THE COOKS WERE THE UNSUNG HEROES OF THE MUSKOKA HOMESTEAD

Church of Our Lady of Southwood – On October 31, 2009, the Town of Gravenhurst decided to demolish the Lady of Southwood Church which was built in l936 by the Chapman family, Charile Tonge and Allan Eckford.   Kim Mauro-Placido rallied the Southwood community and other to “Save the Church.  A delegation was formed and made a presentation to Council.  It was an impassioned and informed presentation that convinced Council to rescind the demolition order and gave the newly formed “Friends of the Southwood Church” until March 2010 to present a proposal to save the church. The money for the restoration was raised by the community and today the church stands proudly as a symbol of the dedicated pioneers who erected this Muskoka Landmark.

 

The Friends of the Church of Our Lady Southwood will be hosting their annual Harvest Festival on Saturday, October 12th commencing with a service at 11:00 a.m. followed by sandwiches, coffee and cake. at noon.   There will be live music and a silent auction and interpretive walk at 1:00 p.m. 

(Photo By Fred Schulz)

THE HOMESTEAD KITCHEN, THE COOK - AND SOME 1897 COOKERY WISDOM YOU MAY NOT HAVE KNOWN

SURVIVAL DEPENDED ON THE CAPABILITIES OF THE HOME COOK TO STRETCH PROVISIONS

     "EMIGRATION TO THE PROVINCE OF ONTARIO - (BRITISH PUBLICATION AIMED AT POTENTIAL SETTLERS) - OUR BRITISH AND OLD COUNTRY READERS, NO DOUBT, ARE AWARE THAT THERE IS SUCH A COUNTRY AS CANADA, ALTHOUGH WHERE IT IS, AND WHAT IT IS LIKE,  MANY OF THEM DO NOT KNOW, EXCEPT BY LOOKING AT A MAP OF THE AMERICAN CONTINENT. TO ALL SUCH WHO MAY DESIRE TO MEND THEIR PRESENT POSITION, TO BECOME FREEHOLDERS, INSTEAD OF LEASEHOLDERS, OR ANNUAL TENANTS, TO OWN A FARM OF THEIR OWN, INSTEAD OF SITTING UNDER THE SHADOW OF WILL OF A LANDLORD, TO THOSE WHO CANNOT GET LEASES WHATEVER THEIR IMPROVEMENTS MAY BE, AND WHO, IN SHORT, FEEL TOO INDEPENDENT FOR THEIR PRESENT POSITION, WE SAY UNHESITATINGLY, 'COME TO CANADA,' AND COME TO THE PROVINCE OF ONTARIO, CANADA. TAKE SHIPPING TO QUEBEC OR MONTREAL, THEN TAKE THE GRAND TRUNK RAILROAD FOR TORONTO, AND FROM TORONTO SET OUT ON THE IMMEDIATE EXPLORATION FOR A NEW HOME." KEEP IN MIND, A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF SETTLERS COULD NOT READ, LET ALONE UNDERSTAND DETAILS OF MAP READING. AND YES INDEED, IT IS TRUE, THAT BOTH ILLITERACY AND LANGUAGE BARRIERS (EG. ICELANDERS) CREATED HUGE OPPORTUNITIES, FOR THESE IMMIGRANTS TO BE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF....FROM BEGINNING OF THEIR OVERSEAS JOURNEY, TO CANADA, AND INTO THE HEART OF MUSKOKA. RIPPED OFF FOR AN ENTIRE JOURNEY.
