The year 1932. Rose is a thirty five year old school teacher in a country school. She is unmarried and lives at home with her parents and family in a rural area in the state of Iowa. Rose has not been teaching and we are thinking they have possibly closed her school. We are not sure of the reason why, many states, counties and cities have been having problems paying salaries during the great depression, there is also very bad flu at this time as well as scarlet fever.
We continue the diary of Rose.
Tuesday, January 26, 1932. Warm, snowed about all day. I ironed. Helen and I sewed. Mama and Harland to town in P.M. Mrs. DeWitt Wilson's funeral.
Wednesday, January 27. Very nice day but chilly wind. Mama, Harland, Helen & I to Waterloo. Harland to play cards with Clarence.
Thursday, January 28.Cloudy day looked like snow. Mr. Sack came out. Cummings came after lard press. Harland to town. To dance at Electric Park.
Friday, January 29. Windy and snowy. Got colder and took Mama peddling in C. Falls Got 22 eggs.
Saturday, January 30. Reported 20 degrees below zero. Very cold all day. Harland took Mama to waterloo. Helen and I sewed. Assessor came in late P.M.
Sunday, January 31. Very cold 15 or 20 degrees below zero. Didn't go to Chaney's on account of cold. Helen and I fixed quilts, popped corn and spilled it, popped more.
Monday, February 1, 1932. Wind in southeast, warmer in Eve. Snowed all day long. Harland went to C. Falls about noon. Helen and I sewed. Mc Fadders out in evening.
End of this weeks reading of the diary of Rose. Now on to visit Emma.
We continue the diary of Emma. The year 1933. Emma has been a widow for 1 year and 4 months, she is living in the United States in the State of Iowa. Emma lives in a small town community and has a busy life. Some of her grandchildren are brought into town for school and often they stay for awhile with her. One of her grandsons stays with her longer than the others. There is much interaction that goes on with her family, her children live in rural areas and one daughter lives away and writes letters. Emma's grandchildren come to visit her often and a few of them are old enough to be helpful. Emma misses them when they are not there. You will start getting the feel of who they are as we read through the diary.
We left off last week with this diary entry, Wednesday, January 25. John Stoakes read metors today. Usual man been sick, my bill $1.77 Mr & Mrs Galley called this P.M. Have about the usual temperature. Got letter from Grace, All as usual there.
We continue this weeks diary entries.
Thursday, January 26, 1933. Has been a gloomy day & raining some this even, I did a little washing & made Frank an apple pie this a.m. He brot me a good letter from Millie this noon.
Friday, January 27. It was raining when Sheryl was ready to go home last evening from basket ball practice So he came & stayed here with Frank. Took dinner here also - Today Lem was in a while this a.m. Brot me a pt of cream.
Saturday, January 28. Cool & cloudy, Have been busy cleaning & sewing, Sheryl stoped in on his way to ball game, He walked all the way from home. He wanted only a little lunch, as he is to play tonite.
Sunday, January 29. Home all day alone chilly south east wind & quite slippery under feet. Have spent most of the day reading & writing to Grace will retire early, so lonely all alone.
Monday, January 30. Much to our surprise this has been a lovely spring like day, I went this P.M. to bank and then called on Mrs. Brown & Mrs. Childs, Abe was in brot Milk, eggs & cream & a squash pie this a.m.
Tuesday, January 31. A rainy day. Sherly was here for supper. Boys are playing basket ball tonight . I have been working on a crazy quilt most of the day. Good by January 1933.
January Memoranda - January 3, 1933 Payed dues on two insurance tornado policies today $3.05 on No, 795933 and $15.00 on No. 824138 Received $20.00 rent from J.B. Greenly new years day. Ever onward & Upward.
Wednesday, February 1. Abe & Leighton came this P.M. brot cream & milk. Oli here a while after school. Sheryl here for dinner & stayed last night, mud froze up today. Cloudy & considerable cooler. Worked on crazy quilt again today.
We are starting to understand in our diaries that pie was very common during this time and took little time to make. They would have had the simple ingredients on hand, a crust takes minimal ingredients that I would consider to be staples in the home. Most likely they had home canned fruit in the larder for the pies. Emma made her grandson Frank an apple pie as if it was such a simple thing to do.
Maybe we should make us a handwritten recipe book for our kitchen to have our most often made recipes and keep it somewhere handy in the kitchen. Then we make sure to keep the ingredients on hand as they did long ago. This photo above is an old handwritten recipe book that was started in the early 1920's by a young lady named Mary.
So what do you think about this pie crust recipe above in this 1920s recipe book. This recipe was most likely passed down from a much earlier time, most likely from her mother and grandmother as she was Miss Mary when she started her book.
The pie crust recipe above reads. Line a tin with flour. Put in lard size of an egg. 3 tablespoons of water. Mix soft roll this will make one crust.
Do you have a favorite simple dessert recipe? If so tell us about it and if you want to share the recipe, click on the Gathering room in the forum and go to Recipes and cooking and put your recipe there.
I decided to make the pie crust in Mary's handwritten cookbook and I chose her Custard pie recipe. I will be doing a regular blog post tomorrow so I will include this pie that I have made this morning in tomorrows post. Charles will happily taste the pie and so will I and we will let you know how the pie crust did as well as Mary's custard pie.
Just a reminder, anyone that reads my blog posts can go to the forum to read the comments without signing up. The only signing up is for those that would like to comment and take part in conversation. The signing up is so we can filter out spammers. You can find the forum in the top menu section simple called Forum. Grandma Donna
