Article about needlework etc

Dawne Peterson wrote:
"Karen C in California" wrote
"Children of today are
raised in a consumer-focused environment and then as adults they can't
sew or cook or make things,"

That was true 30 years ago when I went to college. Only a couple of us in
the dorm actually knew how to cook.

I think there are people in every generation who are raised to be
self-sufficient, and those who aren't. I couldn't cook when I married the
first time--but I could read, and if you can read, you can cook. 3 of my
Dad's 4 sisters had no domestic skills either--never learned, because they
were training to be teachers and nurses.

Dawne



I reckon it skips generations. My grandmother was a sickly person who
seemed to have the vapours most of the time. Hence, my Mum was brought
up to do *everything* around the house. Then she, in her turn, brought
us up to 'get out of my way' and give her space to do all the things
that wanted doing. We never lifted a finger as kids! I remember Ugly and
me begging to be allowed to wash the dishes because all our school
friends did and we simply didn't know how! We asked to be given chores,
but were told it was just quicker if Mum did the stuff and we kept out
of the way. Sigh.

When I hit college, I had no idea how to wash my own clothes, iron or
basically do anything for myself. I learned pretty quickly, though. As
you say, Dawne, if you can read, you can do anything. My motto has
always been 'give me an instruction manual and I can move the world!'
LOL! Ugly and I both learned to cook after marriage and I must say,
we're both pretty good at it. Ugly has a floor fetish (she sweeps
compulsively) while mine is for a clean kitchen sink. Ugly's Big
Learning Experience was the day she found out that you don't melt butter
by putting it in a hot oven in a plastic cup. Mine was the time I
discovered that you need to check inside the fresh chicken before
cooking it. The plastic bag containing the giblets imparts a somewhat
odious flavour to the meat when left in situ!

Then again, Mum hasn't got a creative bone in her body and it was my
grandmother who taught me to knit, crochet and sew. Mum never picked up
any of those skills (although she enjoys plain knitting now and then)
and it's I who make things for her, not the other way around. Funny,
that. Ugly takes directly after Mum in that she's not into making or
decorating or embellishing things in any way at all. However, like Mum,
she's a workaholic and is the most indefatigable person I know. Wish I
had a bit of her indefatigue!

Dad, on the other hand, spent long hours teaching me stuff when I was
little. He taught me all about carpentry and power tools and how to mend
and build things. This came in *so* useful as I grew up and to this day,
I thank Dad for giving me useful stuff like the correct way to handle a
hammer and how to grind a good edge on a burred screwdriver.

It's funny how often I find myself telling young parents to *teach*
their kids what they (themselves) know. Often, in the flurry of
homemaking and coping with mortgages, we forget to give of ourselves in
the ways that really stick.

--
Trish Brown {|:-}

Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Bruce Fletcher (remove dentures to reply) wrote:

When we see young (and not-so-young) mothers with a couple of children
in tow who fill their supermarket trolley with ready-prepared food
(burgers etc) and tinned produce Maureen often comments that with what
they spent they could buy a couple of joints of meat and some fresh
vegetables and, for the cost of an hour or two in preparation, give
their family several decent, much healthier and tastier meals.

YES! My two favourite soapboxes are macaroni cheese and pikelets
('pikelets' is Oz for small, single-bite pancakes).

My nieces will pay $$$ for vile, disgusting frozen macaroni cheese
and/or preservative-laden boxed pikelet mix. They say 'I don't have the
time to cook like you do, Aunt!'

Pppppbbbblllffftttt!

It takes twenty five minutes to heat the frozen gloop they call macca
and cheese, while I can whip up a scrumptious batch from scratch in
exactly ten! (NB. I cook my pasta in the microwave while the cheese
sauce bubbles on the stovetop) Bit o' flour, butter, milk, cheese and
bob'syeruncle!

Rather than pay three or four dollars for packaged pikelet gloop, it's
just as simple to chuck a cup of flour, an egg, some sugar and some milk
in a jug and mix! What's so hard about that???

--
Trish Brown {|:-}

Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Trish Brown wrote:
My nieces will pay $$$ for vile, disgusting frozen macaroni cheese
and/or preservative-laden boxed pikelet mix. They say 'I don't have the
time to cook like you do, Aunt!'

The latest "Oh no!" item in the freezer of our local shop is - I kid you
not - "Aunt Bessie's frozen mashed potato". I must admit that "Aunt
Bessie's frozen oven chips" are quite nice for an occasional treat but
frozen mash, I ask you!
--
Bruce Fletcher
Stronsay, Orkney UK
http://claremont.islandblogging.co.uk

Bruce Fletcher (remove dentures to reply) wrote:
When we see young (and not-so-young) mothers with a couple of children
in tow who fill their supermarket trolley with ready-prepared food
(burgers etc) and tinned produce Maureen often comments that with what
they spent they could buy a couple of joints of meat and some fresh
vegetables and, for the cost of an hour or two in preparation, give
their family several decent, much healthier and tastier meals.

I have several friends who claim to "cook from scratch". This
involves opening cans, jars and boxes of stuff. The packaged
ingredients are added to a real chunk of meat so that makes it a bit
better. I've often asked "Why not buy fresh veggies or gravy, etc. to
cook with the meat"? The response is that it's quicker to use the stuff
in a can.... We won't even talk about the way baking is done!!!
CiaoMeow ^;;^

PAX, Tia Mary ^;;^ (RCTQ Queen of Kitties)
Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about
their whiskers!
Visit my Photo albums at http://community.webshots.com/user/tiamary

On 4/27/09 6:32 AM, in article ,
"Bruce Fletcher (remove dentures to reply)"
wrote:

Trish Brown wrote:
My nieces will pay $$$ for vile, disgusting frozen macaroni cheese
and/or preservative-laden boxed pikelet mix. They say 'I don't have the
time to cook like you do, Aunt!'

