk now but that means I don’t have a reason to leave the house and in fact I lost a lot of my mobility over the past year. 
I find it really hard to have any kind of routine when it’s so easy to stay in bed, especially if I’ve been up till 3am. Any tips for that? I’ve read to try and not have electronics near to bedtime but I have a fish tank in my room which makes quite a lot of noise with the filters which doesn’t help. 
I think part of the problem is that my room is too messy. I have too much STUFF. And no energy to organise it. 

Gosh this sounds like I’m complaining a lot. 

Maybe I’ll try writing a short diary entry. Perhaps that will calm my mind enough to sleep better. 

I really am loving all the information I find here both from the diaries and from everyone else. 

(If you think this comment is too depressing/whiny please do feel free to delete it ) 

Kasia A, I can relate to your struggles with chronic illness and understand how difficult it is to change the situation.  I don't know if this would help you, but 25 years ago I had a therapist suggest that I box up everything that was messy and bothering me, even if I couldn't organize it right then.  When I'm in a flare it can be a lifesaver for me to do exactly that, and then work on one box at a time as I have the energy.  In the meantime, the clear space and lack of clutter in my field of vision is so calming, and perhaps even a bit healing.

Sarah's diary is so lovely!  I don't even feel like I have to manufacture diary entries to match hers.  My day yesterday included tidying the house, washing a load of laundry, making a quiche for our midday meal, starting bread dough, baking a double batch of banana muffins to avoid wasting the overripe bananas, shaping the dough into two big loaves and a pan of New England style hot dogs buns, baking those, making Polish sausages for our supper (to eat in the buns), and doing a small grocery errand late in the evening.  Today we were able to have quiche leftovers, but now I have a leg of lamb seasoned and cooking in a sous vide bath (I use my Instant Pot and it works really well).  There are some errands to do in a little while, and we need to prepare for big rain tomorrow.  One thing I'll do is bring the succulents under the porch since they already got rain a couple of days ago and I don't want them to drown.

I find it interesting that Sarah baked kuchen, as the treat I'll be baking for Epiphany is also a yeasted sweet bread typically referred to as a cake.  I think I'll put learning to make German kuchen onto my goal list for January.

My week, starting with January 1st:

Sunday:  Morning chores, prepare New Year's Day meal (ham, beans, cabbage), family New Year's nature walk (New Year's tradition), do something creative (another New year's tradition), mix sourdough before bed

Monday:  Watch Rose Parade on TV (family tradition, and they never hold it on Sunday so this year the parade is on the 2nd), morning chores, clean my bedroom and half bathroom, clean the front bathroom, shape and bake sourdough loaves and rolls, make ham broth, make ham and potato soup

Tuesday: Morning chores, tend house plants, do laundry (looks like it will be dry but I'll have to get an early start), sew placemats (P.S. my husband will clean the kitchen Tuesday night, something I doubt Sarah's husband did)

Wednesday: Morning chores, dust and vacuum front rooms, clean out the refrigerator, empty trash, mop the wood floors, touch up the front bathroom, small group gathering

Thursday: Morning chores, take dogs to groomer, paperwork and finances, make peppermint bark for Epiphany gifts, bake whole wheat bread, package and tag Epiphany gifts

Friday: Morning chores, mix dough for Rosca de Reyes (yeasted Three King's "cake"), home blessing (weekly short housecleaning to make sure house is ready for weekend), shape and bake Rosca de Reyes, evening Epiphany celebration at my mother-in-law's home

Saturday: Morning chores, drive son to airport, watch replay of church service (we will miss church since we have to drive to the airport), do something creative

I am getting more excited about this topic.  In the beginning, I looked at the gap between 2022 and 1932 and couldn’t figure out a bridge.   Now I know I can do it far more slowly and hack away as I figure things out.  G’Donna, I know you made that point ten times but it took me to the tenth to finally grasp it ;).  The diary is very interesting indeed.  Thank you for this project!

