Thursday, June 27, 2013

Mid Century Housewife Day 2: Ugh!!! I need an Ethel!!! And Quick!

First I want to thank everyone for the kind comments and response to my first day as a vintage housewife!!! It was super fun to read the comments and to know what you think of my experiment. And it seems like everyone has had a previous experience with SPAM but me! What's with that? I think it comes from me growing up in a dancer household and watching what I ate ALL the time. I have to say that I enjoyed it!!!! It's yummy! Who knew? I guess you all did!!!

On to yesterday.

Yesterday (Wednesday) was Day 2 in what I'm calling my Mid Century Housewife Project.

It started off like the first day, which is good because that means I'm following the schedule.

I woke up, made breakfast (in my pj's), and sat and ate with Honey. It was a work day for her so right after we ate she started getting dressed for work. Which is a process because she works for MAC cosmetics and has to go to work all edgy and in full makeup. So it sometimes takes a while. While she got dressed I put on a day dress, did my makeup and hair, then started on the daily chore list which was just a repeat of what I did the day before. There is a lot of repetition in the housewife schedule which I can appreciate. That way I don't really have to think about what needs to happen next. It's like muscle memory. Kind of like dancing.

After I got Honey out of the house and off to work, I cleaned the mess she left for me...






then I got started on the chore of the day which was the laundry... I can't stand doing laundry. I usually trick Honey into doing it because I dislike it so much. I think it would be easier if we had a washer/dryer in our apartment. But in true NY fashion we have to walk to the laundry mat to get the clothes clean. Luckily for us it's just around the corner so its not too bad. But I still don't like it.

We didn't have too much laundry that needed to be done (triple YAY) so I was done with cleaning AND laundry by around 4 pm. Then there was a quick run back to the supermarket for things that I forgot the last time I was there.

It wasn't a very hard day, thank goodness. But it got me thinking. Gosh, I sure wish I had a lovable, wise cracking best friend, who lives next door to stop by to chat with. An Ethel to my Lucy. Or a Mille to my Laura Petrie (anyone else love The Dick Van Dyke show like I do?!)!  I have lots of friends but none who live immediately in the area and share my love of vintage everything. How fun would it be to have someone to get into lots of innocent, crazy trouble with while my Honey is off bringing home the bacon? SO MUCH FUN!!! We could have tea, and (try to) play bridge, if I knew how to play and I could borrow sugar or butter or something when I need it!! SO MUCH FUN! I definitely need to work on that.

Oops. Got a little off subject there. Anyway. I ended up having more free time than I thought because Honey had to stay late at work. So I was able to watch some TV shows. I tried to keep it vintage and watch Lucy and some TCM movies we had on the dvr. I started dinner late because I knew Honey wouldn't be home until around 9:30 and I didn't want to eat without her.  I made Steak Roll-Ups with Noodles.

Here was the recipe






Not bad...

I made it through the first of the instructions.




And left the meat to simmer in the sauce while I set up the table and got things ready for a very late dinner. When I got back to the pan, about 40 minutes later I thought that I had a potential disaster on my hands because the steak shrunk!!! A lot!!! It went from what you see in the above picture to something half the size! Ooops. Not sure if that was supposed to happen but, it ended up working out fine. It meant no left overs but that's sometimes a good thing in this house. Left overs hardly ever get eaten.

Here is a picture from the cookbook of what it was supposed to look like





And here is my finished product





Pretty good!! Oh! I added some spinach in the steak because I felt we could use some more green stuff. It totally worked in the dish. It tasted surprisingly good. I was nervous because there was minimal seasoning involved. Honey gave it a thumbs up so I guess we're good!

So that was yesterday. I just realized that I need to revise the schedule I made a few posts back. I only have one marketing day on the schedule and I definitely need two. I'm thinking of making Friday the other market day. Today is one of my two thorough cleaning days. I'm supposed to deep clean the kitchen and the bathroom... I'm going to follow the America's Housekeeping Book method of cleaning the kitchen. Here is a link to the book. The page for kitchens should be page 253 if you want to follow along.

Dinner is going to be Tuna Bake and strawberry cream pie. We'll see how that goes. OH! I think I'm going to alternate cookbooks throughout the 2 weeks. Tomorrow I'll do another recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens book but I'll do a different cookbook starting Friday. Gotta keep it interesting!!


Oh! And before I go I just want to acknowledge the fantastic thing that happened in the states yesterday. DOMA was struck down by the Supreme Court and same sex marriages will finally be recognized on a Federal level (well, if you live in a state with legal same sex marriage). And NO MORE PROP 8 for my California lovies! YAY! It was a good day to be a housewife to Honey yesterday!!