    AND HOW COULD ANY POOR SOUL RESIST A LINE LIKE THIS: "ONTARIO HAS ALL SOILS, AND ALL SORTS OF SITUATIONS AVAILABLE. TO THE POOR MAN THE FREE GRANTS ARE OPEN, AND ALTHOUGH THE FOREST IS HARD TO CLEAR, YET WHEN THE SETTLER FEELS THAT EVERY STROKE OF HIS AXE IS A BLOW TOWARD INDEPENDENCE, THE LABOUR BECOMES LIGHT AND PLEASANT." THIS WAS PUBLISHED IN THE LATE 1860'S, IN ENGLAND, AND IT WAS THE PLAN, AS ENCOURAGED BY THE GOVERNMENTS OF CANADA AND ONTARIO, TO GET AS MANY IMMIGRANTS TO THE OPEN LANDS OF THE COUNTRY AS POSSIBLE.  THERE WAS A TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY TO JUSTIFY, TO FINANCE AND TO BUILD, AND A NEWLY POPULATED LANDSCAPE, SEA TO SEA, WAS JUSTIFICATION FOR ALL KINDS OF CAPITAL SPECULATION......(JUST IN CASE THE AMERICANS WERE PLANNING ANOTHER ATTACK, LIKE THE WAR OF 1812, THERE WOULD BE SETTLERS TO JOIN MILITIAS, TO HOLD BACK THE FOE....WITH PITCHFORKS AND AXES)  THOSE GETTING MONEY FROM PUSHING THE IMMIGRATION PROJECT, INCLUDING THE STEAMSHIP AND RAIL LINES, ALL BENEFITTING FROM THE TRANSPORTATION BOOM, ATTACHED TO THE GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES,  HAD NO REAL INTEREST IN WHETHER OR NOT THE PROGRAM WAS ATTRACTING THE RIGHT OR WRONG KIND OF PEOPLE, TO HOMESTEAD AN UNCOMPROMISING, WILD FRONTIER.
      IT WAS ONE HELL OF AN EXPERIMENT, AND MANY LIVES WERE LOST AS A RESULT. THERE WERE TENS OF THOUSANDS OF SETTLERS, WHO SHOULD NEVER HAVE LEFT EUROPE, ARRIVING IN CANADA HAVING ABSOLUTELY NO EXPERIENCE FELLING GIANT PINE, OR RUNNING FARMSTEADS. THE GOVERNMENT OF ONTARIO, BELIEVED (AND IT IS STATED INA LATER AGRICULTURAL COMMISSION REPORT, RELEASED IN THE 1880'S) THAT BY THE 1880'S, THE HOMESTEAD GRANT EXPERIMENT HAD SUCCEEDED.....AND IT WAS ACKNOWLEDGED, LIKE SOLDIERS LOST IN WAR,  THERE WOULD BE CASUALTIES OF THE EFFORT......AND BY THEIR OWN SURVEY, TWO DECADES LATER,  DISCOVERED THAT THERE HAD BEEN WHAT CAN ONLY BE CONSIDERED,  A FIGURE NOT EXCEEDING WHAT HAD BEEN ANTICIPATED, AS "ACCEPTABLE LOSS." THERE WERE BOUND TO BE FAILURES AND LOSS OF LIFE, AS A RESULT, OF SUCH A MASSIVE PROGRAM OF SETTLING, WHAT SOME IMMIGRANTS SAW AS A LITERAL, HJOPELESS BARRENS.  OF COURSE THEY DON'T WORD IT PRECISELY THIS WAY, BUT WHAT DOES THAT MATTER. THEY WANTED TO PROVE THAT SETTLERS WOULD MAKE DO WITH WHAT POOR LAND THEY WERE AWARDED, AND IF THEY COULD ACHIEVE EVEN MODEST HOMESTEAD SUCCESS, IT WAS A WORTHY TEMPLATE, FOR THE OPENING UP OF EVEN MORE COMPROMISED TOPOGRAPHY, FURTHER NORTH AND WEST.
