But I have also noticed that it seems to be ending with us...the 40 somethings. I learned from my Mom, as she learned from hers, but what of the next generation? My daughter has rudimentary cooking skills, but has no interest in the art of home baking or preserving. Zilch. To get her to help prepare tomatoes for blanching was the most ODIOUS task in the world, with much complaining and the obligatory eye roll. I am assuming it is the same for my friends? Are we the last generation to appreciate the art of homemaking? I don't mean house keeping, I am horrendous at that. I mean homemaking. Among the skills passed down to me are sewing(from a pattern, not a button), knitting, canning, baking, & cooking. Yet none of these skills, aside from cooking, my daughter has any desire to take on.
When I am grocery shopping, I am nosey as to what the lady in front of me is purchasing. I see boxed and prepared EVERYTHING! I mean, seriously, a roast in a bag! And it's advertised as "just reheat in the microwave to serve your family a hearty roast beef supper!" Really? Do people not know that all ovens now come with a timer that allows the busy working woman, as virtually ALL my friends are, to prep a roast in the roasting pan the night before, put it in the oven in the morning before going to work, and have the oven come on at 3pm to have the roast waiting and ready for you when you come home? Instant mashed potatoes? It takes 20 minutes to make them from scratch. Am I being judgemental?
Is the very next generation coming down the pipe going to be the generation to throw out things missing a button, or with a tear? To buy every mitten, sweater, blanket? Or even know the joy of being appreciated for the time and effort in making a homemade gift?
I baked 4 loaves of molasses raisin bread for a friend who I know LOVES it, to have her sister look at me like I had 10 heads? She said, "You do know they have these things called STORES, where bread comes in BAGS, don't you?" Not bread like THIS there isn't! Has the art of speed texting outstripped the ability to provide for ones family? Personally, I think it's a damn shame. And, in my family the fault is mine. When I was a child I was MADE to participate initially. Included as a rite of passage with the adult women in my family, I scrubbed jars, and washed the spines off cucumbers, and cored strawberries and tomatoes, and watched and learned. I listen to the women gossip, and complain about their husbands, in age old tradition. I learned to appreciate the effort that went into what was eventually going to end up on my plate, or in my school lunch. But, I let my daughter off the hook for these ceremonies, thinking that the moaning and bitching that was a constant hum in the background taking away some of my enjoyment was more bother than just doing it myself. Shame on me. For my 18th birthday I got a HUGE cookbook, signed in the front, With Love from Mom and Dad. I still have it, still use it and cherish it. Just think about what would happen if you gave your 18 year old a cook book. Yeah, I thought so. I feel sorry that this generation will not have the pleasure of "borrowing" and old cook book from your Mom, and seeing her notations in the sides, what worked, what didn't, how she did it differently. I feel sorry that this next generation with not understand the relaxation of having knitting needles in hand while watching a movie, quietly clicking away in the background. Homemaking IS an art. But I fear it will soon become a lost art, to a generation that doesn't even know what they are missing.