About a week ago, I received a copy of the book, How To Sew A Button in the mail. The author, Erin Bried is a friend of Jean Martha who thought that I might like to blog about the book, so Erin had her publisher send a copy to me. This very sweet, very witty, very useful book is a collection of recipes, how to’s, instructions and advice on how to do many of the tasks that recent generations have lost both the ability and the will to do. To gather the information for her book Erin, who is a senior writer for SELF Magazine interviewed ten grandmothers from across the country. The grandmothers she interviewed are from very different backgrounds – one grandmother grew up on a farm in Iowa with no electricity or indoor plumbing, while another grandmother was raised one of four children in a two bedroom apartment behind the family barbershop in Brooklyn. The wonderful women that Erin talked to survived the Great Depression, the 1918 flu epidemic and and along the way they figured out a few secrets to a happy life. Strangely, none of the secrets seem to involve elaborate weekends at a spa, expensive vacations, or designer handbags. Instead, these women focused on what they could make out of their lives with what they had on hand. If they had dirt, they made a garden. If they had a tight budget, they made an elaborate meal chart with a fabulous matching grocery list. If they had a sink, they made their own cleaning supplies. If they had clothes, they learned how to patch, darn and sew up a hem. If they had feet, they learned how to give themselves a pedicure and if they had a face – they made homemade facials. They were clubby – meeting with friends over bridge and books and they reveled in the details of each other’s lives. If they had a husband, they learned how to keep their marriages exciting and fun and if they had kids – they learned how to read a good bedtime story. All of these skills as well as their stories are in How To Sew a Button. I spent part of yesterday working through a few of the chapters. Let’s see if I managed to learn anything….
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How To Make Blueberry Pancakes….
Assemble ingredients and falter…
That is a lot of ingredients.
Perhaps a bowl of cereal instead?
Resolve!
Soldier on!
Experiment!
Turn over a new leaf!
Feast!
Can I even begin to tell you how much better these pancakes were than a bowl of cereal?
No, I can’t.
There really are no words to describe it.
Other than maybe….
pure ecstasy.
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How To Fold a Fitted Sheet
And since I was now properly fortified with a indescribably great breakfast, I moved on to perhaps the most difficult task in the book.
Folding a fitted sheet.
Except that I had to fold a fitted sheet while photographing myself folding a fitted sheet and that my friends, is even harder.
I am not even sure that the Great Depression could prepare you for just how difficult it is to fold a fitted sheet while photographing yourself folding a fitted sheet.
It borders on the impossible.
You can’t even see where to point the camera.
But I thought about those grandmothers and I persevered.
Voila!
Folded fitted sheet!
Now who needs a drink?
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How to Make a Martini
I turned to the chapters on how to make a Manhattan and how to make a martini.
Sadly – even though I had a startling variety of booze on hand, I did not have the required bourbon for the Manhattan and I didn’t really feel like drinking a martini alone. It just doesn’t seem right to drink a martini alone. Even if I photographed myself drinking the martini, I would still have felt pretty pathetic, so since the back of my throat was a bit scratchy and I had a stuffy head, I moved on to….
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How to Make a Hot Toddy
Still – I didn’t have the right booze as Erin’s recipe calls for bourbon as well, but I just substituted brandy.
Somehow, I don’t think the grandmothers would mind.
This little medicinal concoction was very good and my throat felt instantly better.
Thank you grandmothers!
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Initially, I thought I would give away my copy of this book – but clearly – it is far too valuable to me and I am not going to be able to let it go.
Sorry dears.
You will have to buy your own copy or several copies as it would make an excellent Christmas present.
Now I am off to make another batch of blueberry pancakes, followed by a homemade facial and then I am going to do some Christmas shopping and see if I can summon the courage to put into practice the chapter on ‘how to drive a bargain’. I may need to take a batch of martinis along with me if I am going to attempt to do that.
Tra la la.
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