     THERE IS NO SENSITIVITY OR INTEREST IN ANY CALCULATION OF PERCENTAGES, DOCUMENTING THOSE SETTLERS WHO REMAINED ON THEIR FREE GRANT LAND, AS COMPARED TO THOSE WHO WERE FORCED TO ABANDON THEIR PROPERTIES OR STARVE TO DEATH. HOW MANY DIED AS A DIRECT RESULT OF COMING TO CANADA, AND MUSKOKA SPECIFICALLY. SOME NEVER MADE IT OFF THE BOATS ALIVE, TRUTH BE KNOWN. HONESTLY, IT'S WHY WE HAVE SUCH A POOR UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT THE PIONEERING PERIOD MEANT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A TRUE MUSKOKA LIFESTYLE, FROM THE BEGINNING. IT WAS BRUTAL. THIS MUST BE UNDERSTOOD. SO WHEN I PAY MY SINCERE RESPECT, AS AN HISTORIAN, TO THOSE BRAVE SOULS, WHO STUCK IT OUT, AND LIVED TO RAISE FAMILIES ON THE SAME PROPERTY, OVER MANY GENERATIONS, I DO SO AS ONE WHO IS COMMITTED TO NEVER, EVER  ALLOW THEIR STORY TO BE MINIMIZED OR OBSCURED, BY OTHER MORE POPULAR, TRENDY HISTORIES, TAKING CENTRE STAGE THESE DAYS, IN OUR REGION.
     FOR ONE THING, I HAVE A GREAT AND UNFALTERING RESPECT FOR THE HOMESTEAD COOKS, WHO KEPT THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS FED.....THE BEST THEY COULD, WITH THE FEW FINANCIAL RESOURCES THEY WERE ABLE TO MUSTER. POOR IN EUROPE, POOR AND DESTITUTE IN MUSKOKA. MY IDEA OF A MUSKOKA THANKSGIVING, IS TO HONOR THESE STALWART PIONEERS WITH A WEE PRAYER OF THANKS, FOR GIVING US THE MUSKOKA WE CELEBRATE TODAY.
     I DEDICATE THIS BLOG, AND THE REST OF THE THANKSGIVING-WEEK COLUMNS, IN TRIBUTE OF OUR TRUE FOUNDING MOTHERS AND FATHERS...WHO KEPT THE HOME FIRES BURNING....AND A POT OF STEW SIMMERING THROUGH THE HOMESTEAD CHRONICLE. OUR PICTURESQUE, QUAINT LITTLE CEMETERIES, AT CROSSROAD  CHURCHYARDS, AND TUCKED BENEATH MAPLE AND PINE CANOPIES,  CONTAIN THE TOMBSTONES OF OUR BUILDERS...OUR UNSUNG LEADERS.....COMPRISING THE TRUE SPIRIT OF CANADA. THE NATION BUILDERS WE HAVE NEGLECTED FOR LONG AND LONG.


     THERE ARE ENOUGH STORIES, TALES AND LORE, OF PIONEER HARDSHIP, TO FILL A SUBSTANTIAL AND RATHER INTERESTING VOLUME OF LOCAL HISTORY. I'M THINKING ABOUT IT FOR A PROJECT SOME TIME DOWN THE ROAD. ONE AREA OF SUFFERING AND CORRESPONDING RESOURCEFULNESS (JUST TO SURVIVE ANOTHER DAY), OF WHICH I AM ESPECIALLY INTERESTED, IS OUR REGIONAL COOKERY HERITAGE; PARTICULARLY AS REGARDS THE PIONEER AND MOST ACTIVE FARMING PERIOD IN MUSKOKA.....EVEN STRETCHING INTO THE MODERN ERA. I AM A FRUSTRATED WANT-TO-BE FARMER, SO I LOOK FORWARD TO ANY OPPORTUNITY TO DELVE INTO FARM HISTORIES IN ONTARIO AND CANADA.       THE UNSUNG HEROES OF HISTORY, (IN MUSKOKA, FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS STORY) WERE THE HOMESTEAD, FARM AND CAMP COOKS, WHO OFTEN HAD TO WORK, AND MAKE DO, WITH VERY POOR AND MEAGER RESOURCES, INADEQUATE EQUIPMENT AND PROVISIONS, IN ORDER TO KEEP THEIR FAMILIES FROM STARVING TO DEATH. AND MAKE NO MISTAKE, THERE WERE SETTLERS WHO DIED AS A DIRECT RESULT OF BEING MALNOURISHED, AND SUSCEPTIBLE TO RELATED ILLNESSES. EQUALLY, ALTHOUGH YOU'D BE HARD PRESSED TO GET STATISTICS TO PROVE IT, FOOD POISONING TOOK ITS SHARE OF LIVES AS WELL. KEEPING FOOD FROM SPOILING, WAS A MAJOR DILEMMA IN THE EARLY DAYS, BEFORE ICE STORAGE WAS IMPROVED AND MADE MORE CONVENIENT FOR HOME USE.
