Art of Homemaking—Household Rules from 1954

Chapter 2 of our little gem of a cookbook is all about Household Rules.  I will share a few ones that I loved best.

Kitchen Rules
Always wear wash dress or apron.  (I wish I followed this more often…I hate staining my clothes….)
Always wash hands before beginning work.
Have hand towels for drying hands.
Be sure that dish towels are clean and dry.
Be careful in the handling of food.  Keep all untensils clean; sanitation is most important.
Work spaces whould be kept clean.  Rinse all utensils after using them and stack them to conserve space.  Wash in hot, soapy water.

Dusting a room
Begin in one corner and take each article in turn as you come to it.  Dust from the highest thing to the lowest.  Dust the woodwork, funiture, and movable items with a soft cloth, and wash the cloth when it is soiled.

Ok, I never knew there were “rules” to dusting….maybe this should be my goal this week?  Sure.  Dusting it is.  And I will follow every rule, starting in one corner.  But please don’t judge if I only get one room done….cause it just might take me a week.

PS….And as for the BBQ sauce last week?  REALLY, REALLY good.  I had never made barbeque sauce from scratch, but it is so much better (I know probably most people have…but I am sometimes slow on “from scratch” food items).  Now, if only I could share it with you–but we aren’t to the sauces chapter.  Just kidding. Here is the recipe.

Barbeque Sauce

1 cup diced onion
1 clove garlic
2 T fat (Ok.  I used butter.  But, go ahead use fat too if you want 🙂
1 cup chopped tomato (I used petite diced tomatoes in the can)
1 cup green pepper, diced
1 cup celery
2 T brown sugar
1/2 T dry mustard
2 cups stock from roast or water with meat cube (I used beef broth)
1 cup catsup
Salt and Pepper to taste

Fry the onion and garlic in fat, add the rest, cook slowly 1 hour.  Liquid should reduce about 1/2 volume and sauce should be well blended.

(We spiced ours up a bit…we like spicy around here….but it really is a good basic sauce.  And I am freezing some….perfect for winter bbqs. )

Have a great weekend!!!!