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Today I was doing some research (on another topic entirely) and found a fabulous website on the history of kitchens prior to and after the turn of the 20th century. It really put things in perspective for me on a day when I was feeling a little worn out by food prep. Enjoy ladies and gents!
This quote, which can be found on the 1890s kitchen page, left me exhausted just reading it...
Quote:
In 1895 a farmer's wife produced for her family of six:
325 loaves of bread,
83 tins of biscuits,
15 loaves of brown bread,
267 pies,
130 cakes,
35 puddings,
114 dozen cookies,
108 dozen ginger snaps, and
14 chicken pies.
Nor does this include the meats and vegetables.
I think all work should end at a certain time of day, yeh? As a woman I'd rather be doing housework than yardwork or going out in the god-awful heat and sun. Besides, I love cooking.^^ I think it's an art form that should be done out of love.
I think all work should end at a certain time of day, yeh? As a woman I'd rather be doing housework than yardwork or going out in the god-awful heat and sun. Besides, I love cooking.^^ I think it's an art form that should be done out of love.
But, historically, the kitchen has been hotter than outdoors. (Hence the quote ~ "If you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen".)
Keeping a fire in the fireplace or cookstove suitable for cooking and baking and keeping the irons hot and heating water in a time before air conditioning while wearing corsets and multiple petticoats was horrible.
Besides cooking and cleaning, the food harvested in summer had to be preserved for future seasons of eating, so you were canning or pickling or making preserves. Everything that was washed on Mondays, had to be ironed on Tuesdays. Even sheets were ironed in the days before permanent press. Before electric irons, there were irons made from cast iron that had to be heated in the fireplace or on the cookstove. The stove/fire had to be really hot, all day, to get all of the ironing done. Even in summer. Bread had to baked every week. Even in summer. Water had to be heated for washing dishes and weekly baths. Even in summer.
What did you think of the website? I thought it was an amazing treasure-trove of information. I kept finding new and interesting things every time I clicked. I especially liked the lists of each decade's recipes. I remember hearing the term Apple Charlotte ...on Downton Abbey, maybe?... and wondering what it was. The recipe reminded me an awful lot of what know as Apple Crisp. I also liked the list of commercial products from each decade. I had no idea that Tootsie Rolls are more than a century old!
Last edited by randomparent; 07-07-2014 at 11:54 AM..
Love the website. Like you implied, it will take a good while to absorb it all. Good info.
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