    SETTLERS BY PRECARIOUS TRIAL AND ERROR, HAD TO LEARN THROUGH BASIC IMMERSION AND EXPERIENCE, IN THE WOODLANDS, WHAT NATURAL FLORA AND FAUNA WAS EDIBLE, AND WHAT, FOR EXAMPLE, COULD PROVE TO BE FATAL IF CONSUMED. FOR EXAMPLE, WHAT TYPE OF MUSHROOM WAS EDIBLE, AND WHAT WAS POISONOUS TO HUMANS. WHICH AMOUNTED TO A "DEATH-WISH," IF ONE MADE THE MISTAKE OF MISIDENTIFICATION. I HAVE READ PIONEER ACCOUNTS OF THOSE WHO BECAME MORTALLY ILL, AFTER CONSUMING POISONOUS MUSHROOMS, OUT OF IGNORANCE AND HUNGER, AND THE DEATH WAS A LONG, PAINFULL, GUT-WRENCHING DEMISE. DESPARATION OFTEN LED TO EXPERIMENTATION, AND SICKNESS WAS THE RESULT OF NOT LISTENING, TO THE SAGE ADVICE OF OTHER NEIGHBOR SETTLERS....WHO MAY HAVE MADE THE SAME MISTAKES, AND SURVIVED, WHEN THEY FIRST ARRIVED IN THE VAST PRIMAL FORESTS OF MUSKOKA.
     I'VE READ JOURNAL ACCOUNTS, REPORTING THAT EVEN BY LATE NOVEMBER, PROVISIONS WHICH WERE SUPPOSED TO LAST UNTIL SPRING, HAD DIMINISHED TO ONLY A SMALL QUANTITY OF VEGETABLES, ESPECIALLY VERSATILE POTATOES; AND I THINK IT WAS IN THE JOURNAL PENNED BY HARRIET KING, IN THE "DIARY OF AN IMMIGRANT WOMAN," THAT SHE DESCRIBES HER CONSTERNATION, WHEN AT CHRISTMAS, DURING A BRUTAL SNOWSTORM, AN ACQUAINTANCE ARRIVED AT THEIR CABIN DURING DINNER, AND THE SMALL, SIMPLE SUPPER, HAD TO BE DIVIDED TO FEED EVERYONE AROUND THE HARVEST TABLE. THERE ARE STORIES TOLD OF SETTLERS MAKING TEA, AND COFFEE FACSIMILES, FROM TREE BARK AND GRASSES. WHAT WE DON'T ALWAYS RECOGNIZE, IS THAT MUSKOKA, WHILE RICH IN WILDLIFE, COULD NOT PROVIDE ENOUGH WILD GAME TO FEED ALL THE SETTLERS, ALL OF THE TIME. I'VE TALKED TO MANY MUSEUM GROUPS, DURING HERITAGE LECTURES, ABOUT THIS FOOD SHORTAGE, AND MANY JUST CAN'T ACCEPT THAT THERE COULD HAVE BEEN ANY REASON TO DIE OF STARVATION, WHEN THERE WERE FISH TO CATCH, DEER TO SHOOT, AND BEAR, MOOSE AND BEAVER WAITING THEIR TURN FOR HARVEST. THERE IS A STORY CONTAINED IN THOMAS MCMURRAY'S 1870'S BOOK, "MUSKOKA AND PARRY SOUND," THAT REFERS TO "ROAST BEAVER," BEING SERVED AT THE END OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD "WOOL PICKING BEE."