The Rose Parade! Thank you, Kimberly F, for reminding me. In my excitement to get to the thirties, I forgot about it. I love the Rose Parade! Since it began in 1890, it's on my okay list. I put my TV antenna away already, but I can stream it and pretend I'm hearing coverage over the radio. ;) 

I've been debating having my Instant Pot as one of my five things. They are so handy. 

Your life sounds so very full and happy, and delicious. :)

Stephanie G, I suppose if I were younger, I could go see the Rose Parade in person, just as they would have in the 1930s -- I could even take the train just like they did back then!  But it is so cold and crowded, and to be honest I haven't gone in person for three decades now.  My own kids grew up with us snuggling up on the couch to watch it, and my oldest still keep sup the tradition with my husband and I, while my youngest usually sleeps in.

I have been using a Traveler's Notebook for my evening journal for awhile now. I have old journals all over the place. I write the date and day of the week at the top left, high and low temperature at the top right. The pages are fairly narrow, so I just write about the high points of my day. (I have another journal I call the "venting journal". If there's something I want to write a longer post about, it goes here.) I am going to get a new notebook to use for financials and events of the year. I've thought about it and I really feel better about tracking my  money in a notebook. I may buy groceries with cash. And I've decided to buy my groceries at the local store. If I drive to the nearest small city, I wind up spending too much. And I really need to eat more of the things I have in the pantry.

I read a tip from a book that I wanted to pass along. I often buy those bacon ends and pieces, but they can be hard to use. She said that she ground them in a meat grinder and baked them, turning them into bacon bits. She used the grease for cooking, too. I'm going to try that this weekend. I think I can find my meat grinder.

Kasia, I was going to say the same thing as Kim about boxing up the mess and dealing with it piecemeal.  Our bedroom is absolutely the neatest room in the house.  Very peaceful and relaxing.  I grew up in the city so I can't sleep without a steady noise.  I run a fan.  Can you try ear plugs?  Or moving the aquarium?  <----- I would love that sound!

I'm enjoying reading about everyone's plans.  I've always thrived on schedules.  As a housewife, I'm like my grandma.  I do the work part in the morning and save afternoon hours, when my energy drops substantially, for desk work, sewing, and such.  I recently heard "swallow the frog" as a term for doing the worst job right off!!  I also try to get the better part of dinner done in the morning like my grandma did.  Chopping veggies, putting together a casserole, or getting something into the crockpot.  Same reason.  I had a terrible case of Mono as an adult and by afternoon, I'm exhausted.

Donna, I do remember Sarah's diary.  I'm glad we're revisiting it.  It's very enjoyable.

It’s so wonderful to hear what everyone is doing for this project. Like several of you I struggle with sitting in the morning with my coffee staring at my phone. Since I have to wait longer for the coffee to percolate, instead of the drip coffee maker. I will be using that time to read in the morning, journal , and make a daily list of everything I need to get done . I’m going to put out my clothing that I shall wear the morning before so I can get dressed quickly. I am a very early riser and wake up several hours before the rest of my family.  So I’m hoping to use this time more wisely. 
About the dog hair on clothing sticking after your clothes have been washed- clothing brushes were used to remove lint and hair from clothing. I’m sure they are not as fast and effective as the product that Grandma Donna mentioned, but it would work and be era correct.
I love the idea of following Sarah’s days ,here is the routine I put together for my week

Monday- wash and hang sheets and clothing, deep clean laundry area,go through seed catalog choose and order seeds for this year’s garden, write letter to pen pal 

Tuesday- finish last of laundry, ironing , dusting , make soup and biscuits for dinner,work on mending

Wednesday- morning routine, meet with knitting group for knitting and lunch, mop floors , vacuum, make dinner, read Woman’s World 1930’s magazine

Thursday- morning routine, clean bathrooms, make bread and kuchen , clean up and sweep entry, dinner, mending and knitting 

Friday-morning routine, measure and pin fabric fir drapes, sew drapes, make special lunch for hubby and me :) roast chicken and vegetables , knitting while listening to radio , read

