Tapping into the Well of Knowledge

So I told you that I am having this yearning to learn how my ancestors did things and survived the challenges of their days. My husband jokes that I would have been a great pioneer wife lol. My friends call me Betty Crocker or Martha Stewart (both names I definitely don't live up to) I make most of our meals from scratch, and am onstantly looking for something new, but without the help of my electric oven and Kitchen-Aid mixer, I would be lost! Learning to can food for storage this summer was really fun. I now have a hefty supply of various jam and jelly flavors (I bought the berries from local farmers and canned them - yummy!) and I also canned items from our small backyard garden (green beans, peppers- banana peppers, pickled peppers,  and italian peppers (i froze all of the bell peppers) and tomatoes- spaghetti sauce, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, pickled cherry tomatoes, etc) I learned a lot and really enjoyed it. I bought peaches from a local farmer and now I am prepared for whenever my ittle heart desires peach cobbler or pie. Dehydrating meat for jerky was pretty neat. I look forward to using the dehydrator more this year for fruits and vegetables as well. So the story is that I can do a lot with food, and I know that in the event that I ever had to revert back to cooking over a fire or living off of the land my family would be well taken care of. However, I lack other domestic skills that many women have. I don't sew, knit, crochet, crossstitch, or anything of the sort- a lot of these are lost arts that many women can't perform. It just so happens that women in my family are exceptional at these talents- I intend to spend some time with these great women learning the art of domesticity (maybe I can acquire the secrets to perfect pie crust, great bread, biscuits, and gravy (those are the major food items I haven't mastered yet). How cool would it be if I were able to make my kids clothes- Everything I like in the stores is outrageously proced and with twin girls and a son, the clothing bill just keeps growing. I love the Matilda Jane styles, but hate the Matilda Jane prices. They are simple styles that don't look too difficult to make, I bet I could learn to sew and maybe one day you will see Mama Cass designs at your local shopping mall.