     EVEN THE ALGONQUINS, ONLY USED THE DISTRICT OF MUSKOKA, AS A SUMMER HUNTING GROUND AND ENCAMPMENT, BUT COULD NOT SUSTAIN THEMSELVES YEAR ROUND, TO MAKE THE REGION A PERMANENT LOCATION; MUCH AS THE HURONS DID TO THE SOUTH. THE PROBLEM MORE SO, WAS THAT MANY OF THE SETTLERS WHO ARRIVED HERE, FROM THE LATE 1850'S, AND THROUGH THE FREE LAND GRANT AND HOMESTEAD ACT PERIOD, WERE FROM URBAN AREAS OF EUROPE, AND HAD VERY LITTLE EXPERIENCE IN WILDERNESS SURVIVAL. AS WELL, THEY WEREN'T FARMERS IN EUROPE, AND NOT FAMILIAR WITH LOG HOUSE CONSTRUCTION, CUTTING TREES, MILLING THEM FOR HOME USE AND FURNITURE MAKING, LET ALONE PULLING UP STUMPS BY HAND (BY HORSE OR OXEN LATER ON) TO CREATE THE FARM PLOTS THAT WOULD PRODUCE ANY KIND OF TANGIBLE HARVEST, AT THE END OF THE SHORT GROWING SEASON. SO THEY HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO COUNT ON THE KINDNESS OF MORE ESTABLISHED NEIGHBORS, THE GENEROSITY OF CHURCH CONGREGATIONS, EARLY FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS, AND KIN FOLK, DOING BETTER THAN THEY WERE, AT THAT TIME. OF COURSE THIS COMMUNITY SHARING WAS LIMITED AS WELL, BECAUSE, SO MANY OF THIS CLASS OF HOMESTEAD SETTLER, IN THOSE FRONTIER-OPENING DAYS, FACED THE SAME DAY TO DAY DRUDGERY, AND HEARTACHE, OF BATTLING THE ELEMENTS AND THEIR OWN FETTERING TITHE OF POVERTY.
     IN THE 1897 BOOK, "STEPPING STONES TO HAPPINESS," BY HARRIET PRESCOTT SPOFFORD, WHICH BY THE WAY, WAS PURCHASED FROM AN ESTATE OF AN ORIGINAL PIONEER FAMILY, THERE IS A WELL WORN CHAPTER OF THE VICTORIAN SELF-HELP BOOK, REGARDING COOKERY INSTRUCTION. IT DOES HAVE A MORE URBAN FLAVOR TO IT, THAN IF A SIMILAR SECTION HAD BEEN INCLUDED IN THOMAS MCMURRAY'S BOOK, FOR EXAMPLE; WHICH IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN, TO TRULY BE OF ASSISTANCE TO THE SETTLER CLASS. IN 1897 THE MARKET FOR MRS SPOFFORD'S BOOK WAS OBVIOUSLY THE URBAN HOUSE-WIFE, ALTHOUGH ITS INCLUSION OF HOME ECONOMY, UNDER DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES, DID APPEAL TO THE HOMESTEAD COOKS AS WELL. THE ONLY THING STANDING IN THE WAY, WAS HAVING ENOUGH MONEY TO BUY THE BOOK IN THE FIRST PLACE. DUE TO ITS CHRISTIAN THEME, OF LIVING HEALTHY AND CONTENTED, IN GOD'S GARDEN, SOME FAMILIES DECIDED IT WAS MORE IMPORTANT TO HAVE THE TEXT, THAN FACE THE BLEAK FUTURE WITHOUT. I EXPECT THIS COOKERY CHAPTER WAS VERY WELL USED BY THE HOMESTEAD COOK. I DETECT SOME SMUDGES OF GREASE AND JUICES, FROM VENISON OR RABBIT; BASS OR TROUT; FRESHLY MADE BUTTER FROM THE SINGLE COW, GRAZING IN A MODEST PASTURE.