The latest "Oh no!" item in the freezer of our local shop is - I kid you
not - "Aunt Bessie's frozen mashed potato". I must admit that "Aunt
Bessie's frozen oven chips" are quite nice for an occasional treat but
frozen mash, I ask you!


Thinking he was helping, my husband once bought frozen mashed - ick, yuck,
disgusting.


And do you know there is frozen cooked rice out there? Or steamer bowls of
it in the health food section? Takes what - 15 minutes to cook white rice.
Ok the brown stuff does take longer, but still folks...it will take 15
minutes to nuke the rice

That's even less of a value than the pre-made potato salad.

says...
When we see young (and not-so-young) mothers with a couple of children
in tow who fill their supermarket trolley with ready-prepared food
(burgers etc) and tinned produce

snip

My youngest sister never ever exhibited any interest in cooking. When she was
single and living in the City (aka Manhattan), she'd stop at a pizzeria for a
slice or some other place with take away food on her way home from work. Now
living in NJ with her kids and husband, she buys a lot of chicken fingers
(breaded sliced chicken) and similar ideas at Costco or her husband cooks.

Her rationale: she has better things to do than be in the kitchen.

Her better things mainly consist of shepherding the aforementioned kids to a
thousand and one school, sports, and social activities.

They're getting a bit old for play dates ... when did going outside to play
with kids in the neighborhood get replaced by 'if Joanie can play with Suzie on
Tuesday, then Suzie can come over next Thursday.'

--
another anne, add ingers to reply

wrote in message
...
On Mon, 27 Apr 2009 09:17:35 +0100, "Bruce Fletcher (remove dentures
to reply)" wrote:


When we see young (and not-so-young) mothers with a couple of children
in tow who fill their supermarket trolley with ready-prepared food
(burgers etc) and tinned produce Maureen often comments that with what
they spent they could buy a couple of joints of meat and some fresh
vegetables and, for the cost of an hour or two in preparation, give
their family several decent, much healthier and tastier meals.

The one that bugs me is to see that mother/father with a carton of
potato salad, the price of ready-made salad is about 10lbs of spuds
and a jar of mayo and whatever else one likes to add to it.



I wonder??? 10 lbs. of potatoes is probably about $4 to $5. I buy one
at a time for baking so I'm not sure! A jar of mayonnaise here is around
$3. Now how does one figure in the time it takes to peel all those
potatoes, cook them, dry them and add all the ingredients necessary to give
it a really good taste?

Given the fact that so many families are made up of people who work full
time and don't get home until 6 or 7 p.m., how can you figure the real cost
of 10 lbs. of potato salad?

I'm not advocating using prepared or fast food or saying that mothers must
stay home and take care of home and hearth. That's a whole other
discussion.

Just thinking about it.

On 4/27/09 7:49 AM, in article
, "anne"
wrote:

says...
When we see young (and not-so-young) mothers with a couple of children
in tow who fill their supermarket trolley with ready-prepared food
(burgers etc) and tinned produce

snip

My youngest sister never ever exhibited any interest in cooking. When she was
single and living in the City (aka Manhattan), she'd stop at a pizzeria for a
slice or some other place with take away food on her way home from work. Now
living in NJ with her kids and husband, she buys a lot of chicken fingers
(breaded sliced chicken) and similar ideas at Costco or her husband cooks.

Her rationale: she has better things to do than be in the kitchen.

Sounds like me and house work.... LOL

Her better things mainly consist of shepherding the aforementioned kids to a
thousand and one school, sports, and social activities.
Well - I do do that

They're getting a bit old for play dates ... when did going outside to play
with kids in the neighborhood get replaced by 'if Joanie can play with Suzie
on
Tuesday, then Suzie can come over next Thursday.'

Don't get me started on that one. Sadly there is no one DD's age in the
immediate neighborhood and the one girl that is close by and close to her
age is home schooled and their family schedule makes mine look like a walk
in the park. (piano, Bible Study and CCD, sports, dance times 4).

anne wrote:
..snipped..........
They're getting a bit old for play dates ... when did going outside to play
with kids in the neighborhood get replaced by 'if Joanie can play with Suzie on
Tuesday, then Suzie can come over next Thursday.'

Fortunately, we live in a small enough neighborhood that the kids are
out playing almost every day except in the worst of weather. The
community pool is just around the block from our house so we see groups
of kids walking down there most days as soon as it's warm enough. The
younger kids ride their bikes down the steep street in front of our
house and the older ones hang out by the little creek that runs along
the back of our property. It's so nice in good weather to hear the
laughter and "having fun" noises the kids make. I might not like to
have to interact with kids frequently but I DO like to hear them out
playing and having fun and just being kids.
Same is true in DD's neighborhood. The SMDGD has made several
friends in the area since she started kindergarten last fall. More
often than not, she's out playing with her new friends or down at the
playground on the corner. She's certainly NOT in the house crouched in
front of the telly. She even takes the older dog out for a walk almost
every day, too! CiaoMeow ^;;^

PAX, Tia Mary ^;;^ (RCTQ Queen of Kitties)
Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about
their whiskers!
Visit my Photo albums at http://community.webshots.com/user/tiamary

says...

I totally agree Cheryl, you said exactly what I was thinking.

I liked the subjects ;-) My guess is that the artworld likes them too.
--
another anne, add ingers to reply