I'm reading a book right now called, "The Short Life and Long Times of Mrs. Beeton, The First Domestic Goddess." It's a biography about this woman named Beeton who is kind of like the Betty Crocker of the UK. She wrote a book called Beeton's Book of Household Management that's been around since 1865 or so, and its like THE book in the UK of how to take care of your home. The author of this book explains, "Beeton's Book of Household Management was in everyone's kitchen, of course, either as a newish wedding present or a handed-down heirloom to be consulted sporadically when you wanted to know how to get grease stains out of ribbon or the best way to make rice pudding." No one ever thought that Mrs. Beeton was a real person. They all thought that she was made up by some company to sell more books under the pretense that a middle aged housewife was giving you advice, much like how Betty Crocker was a completely made up woman. BUT in 1932 they discovered that she WAS a real person when her grandson donated a picture of her to some sort of portrait gallery in the UK. three biographies of Mrs. Beeton have already been written, the last one published in 1977.
The author of this new book, Kathryn Hughes, decided to write a new biography because she believes that the time is right for a new biography to be published. I think this part is interesting. She says, "This desire to retreat to a safe space, a place outside the public and political order (or disorder), has never been so urgent than during the first few years of this new century. On both sides of the Atlantic the television schedules are saturated with programmes explaining how to tinker and freshen our experience of everyday living. Just as the mid-Victorians imagined the middle-clas home as a refuge from the perils of capitalism, with all its jostling competition and sudden threats, so 150 years later we have retreated form the terror of the world beyond our front door to a small pocket of space where we assume the consoling powers of gods."
so. this isn't a recipe, but it IS some food-for-thought. ha!
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just how old were those eggs?
for those who believe in casseroles
just how old were those eggs?
Rules for posting recipes:
-any recipe posted that isn't based on either a canned cream soup or cool whip has to be cleared by tricia or miss diana before posting
- no recipes that are explicitly vegetarian (with exceptions for things like green bean casserole that are intended as side dishes)
-no meat substitutes except egg salad
2 comments:
food for thought, yes. i don't think that the home can be considered a safe space apart from capital anymore. a lot of people find comfort in the products they bring into their home, and they attach value to these objects as things that make them feel happy, peaceful, consoled, etc. and reflect their individual personalities. i think a lot of people consider it "good home management" to know "what to buy and where to put it". consumerism and capitalism are part of the private sphere. perhaps it is only the residue of Victorian thought that makes people think of their Eddie Bauer sofa, Lipton tea, and Yankee candle as a recipe for respite and escape from market forces.
i just google image searched Mrs. Beeton (in fact i can't believe you didn't include her picture in this post) and one of the images that came up was from a BBC television show about her. somehow we need to watch this, preferably while wearing high waisted wool skirts and cardigans in an attempt to escape from our post-9/11 related fears.
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