     "BUT THERE ARE VARIOUS OTHER WAYS IN WHICH THE ENGLISHWOMAN CAN GIVE US LESSONS IN ECONOMY. IT IS SAFE TO SAY THAT NOTHING IS WASTED UNDER HER CARE. EVEN HER STALE BEER IS SAVED TO RINSE HER BRONZES IN, TO BOIL WITH OTHER MATERIAL AND MAKE HER OLD PLATE LOOK LIKE NEW, AND TO CLEAN HER SOILED BLACK SILKS; AND THE LEMONS WHOSE OUTER SKIN HAS BEEN GRATED OFF, AND WHOSE JUICE HAS BEEN SQUEEZED OUT, IF THEY ARE NOT LAID ASIDE TO BOIL IN ANY COMPOUND, ARE GIVEN TO THE COOK TO CLEAN HER SAUCEPAN. IF SHE KEEPS FOWL, EVERY EGG BROUGHT IN IS DATED WITH A PENCIL, AND THOSE OF THE EARLIER DATE ARE USED FIRST; IF THERE ARE ANY TO BE SPARED, SHE LAYS THEM BY FOR WINTER PROVISION, USUALLY BY PASSING OVER THEM A CAMEL'S HAIR PENCIL, DIPPED IN OIL, WHICH HERMETICALLY SEALS AND PRESERVES THEIR CONTENTS; AND WHERE SHE USES ONLY THE WHITES IN ONE DISH, SHE CONTRIVES ANOTHER IN WHICH SHE SHALL USE THE YOLKS. IF THE BREAD HAS BECOME DRY, SHE DOES NOT IMMEDIATELY THROW IT TO THE HENS OR DEDICATE IT TO A PUDDING; SHE DIPS THE LOAF IN HOT WATER, AND SETS IT IN THE OVEN, AND FINDS IT SUFFICIENTLY FRESH FOR FAMILY USE. NOR DOES SHE OFTEN INDULGE IN THE DOUBTFUL LUXURY OF BAKER'S BREAD, SINCE SHE HAS LEARNED THAT SHE THEREBY LOSES IN BREAD, JUST THE WEIGHT OF THE WATER USED IN COMPOUNDING IT, BESIDES RUNNING THE RISK OF DELETERIOUS INGREDIENTS. AND WHEN THE BREAD IS REALLY DRIED PAST FRESHENING, THEN IT ANSWERS FOR STUFFING, IS GRATED FOR CRUMBS, OR IS SOAKED WITH MILK AND BEATEN EGGS FOR PUDDINGS; NONE OF IT IS THROWN AWAY.
     "SHE IS EQUALLY ECONOMICAL CONCERNING THE HAM; WHEN NO MORE SLICES CAN BE CUT FROM THE BONE, THERE IS YET A SMALL QUANTITY OF DRY MEAT UPON IT THAT WOULD SEEM TO MOST OF OUR HOUSEKEEPERS AS SOMETHING RATHER WORTHLESS. NOT SO TO THIS GOOD WOMEN; IT IS DRIED A LITTLE FURTHER, AND THEN GRATED FROM THE BONE, AND PUT AWAY IN JARS, TO BE TAKEN OUT AND SEASONED ON REQUIREMENT FOR ENRICHMENT OF OMELETS, FOR SPREADING UPON SAVORY DISHES OF TOAST WHICH MAKE A NICE ADDITION TO BREAKFAST OR LUNCH; FOR STUFFING OLIVES AND MAKING SANDWICHES, AFTER WHICH GRATING THE BONE SERVES TO FLAVOR SOUP. IN THE SAME WAY SHE GRATES HER CHEESE THAT IS TOO DRY OR NEAR THE RIND, USING IT AFTERWARD AS A RELISH, OR AS A DRESSING TO MACARONI OR OTHER SUBSTANCE. ALL BONES, MEANWHILE, AS WELL AS THE HAM BONE, ARE OBJECTS OF CARE WITH HER, OR WITH THE SERVANTS, WHOM SHE HAS TRAINED TO HER WILL, AND ARE REGULARLY BOILED DOWN TO ADD THE RESULT TO THE STOCK POT FOR GRAVIES AND SOUPS, BY WHICH MEANS SHE PROCURES THE LATTER, AT ALMOST NO COST AT ALL. WHENEVER SHE HAS A FEW SLICES OF HETEROGENOUS COLD MEATS, SHE HAS COUNTLESS PALATABLE WAYS OF USING THEM; DEVILED, BROILED IN BATTER, SCALLOPED, MINCED INTO CROQUETTES OR MAYONNAISE."