Saturday-morning routine, mop wood floors,clean baseboards, make 2 pies with butternut squash from garden, make 2 loaves of bread, use chicken leftovers for dinner with homemade noodles, read book

Sunday- listen to church service, visit with family, redt, read, start knitting hat for sisters birthday

I am excited but know this is going to be a very busy year. I’m glad I just got some new tennis shoes;

Debby B  I like to plan my day the same way, doing daily and weekly chores and less pleasant tasks in the morning and saving the afternoon for creative pursuits (some of which are quite productive) and reading.  I'm a homemaker too, and my children are now young adult college students, so while I still cook for them (my oldest is at an out-of-state university but is here on breaks and will be home full time in May, and youngest lives at home) I am free from much of the tasks that I did in the past, since we homeschooled K-12.  But I do clean more than I did when they were teens and helping out more.

I far prefer to cook our main meal at midday and to have a simpler supper.  That has been our schedule for going on 10 years now.  For this winter break I've been cooking the main meal at supper  because of my oldest's schedule, and I find it exhausting -- we'll switch back the having the main meal at midday in a week.  The only exception is Sunday, when I cook something in the slow cooker and we have that for Sunday supper.  But as you described, all of the work for that happens early in the day.

My heart feels happy tonight. See, I told some of you that you were not the only one out there that wanted this kind of life. :) You have all been out there hoping to meet someone with the same interests and here you are, now if the others will start joining the forum we will have a wonderful community.  I love your weekly routine and schedules that you are sharing.  I need to get busy with mine, I have been busy writing posts!  

I am really enjoying Sarah's diary and all of the comments about what other people plan to do! I noticed one of the women said she was going to read the Woman’s World 1930’s magazine. I thought that was a great idea until I checked the prices on eBay. Some of those old magazines sell for about $25 each! I think I will go to Archive.Org and see what old magazines they have there.

I had to laugh when you mentioned your husband calling you that because my husband does as well. We refer to each other as father, mother, momma or daddy. My grandparents both did it, but not my parents or inlaws. We started because our son (only child) was calling us Scott and Andrea!!! We changed that immediately and never went back, but we find it very fitting. 

Hi Becky Sue,

I just wanted to let you know if you keep your eye out on eBay for “ magazine lots” you can find some really good deals. Also your local antique store might sell them. I bought mine for anywhere from $3- $6 a piece. Good luck on your search if you decide to keep looking:

I got my 1930s magazines on Etsy for a lot less than $25. $8 was the most I spent on one issue. Sometimes you can get a bundle for cheap, and I look for free shipping. I too liked Sheri R's idea of putting her magazine reading into her schedule. The comments are so helpful. 

Oh my goodness, I'm going to love reading the articles from this diary. I already want to go mix up a batch of bread dough and get baking! Thank you so much, gdonna, for making this available to us. I need to get an empty notebook so I can start planning my morning and evening chores.

I made a peach kuche today - just took it out of the oven. I used my home canned peaches too - felt good to make something simple from pantry ingredients. I'll serve it with beef stew and biscuits for supper tonight.  I attached a picture of it below.

That looks wonderful Kathryn P, you are off to a very good start. Thank you for sharing with us.  I just went to the pantry and got out some dehydrated celery that I dehydrated this past year to go in the pot with the Chicken. It does feel good to get this study started.  I think we are going to have a wonderful year.  Thank you. :)

Have gotten out of the habit in the last few months of journaling.

My goal this year will be to get better at it again.

Thank you for taking the time out of your life to connect us all.

Your welcome Julia F I hope that you can get started back on journaling & finding a good routine. :)

Kathryn P, the kuchen looks fantastic!

