I decided to go with our vintage good china for the Christmas Meal but set it informal.
Homemade yellow cake with boiled chocolate frosting.
Homemade rolls..
Squash Casserole.
For those that were wondering if they had turkey for Christmas in 1943, yes they did. This is an ad from December 1943.
I got busy and never took pictures of the carrot salad, chicken or mashed potatoes and gravy, cabbage, cornbread and cranberry sauce. In our family we only buy gifts for the children. Our meal is a bit of a Christmas present to ourselves. Being together and remembering why we celebrate Christmas is what is important to us.
I will post a recipe for the chocolate cake and the squash casserole, the other items are common foods and easy to prepare.
As some of you know and some may not my husband and I are doing a one year living like 1943 History project. This photo is from 1943 when world war II was happening. As bad as it was and and the enormous death toll it still seems to me that there was more confidence in people and more people helping people during this time.
I do have concerns what this year may bring due to the multitude of problems world wide.
I am hoping that I can inspire in some way, for you to empower yourselves to be more independent and be your own unique homemaker and gardener so you can provide a warm and safe environment for yourself and family.
The lady on the left pictured above was born October 1884 and she lived during a time when the only lighting in the house was by oil light or candles. Heat was a fireplace and water was hauled into the house. Yet she was more accomplished than most any of us today with her homemaking skills because she knew how to do things without the machines that we have today that make work easier.
She made quilts and sewed the family clothes, she cooked the meals on a wood stove, there was no air conditioning or heating back then as we know today. This was their way of life because it was the time they were born. We really should not have the difficulties that we have in today's time when you truly think about it.
So why do we have so much trouble keeping our homes clean when we have so many things to help us. Most of us have electricity, running water, heating and cooling, indoor toilets, refrigerators, freezers, washers and dryers, vacuum cleaners, appliances that can do most anything, televisions, cell phones, computers, tablets, pads, anything in the world to entertain a child to where they should not cry for anything.
So why are we overwhelmed when they were not? We have too much.
Spring will be here in a few months and so we should be starting to think about things ahead of time.
I think this year of 2016 could be an empowering year if we were to bring back the old skills of our generations before us and learn to do the things they knew so well before these skills will be completely lost.
I think the world war II victory garden is not a bad idea for us to grow at least a small amount of vegetables and herbs. Some places have small community gardens for those that do not have a place to grow a garden.
To have a garden we need to start some of our seeds indoors many weeks before spring arrives so we need to plan where is the garden going to go? What will I plant?
What I normally say here on this blog for the typical non farm life, is we need a simple home to provide a place to rest and sleep, a place to cook and nourish, a place to gather for a meal, a place to pray, study and nourish our minds and our soul. We need a place to bathe and clean our bodies and our clothes. If we have the outdoor space a garden would be very beneficial for vegetables. Anything more than that would be more than we need.
It is our responsibility to take care of our own family and seems to me something that needs some work. A balance of nourishing food and proper rest with extended sleep time for children. If we are not doing that much then maybe we need to change.
Grandma Donna
