Choice Morsels

Wringer Washing Machine I remember while growing up in rural Indiana in the 60's and 70's, doing laundry was an all day event. My clearest memories of  "laundry day," come from summer time, when we were out of school.  Mother had a certain day of the week she did laundry usually. I liked to sleep in and I recall waking up around 9:30 to the chugging rhythm the wringer washer already at work.  I'd see all the dirty laundry sorted into piles around the utility room floor: whites, light colors,  medium colors, dark colors and heavy darks, like jeans. (The photo is one I found online of a Kenmore wringer washer quite similar to the last model I remember Mother having in the 70's.) You have to understand, wringer washers only do the washing part. S he'd start with whites, then once the washer finished it's wash cycle, it would stop. Then she'd, by hand, pull each item of clothing out of the washer and feed it through the wringer rollers ...

The Mama Kat blog writing prompt suggestion I'm doing today is, "tell us about the last time you went ice skating." Last time I went ice skating....? How about somewhere in the range of 45 years ago. I only ever went once. Once was enough. The Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis on the State Fair grounds hosts events and entertainment all year round ranging from concerts to livestock shows to Hockey. I remember seeing the Shrine Circus there a couple times  and Holiday On Ice performances several times. Winter is Hockey season, though and the Coliseum floor gets a iced and is available for public ice skating during the day, skate rentals included. I think it might've been a 4-H club trip outing with several club members the time we went, since Mother & Dad were the leaders, plus my sisters and myself.  I was in my teens.  I did know how to roller skate well enough to mostly stay upright and circle around the rink with the rest of the crowd....

It was the winter of 1944.  Dad was a young sailor home on leave, his first leave, after having spent the previous 18 months on a Minesweeper in the Pacific. He happened to be on a street car riding back to Minneapolis from roller skating at a rink in St. Paul, when my Mother and her friend, Kathy hopped on.  Mother just remembers being face to face with this cute sailor in his dress blues, Navy pea coat and smoking a pipe with his Navy cap at a jaunty angle. The three of them had a pleasant chat during the 40 minute ride and he said he'd be going back to the South Pacific soon and would they care to write? It was widely regarded as patriotic duty to write the servicemen during World War 2, so both girls quickly agreed and he jotted down their addresses. He had to write first, since he didn't know his ship assignment yet.  Dad/1944 He did write both girls and, for a time, Mother and her friend, Kathy would compare & discuss his letters together. ...

I recently purchased some "Black Rice" and came to wonder about varieties of rice. What's the difference between Basmati and Jasmine? Or long, medium or short grain rices? So, today's Good Eating is all about rice: an explanation of various kinds. I've gleaned this information from various references on the web and I really appreciated coming to a better understanding of things like basmati rice or sweet rice and even Uncle Ben's rice! First of all, rice is divided into 3 general categories: all purpose, aromatic & specialty of which I'm only listing a few of the most common. There are many more breeds of rice, some only grown in local areas for local use. All Purpose Rices: White Long Grain Rice : This is a long, slim polished rice that is doesn't stick together on cooking and fluffs-up nicely making it preferred for Chinese cooking or any thing that calls for a fluffy, non-sticky rice.  White Medium & Short Grain Rices:  These ...

Today's Mama Kat is to share, "A Back to School Memory."      The scent of autumn was in the air and golden rod was in bloom when I started school in 1963.  I wore a dress, since dresses were what all girls wore to school back then, and carried a red & black plaid book bag, such as the one pictured.       I carried all my books back and forth to school everyday. Initially, I don't recall we could leave books in the our desks and I remember not enjoying how heavy trundling that loaded book bag back and forth was.  At some point in grade school, we had assigned desks and could leave our stuff there. I think desk styles changed maybe, though I can't remember. I do remember I wasn't carrying that thing back and forth in 2nd grade. 50's/60's Book Bag      I would wait for the bus at the end of the driveway and on this particular day I recall going sitting at the very farthest back seat. The bus's next stop was at ...

I my growing-up era was the 60's and early 70's. I had two younger sisters and one of the many things we enjoyed doing was playing board games. We had a closet full of games to choose from, but one of my personal favorites was my "Barbie Queen of the Prom," game! It was a little like Barbie Monopoly. The game was for 4 players, who moved around the board earning money to buy a prom dress, earn a school club pin, get a sweet-heart ring and choose a boyfriend. Whoever got to the final "Prom" space with all 4 items won the game. The thing was, how fancy a dress you got or which boyfriend you got was first come, first serve. The first player, of course, could pick the best dress and best boyfriend (which was Ken). The last player usually got stuck with freckly-faced ol' Poindexter for a date and who wanted that? It's funny I was just thinking about this very game today, how much fun I got out of it. I remember was generally particular about th...

The Mama Kat blog writing topic for today is to, "Trouble I Got Into One Summer." It wasn't a bad sort of trouble. I didn't even cause it. It was just an inspiration our parents had that didn't quite work out as imagined. I think it was around 1972.  The television had gone on the fritz in the spring, just before school let out. I'm quite sure it was an older model with vacuum tubes and all. We always had "adopted TV's" that our Dad would be home from work because customers would often choose to give up a TV rather then fix it. He was a professional TV repairman. It's what he did and he could have easily fixed our TV. However, he and Mother Mom decided we 3 kids should have a summer, "without TV." That sounds like a good idea, right? Get the kids outside, less time in front of the tube.  We lived way out in the country anyway, with lots of woods and a creek, so there was plenty of adventure to be had, plus we could ...