Last night we stayed up late playing games with the young adults (which feels like a mistake this morning).  As we were getting ready for bed I decided to mix up an overnight sourdough batter and this morning I made waffles for the family, with plenty to freeze for later.  My waffle maker is from 1950, not the 1930s, but it's still better than anything made today.  One of my goals with this study is to eliminate foods that wouldn't have been available in 1932.  I don't mean brands -- it's fine with me to buy canned foods that I might have been able to purchase or can myself.  But I don't want to buy or eat foods that are new and modern, especially highly processed food products.  We had the waffles with real butter and real maple syrup.  The only food that might not have been available was the avocado oil I used.  However, in 1934 it was reported that some California growers were using blemished avocados for oil, so it is entirely possible it was being done in 1932 even if it wasn't commercially viable.  The idea was first introduced in 1918.

Grandma Donna, I belong to another forum where people can keep journals in their own thread.  I'm wondering if that might be a good idea here?  We could keep our journals in the style of Sarah.  I know it isn't the same as keeping a paper journal, but would give anyone who wanted one thread for all of their journal entries (and of course people could reply).  What do you think?

I can recall my mom and grandmother getting live chickens in a gunny sack from the grocery store.   Grandpa would dispatch the chickens and mom would dress them gagging the whole time.   Mom didn't like to eat chicken the same day as she dressed it, but often did.  I had my own chickens for a while and my mil taught me how to dress them.  It never bothered me to do so.  

I recall mom getting up very early on Mondays to do laundry (Maytag wringer washer) and hanging outside.  Heck, I recall doing the same in the 1960 -70's although I had a basement to hang clothes in during inclement weather.  On laundry day mom would put a pot of beans on the back of the stove to cook while she was doing laundry.  So, beans and cornbread were always on the menu on Monday. 

What wonderful memories Ann W, I was not the best dispatcher, I tried but that part was not for me. Dressing the chicken I could.  You brought up the 1960 and 1970s, many people do not realize that a lot of areas here in the United States were very slow to change.

Ann W and Grandma D, I was a child all through the 1970s and into the 1980s, in highly populated suburban areas of southern California.  We rarely ate chicken in part because it was the more expensive meat.  I checked The People's History online and saw that whole roasting chickens were 98¢ per pound in 1978 (price taken from Illinois).  That would be $4.48 per pound in 2023.  Back then I didn't know anyone who raised chickens for meat, although when I was very young my extended family would hunt deer and moose, and also raised meat rabbits for a short period of time.

Of course growing up it never occurred to me that there were many areas of the United States where people were still growing extensive gardens, keeping milk goats or cows, or raising meat animals.  We met someone when I was 13 who did these things, and it was a real eye opener.  I spent some time with her one summer and we ate produce from her gardens, eggs from her chickens, bacon from a pig she'd raised and butchered, and we even pit roasted and ate a goat that we'd seen alive earlier in the week.

I would like the idea of people keeping their own journals here. I have been thinking of starting a journal but it would be fun to see what others are doing and accomplishing with the study.

I think keeping online journals is a good idea too. That way it would be easy to see everyone's backstories and how they are progressing through the study. 

I understand the interest about the online diaries, I encourage you all to write your diaries the old way, in a notebook or diary book as they did in the past.  On the other blog post I showed you the insides of two 1930s diaries and the space they had.  Sarah's diary pages are 6 & 12 inches by 4" or 16 & 1/2 cm by 10 cm. That would be the space that you write in. 

We are considering adding new sections when needed that would help with the study.   We are making other adjustments to this forum very soon. You that are here now are our Pioneers!  Write in your private diaries, notebooks so you have a wonderful diary at the end of the study.

I understand this forum is not like other forums, I don't want it to be, please remember what my blog is about, Generations "Before" Us. We are learning what they did, how they did it by practicing what and how they did it. It is difficult to separate this modern world with a study like this but we can help each other work things out as many of you are doing now here in the forum.  I am proud of all of you that have embraced this study and contributed to this forum. This diary of Sarah will keep us on our toes and so will the other parts of the study as we move along.  There is a lot more to come besides Sarah's diary. Grandma Donna

You're right, Grandma Donna. We're supposed to be doing things the old way. I shouldn't use that as another excuse to be online I have to think thirties! 