    MRS SPOFFORD WRITES, IN HER ADVISORY TO COOKS IN TRAINING, "AS A GENERAL, ALTHOUGH NOT UNIVERSAL THING, AMONG OURSELVES, WHEN THESE STRAY BITS OF BONES ARE NOT THROWN AWAY, THEY ARE GIVEN AWAY; BUT THE LATTER IS NOT THE ENGLISH WOMAN'S IDEA OF CHARITY; SHE HOLDS THAT THE POOR, UNACCUSTOMED TO DAINTY FOOD, FIND A COARSER KIND QUITE AS AGREEABLE AS THE LEAVINGS OF HER TABLE; SHE PREPARES ESPECIALLY FOR THEM, SAVING ALL LIQUORS (LIQUID) IN WHICH THE MEATS HAVE BEEN BOILED, AS A BASE FOR BROTHS OF BARLEY AND PEAS, THAT ARE REGULARLY DISPENSED, WITH TEA LEAVES AND COFFEE GROUNDS DRIVED OVER, AND FROM WHICH A SECOND DRAUGHT CAN BE MADE, WITH OATMEAL, VEGETABLES AND DRIPPING. DRIPPING, BY THE WAY, FORMS NO INCONSIDERABLE ITEM IN THIS SORT OF ECONOMY; IT IS SKIMMED FROM EVERY POT AND SAVED FROM EVERY PAN, AND WHEN A SUFFICIENT QUANTITY ACCUMULATES IT IS CLARIFIED BY POURING BOILING WATER UPON IT, MIXING IT WELL, AND PUTTING IT BY TO 'SET'THE SEDIMENT, GOING TO THE BOTTOM WHEN COLD, LEAVING A HARD CLEAN CAKE, WHICH IS USEFUL ON DOMESTIC OCCASIONS, WHERE BUTTER OR LARD WOULD BE USED, AS THE 'SHORTENING' OF MEAT PIE CRUSTS AND GINGERBREAD, AND FOR COMMON BASTING AND FRYING."
     "SOME HOUSEKEEPERS, TO BE SURE, WHO ARE ABLE TO LIVE MORE SUMPTUOUSLY, ABANDON THIS TO THE COOK, BY WHOM IT IS CLAIMED AS A PREQUISITE, AND VALUED AS AN EQUIVALENT OF LARGE EXTRA WAGES. BEYOND THIS SYSTEM OF SAVING ON A SMALL SCALE AND DOING IT SO REGULARLY, AND SO PRECISELY THAT IT BECOMES SECOND NATURE; AND IS DONE WITH AS LITTLE EXTRA THOUGHT, AS THERE IS GIVEN TO THE PARING OF THE POTATOES. THE ENGLISH HOUSEKEEPER GOES FURTHER, IN DEALING OUT TO HER SERVANTS THE WEEK'S ALLOWANCE OF SUGAR, RICE, FLOUR, COFFEE, AND OTHER OTHER HOUSEHOLD PROVISION, THAT IS KEPT IN QUANTITY, AND REQUIRING AN ACCOUNT OF IT ALL TO BE RENDERED, THE THING HAVING BEN BROUGHT TO SUCH A FINE POINT, THAT SHE KNOWS THE EXACT AMOUNT OF EACH ARTICLE REQUISITE FOR HER FAMILY, ALLOWING SO MUCH TO EACH INDIVIDUAL, AND THAT QUANTITY BEING SUFFICIENT, AS SHE KNOWS BY EXPERIENCE; TWO OUNCES FOR TEA, FOR INSTANCE, BEING REGARDED AS A WEEK'S SUPPLY FOR EACH SINGLE INDIVIDUAL, ONE HALF POUND OF SUGAR, THREE AND ONE HALF POUNDS OF MEAT FOR A WOMAN, AND FIVE AND A QUARTER FOR A MAN - FACTS WHICH THE HOUSEKEEPER PROBABLY LEARNED FROM HER MOTHER, AND FROM HER MOTHER BEFORE HER - KNOWING MOREOVER, THAT THE GREATER VARIETY OF FOOD