Bake with Butter!

The last post was about my life on spin cycle ... just so you know ... this entire community is marching to the same whirlwind rhythm.  The commercial salmon season opened last week on May 14th!

That means that the population in our remote corner of the planet has doubled ... it is hard to find a parking space down town ... and if you don't time your grocery shopping around the fishing openers, you'll find the shelves empty!

Many businesses that close in the off season reopen!  That includes several restaurants!  On Tuesday, QBee Terry and I enjoyed lunch together as we watched boats return to the harbor!  Do you see that crow lurking about 10 feet from the table?  He was waiting to see if we were going to abandon the food for a brief moment!  Crows are expert thieves ... had I hesitated to take this picture for even a few seconds, lunch would have been his!  Yep ... they are that fast ... clever too!

We had a terrific time catching up with one another.  But as I headed home, I knew it was time to get cooking ... Farm Girl Vintage style!

Minnesota is "Betty Crocker" country!  While I was growing up ... she was a super hero ... our version of Wonder Woman!  The original cooking "celebrity" ... long before The Food Network!

She didn't wear a red cape, but in her portraits, she was always dressed in red.  I vividly remember finding out during my first year in 4-H (age 9) that she was a fictional character ... I was heart-broken at the time, but then remembered that Superman didn't really exist either ... so there you have it.  ;-)  I love looking at the vintage versions of Betty ... too fun!

As a young farm girl, I dreamed of a career working in the Betty Crocker test kitchens!  While in college, I found that many young women my age had the same ambitions ... love when things like that happen!  A google search in images produced many versions of the company's test kitchens over time ... a enjoyable trip down memory lane!

This cookbook was published in 1950 and was the most used book in my childhood home!  In the mid 90's while visiting an antique store, I came across a copy that was used very little!  Talk about a score!  I was thrilled ... and use it often!  In 1998, they republished it, in its original form!  I have gifted it to many friends and family members since.  It has taught and continues to teach generations practical cooking skills.  Wonderful!

This is the cookbook I used as a child.  It was published in 1957, the year of my birth.  It too was reprinted in 2003.  I am still on the hunt for an original one, as the new one was edited and changed.  Great memories!

Most of us grew up with at least one set of Pyrex mixing bowls in the kitchen ... and received a version as a wedding gift!  Pyrex is currently celebrating their 100th birthday!  My Farm Wife Grandmother had the exact set that is in this vintage advertisement ... I think of all the goodies that she mixed with those bowls!  Many lovely memories ... all brought to the surface ...

... by this little 6.5 inch quilt block!  It is called "Baking Day"!  Yep ... it had to have a red Betty Crocker spoon and both the large and small pyrex bowls!  I'm tempted to embroider Betty Crocker on the spoon ... what do you think?

Block 5 is named "Butter Churn" ... doing 6.5 inch blocks can be challenging.  This little Bloc-Loc ruler is money well spent when dealing with pieces this small!

We didn't churn our own butter, but my grandparents would share stories about that daily chore.  And of course ... we always baked with butter!  I am a Farm Girl ... I grew up on a dairy farm ... I still bake with butter!

Even though I now live nowhere near the dairy farm of my childhood ... I travel there through my memories ... and I use the skills and values I learned as a farm girl daily!  I am so grateful ... and very blessed!

Do what you love.  Bake with butter.  Do dillydally!

Mrs. DillyDally