Saturday is the traditional
homemaker’s baking day, the day she baked loaves of bread and cookies or a cake
or pie for Sunday. Baking is my favorite activity, so I love the Saturday
chores. Actually, I bake several times a week. Sometimes I bake biscuits for
breakfast or corn bread for supper. Whatever day we finish a loaf of bread is
the day I bake another one.
Dennis once said that in
retirement every day is Saturday, and that certainly holds true for me when it
comes to baking. Today, which happens to be Saturday, he requested
zucchini-carrot bars, a kind of cross between carrot cake and bar cookies and I
was happy to oblige. He made a special trip to town to buy a zucchini and a
package of cream cheese for the frosting. As desserts go, this is about as
nutritious as they come; it has 3 ½ cups of shredded carrots and zucchini along
with English walnuts.
It seemed an appropriate
way to celebrate Saturday, baking day. I would include a photo but guests came
by and the bars are more than half gone already. I won’t be able to wait until
next Saturday to make another dessert.
Someone asked me what day
was cooking day for the traditional homemaker. Cooking day was every day, three meals a day – breakfast, dinner, and
supper. And where did all the other chores such as canning tomatoes or spring
cleaning fit into the week? They doubled up with other chores.
The traditional homemaker
did not have an easy life. She didn’t have time to read magazines or visit the
beauty salon. She worked hard every day, including Sunday, which was supposedly
the day of rest. On Sunday, when others might be resting, she put a beef roast in
the oven, went to church and Sunday school, and then came home to finish
preparing the big Sunday dinner and to clean up the kitchen after serving the
meal. If she was lucky she might get to take a short afternoon nap.
I don’t envy the
traditional homemaker, but I certainly respect her. In fact, I stand in awe of her strength
and fortitude. She was a better woman than I will ever be.
Copyright
2014 by Shirley Domer
2 comments:
You must have rested on Sunday.
I went to the opera. It was beautiful and restorative.
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