WhiteBread, White Beans, White Butter

White Bread, White Beans and White Butter

I love the old fashioned, simple, “comfort foods.”   As a child I loved to go to my Grandma’s house on the Farm.  Mealtimes were the best.  My Aunt Gayle was the cook.  She made bread every day.  The house smelled delicious.  I loved to watch her tip the loaves out of the pans and place them on racks to cool.  She usually made white bread but occasionally she would vary the routine and make whole wheat or sourdough.  Her white bread was beautiful.  The texture was perfect: small bubbles dispersed evenly throughout the loaf, crispy golden brown crust, and that heavenly yeasty smell.

These were the days of oleomargarine.  I am unclear as to the history of margarine, maybe it was a butter substitute developed during the war.  It came in many different forms and packaging.  The one I remember most was a solid brick of white resembling lard.  It came wrapped in paper.  Instructions were included with a small packet of bright orange powder.  We were to sprinkle the powder onto the softened block of margarine and stir until the whole thing was colored yellow.  Another way it came was in a sealed pouch with a blister of orange colored dye.  You had to break the blister and squeeze the bag until the margarine was colored.  Sometimes time was short and demand was high so Aunt Gayle did not have time to “fool around” with coloring the “Oleo”.  In that case we had “White Butter”.  It always amazed me that it tasted good, just like the yellow Oleo.  I loved to white butter on the fresh white bread.  Yum!

Another favorite was White Beans.  Aunt Gayle would make a huge pot of great Northern Beans.  She made them with a bit of ham or bacon, and some onions.  She served them in a bowl with some chopped raw onions sprinkled on the top.   I loved them with lots of black pepper, a thick slice of crusty white bread with white butter melting in.  This is still one of my favorites except White Butter is no more (thank goodness, I guess it was mostly transfats and has proven to be a factor in our health issues of today).  Still, it is a warm, cozy memory that makes me smile.

Crocheting Granny Squares with my Granny

Grannies with Granny

 

I am an avid Crocheter.  I began when I was around 8or 9 years old..  Between my Mom and my Grandma, they taught me s few stitches and I made chains for days.  I braided them, tied them, twisted them, and knotted them.  This proved boring after a time especially as my Gram crocheted beautiful doilies and tablecloths having pineapple and pinwheel patterns.

 

My Mom was more a knitter and produced many sweaters, hats, and scarves.  She made a skirt and jacket set for my younger sister in soft yellow.  It had dancing figures, knit in blue, all around the bottom of the skirt and some on the matching jacket.  I knew I was not yet ready for the mysterious knitting, but I just knew I could do something bigger and more complex in crochet.

I wanted to try to make an afghan using Granny Squares.  I found a pattern in one of my mom’s many books.  It was beautiful.  It was pictured with multicolored squares surrounded by black.  I was hooked (pun intended).  I studied the pattern and Mom helped me figure out the abbreviations.  I begged yarn ends and scraps from Mom and Gram and with my trusty “G” hook I set off.

My first completed square was a triumph!  I was so proud.  I rushed to my Gram’s house to show it off.  She was effusive with her praise and dug into her stash and donated a few more tiny balls and wound up ends of various yarns to give me.  I kept it all in a box and daily I would move it around matching color to color.  Each row of my square was carefully thought out.  Collectively they were very pretty.  I could hardly wait each day to take the box to my Gram’s, sit beside her big chair and take out my latest square to show her.  She was very patient and helped me lay them out trying to decide which one would go with next.  My Aunt Gayle would join in when she could and together we would ooh and ahh over each one..  How encouraging they were..  My Mom too was proud and and pleased with my progress.  I would lay the squares out in varying patterns and she and my sister Gayle would heap on the praise.

One day we got a catalog from Herrschner’s Yarn and Crafts.  Oh what treasures there were in those pages.  The arrival of the catalog still makes my heart race a bit even to this day.  Mom ordered the Granny Afghan kit for me.  I couldn’t believe it.  All those bright colors surrounded with black; it was called Grandmother’s Flower Garden.  I felt like a child at Christmas time.

I don’t remember what happened to the original squares.  They were lumpy and bubbly and varied in size due to the variety of yarns I used.  Maybe they were sewn together for a doll blanket.  I wish I had them.  No matter, to this day, when I see a Granny square, I think of my Gramma Elsie, sitting in her big leather rocker with the wooden arms, crocheting away on some beautiful lacy doily using tiny thread and a tiny hook.  I can see the thread wrapped around her arthritic fingers moving along with amazing speed to be looped into an intricate design.  I can see her pink cheeks and her blue rimmed glasses and her smile as she listened to my enthusiastic description of my crocheting adventure.  Thanks to Gram and Mom for this gift.  Hmmm,  waiting for the mailman isn’t as exciting as it used to be…I can go right to the Herrschner’s website.  Ahh, technology.

My fiber journey has carried me from crochet, to knitting, to tatting, to weaving, and to spinning.  I love it all.  Sometimes when life hits a bump or two, or I am having trouble deciding what project to do next, I return to the basics and get out my “G” hook.  So, like chicken soup is comforting and healing, so is making Granny Squares.