Literary Kick in the Butt

Reading the parts of The American Frugal Housewife that I quoted yesterday and other sections (not, however, the recipes that involved "rice jelly" or putting the butter in brine for the winter) convinced me to get back to work today.  I am the one who runs this household and no one else is going to do things for me.  Having done the dishes right after dinner last night and getting a shower this morning (with a quick Swish and Swipe of the bathroom) did wonders for getting my act together as well.

A couple of other books that I have found to do this beautifully for me are the introduction and first few chapters of Home Comforts, by Cheryl Mendelson, and The Quotidian Mysteries, by Kathleen Norris.  The first makes me realize that it is good to live in a clean house stocked with good food and clean towels: this end result makes the work required to have these things worth doing.  The second leads my mind upward to a greater purpose for my mundane (as in daily and worldly) work: my household rituals can echo the liturgy of the church in repetitiveness, but also in my finding new meaning and enjoyment in performing them again and again.

Thrift takes more time and thought than convenience.  It takes forethought to bake your own bread (even in a bread machine), soak and cook dry beans instead of canned, or prepare dried tortellini for a recipe that called for frozen.  Let's not even talk about the amount of time needed to make your own yogurt (please do not let me deter you from this: it is incredibly easy and much tastier than store-bought -- you just have to let it sit overnight).  I have been putting that one off for days.  All three books I've listed instill in me the idea that it is normal to work in one's home.  It is normal for the work to actually take time to complete.  It is work!  But that five-dollar bill that remained in my wallet at the end of my grocery shopping today was worth it.