Okie dokie, that's all for now. I'll see ya after the Tuna Bake is done!!!

xoxo


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18 comments:

  1. Was very proud of my home state for making same sex marriage legal again!Enjoy your housewife duties. :)

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  2. I know what you mean about the need for an Ethel! I could really use one too! I spend all day every day as a house wife (Sometimes in vintage but not always, hehe) I homeschool the kids and take care of the house, I would be just delighted if A friend would stop by for a daily gab!!
    Oh and a big whoop for the victory in the courts, a very good day!

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    1. An Ethel would just add an extra bright spot to our day!!! Someday...I hope!

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  3. This dinner looks like it came out really well - another vintage cookbook victory!!! :)

    I know what you mean about wanting an Ethel. It would be so great to have a friend that lived on the same street, or even nearby, to call in on and hang out with whenever. I think everyone needs an Ethel, it's just that most people aren't lucky enough to find one!

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    1. HAHA! I guess we're all in the same boat. I guess we all have to have our Ethel's online through our blogs!

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  4. Move to Qns ASAP! I feel the SAME way!!!!! heheeh Lucky for you I feel more like an Ethel than a Lucy hehe The dinner looked fab!!! Honey rocks! She is being so open and supportive! I just love this-eating up your Mid Century Housewife Project! If you need a kid or a few I can always lend mine out haha Thats includes doing diapers and teaching one how to do potty...gahhhhhhhhhh heheeh Muah! So proud of you!!! xox

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    1. I KNOOOOOWWWW!!! I doooo!!! You never know. Honey and I are still working on Project Cape Cod so anything is possible.

      HAHA! I'm barley making it with just Honey and me. I don't see how you mommies do it. I guess your body just gets used to being sleep deprived.

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  5. Congratulations on another successful day! Your dinner looks scrumptious! Are you finding that in being a 50's housewife you are much more attentive to Honey? I bet she is digging the extra care in the household:) Oh that stinks about the laundry. Do you have to sit and wait at the laundry mat? But, you know, this is a total vintagey thing to do too:) I admire all the cooking you are doing!

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    1. Oh Honey is TOTALLY eating it up. She keeps saying how she could definitely get used to this!

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  6. Dinner looks great! I am sooo with you on needing an Ethel. I'm home most of the week and would love a girlfriend to pop on over for some tea or coffee, but everyone I know works 40 hours a week (and is anti housewife at that!) No one is home or out and about in my neighborhood, it's like a ghost town during the week. I'm not sure where all the kids are... playing video games indoors maybe? It's actually kind of depressing.

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    1. Oh! Same on my block. I NEVER see kids unless they're on their way to or from school! It's weird. I know they're there... I just never see them!!!

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  7. I am so glad your dinner ending up looking way more appetizing then that cook book picture did! LOL I was a bit concerned in that area! Other than that sounds like you are rockin' and rollin' with this thing! Have you been finding any difficulties to adjusting to this type of experiment so far, like trying to keep most modern habits at bay, or does it seem to be an easy lateral transition for you?

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    1. It's actually been harder than I thought. I think because I have to use the computer to blog and post pics, it's hard to nor get off track. And Honey has shows that likes to watch so the tv is running more than I would like. I turn I'd off when she's nor around. But I haven't been using most of my kitchen gadgets so that's a plus. The only one I've allowed myself to use is the kitchen aid because I know for.sure that one was around back then

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  8. Most steak tends to shrink, so no worries there ;)
    I ABSOLUTELY know what you mean about an Ethel to your Lucy! Every time I think about the way of life 'back then', I am reminded of my MIL who WAS a 1950s housewife. Complete with an Ethel and a knack for getting into trouble ;) As I recall, she did a lot of yard work, so she could talk to the neighbours, there was a specific day they went 'marketing' (so apparently they met everyone at the grocery store LOL) and a walk up the street involved stopping at the neighbour's for a chat!
    My Nan, likewise, was a 50's housewife- only over the pond. (My husband is older than me and the youngest in his family, my Mother is the youngest in her family and my Nan and my MIL were born in the same year!). SHE walked regularly to the shops for food (more of a daily thing back home in the UK), chatted with people she knew in the laundromat and along the route to the shops AND she knew everyone 'down the blue' (whatever that meant- it was where she went to shop and is said with a cockney accent). So, vary it to suit yourself!

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  9. Huge Dick Van Dyke fan here! It's one of my mom's all-time favourite shows, so I grew up watching repeats with her for years. I so wish we lived nearby so I could be your Ethel or Millie, that would be a total blast.

    ♥ Jessica

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