I would be nice to see a diary of someone who didn't live close to town, but I know that would be difficult to find if even a viable option.  On the other hand I also enjoy reading about their lives. Mine is much different than most due to our location. I am quite content here, but a store trip is a journey.  I also am excited to see and read about how much they had and don't need.  As I declutter my house as I do quite often, I groan at all the stuff, the crap, the junk we have. I didn't grow up with all this junk and I had enough! We had enough when we were first married!  They didn't have all this way back then either. Maybe the diaries will help me see what more I can pare down.  I already printed out the clothing women had. I finally figured out that some of our current problems other than being self-inflicted, is that you can't purchase items other than in quantities larger than we are looking for anymore.  Ugh....So here's my 2023 declutter rant and wishing I was in a different era - at least for the moment. LOL.   Can't wait to read the diaries!  This site tames my anxiety. :)

I understand not wanting us to create mini blogs here in the forum, describing and dissecting our experience with the study.  I'm writing in my paper diary, and want to write as Sarah would have, describing my day without analyzing it.  I typed up what I wrote in my diary, and will share it here to see if it is what we are aiming for with our diaries:

The puppy woke up early, T took him for a run so the rest of us could get more sleep after the late night. Made waffles from the sourdough sponge I set last night. Didn't use milk, and used oil instead of melted butter in the batter -- they turned out great for my first try at sourdough waffles. We ate reheated tacos for lunch, and I baked cookies with margarine so T could eat them. Spent the afternoon relaxing in the living room with M and T, listening to music and reading. We had a nice fire, but ran out of wood and had to put our sweaters back on. There was light rain most of the day, continuing from the heavy rain overnight. We had nearly 2" in 24 hours -- it was much needed.  I slow cooked a ham with brown sugar, maple syrup, and pineapple juice, and M, T, and I ate the that with potatoes for our New Year's supper -- J was at a gathering with friends. Watched two episodes of Willow with M and T before heading to bed.

Grandma Donna wrote, Hi Ann E, you will enjoy the two new diaries coming this week.  Rose and her family live rural and she is a teacher at a country school.  Her father farms and they live rural. Emma is very involved with work at the house and getting her Mama to town.  

Emma's diary, she lives in town but she did live outside of town when they farmed and her adult children come regularly into town and sometimes the grandchildren get stuck at her house because their mother and father cannot get into town to get them.  When the weather is bad they have to stay with Emma to go to school or they would not be able to get to school from where they live. 

I think you will be happy with these diaries. :)  Are you jumping with joy?

Grandma Donna wrote, Kimberly F, that is a very good diary entry, you covered the day well in a short space and that is exactly what they had to do in a diary.  Did you use the measurements of the diary that I posted today as a guide? Because that looks like the amount of writing in Sarah's diary.

Your diary will be so enjoyable to read back years from now and will be a treasure. :)

Thank you Grandma Donna.  Yes, I did model my diary entry on Sarah's, because I knew I would write too much otherwise!

Yay!!! I can't wait.

Since Wednesday was Sarah's baking-of-kuche day, I wanted to do the same, but had no yeast nor peaches!  I dug around for an old recipe of my grandma's, who was a young housewife and mother in the early 1930's.  I found a recipe for Blueberry Buckle, which looked very similar to the kuche except it didn't use yeast, and I had a lot of blueberries in my freezer.  It turned out well!  Very delicious, but a lot more sugar than I usually like, especially with the topping, and even though I reduced the quantities. We are managing to gag it down, despite this!  I hope to use more of my grandma's recipes in upcoming weeks and months. 

Grandma Donna wrote, LynneJ that looks very good despite the sugar issue.  Many of the older recipes call for excessive amounts of sugar.  When I have a recipe calls for a lot of sugar, I cut the sugar in half and it will do just as well. Sometimes I cut it even more than that depending what it is. Thank you for posting your picture.