OFFERED, DIMINISHES THE QUANTITY OF THE SIMPLER KINDS REQUIRED. ALL OF THESE STORES SHE SETS DOWN IN HER HOUSEKEEPING BOOK AS SHE GIVES THEM OUT, AND SHE DOES NOT FAIL ON THE NEXT DISPENSING DAY TO CONSULT HER DATES, AND IF ANYTHING BE LEFT OVER IN THE COOK'S HANDS, NOT ACCOUNTED FOR, TO SUBTRACT THAT FROM THE AMOUNT TO BE NEWLY ISSUED. AND IN ENGLAND SERVANTS EXPECT THIS, SO FAR FROM BEING INDIGNANT WITH IT, THEY WOULD FEEL AS IF THERE WERE NO GUIDING HAND BEHIND THEM, WERE IT LEFT UNDONE, AND THEY GIVEN THEIR HEAD IN AN OVERFLOWING STORE-ROOM, AS SERVANTS ARE WITH US. IN FACT, THERE IS NO SAVING WHICH THE HOUSEWIFE ACROSS THE WATER, CONSIDERS TOO SMALL TO PRACTICE, OR AS BENEATH HER DIGNITY; AND WHEN WE SHALL HAVE FOLLOWED HER EXAMPLE IN HER PET ECONOMIES, MORE GENERALLY THAN WE FOLLOW IT AT PRESENT, WE SHALL HAVE MORE RIGHT AND MORE ABILITY TO INDULGE OURSELVES IN OUR PET EXTRAVAGANCES OTHERWISE."
     AS FOR THE HOMEMAKER, "THE CHIEF OF THE HOUSEHOLD CARES, IS ALWAYS THE COOK. SHE IS VERY SELDOM IN THE ORDINARY FAMILY, OR IN THAT OF NARROW MEANS, WHAT SHE SHOULD BE, AND HER SHORTCOMINGS DO A GREAT DEAL TO BRING ABOUT THE CHANGES FROM THE BLACK BIRD TO THE GRAY. THERE IS NO ONE WAY TO OVERCOME INCOMPETENCY THAT I HAVE OFTEN WONDERED WAS NOT MORE GENERALLY PURSUED. THERE EXISTS NOW IN MOST OF OUR LARGE CITIES GOOD AND EFFECTIVE TRAINING SCHOOLS FOR SERVANTS OF ALL CLASSES AND CAPACITIES, AND, BESIDES THESE, VARIOUS PERSONS OF SKILL AND RENOWN IN CULINARY MATTERS ADVERTISE LESSONS IN COOKERY; STANDING READY, ON CERTAIN AFTERNOONS OF THE WEEK, TO IMPART TO THE CLASS OF THE HOUR ALL THAT THEY KNOW ON THE SUBJECT, EVEN ANNOUNCING IN THEIR ADVERTISEMENTS THE DISHES TO BE PREPARED THAT DAY - FIFTY CENTS ADMISSION, AND SOMETIMES NOT SO MUCH."
     ALTHOUGH THIS PIECE, BY THE CLEVER MRS. SPOFFORD, WAS WRITTEN MUCH LATER THAN THE ACTUAL HOMESTEAD GRANT PERIOD, OF SETTLEMENT IN MUSKOKA, IT STILL WOUND UP IN THE LATER FARMSTEADS OF THIS PART OF ONTARIO. AS FOR GETTING COOKING INSTRUCTIONS, I WOULD IMAGINE THAT THE OPPORTUNITIES IN THIS AREA, IN 1897 WERE SLIM TO NONE....AND IT WAS THE GOOD GRACES OF KIND NEIGHBORS AND FAMILY, WHO EDUCATED ONE ANOTHER ABOUT COOKERY QUANTITIES AND QUALITIES....HANDED-DOWN ADVICE ON HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF MODEST PROVISIONS.
     WHEN I USED TO WANDER THROUGH THE REGION, LOOKING FOR HOMESTEAD SITES TO EXPLORE, I ALWAYS GOT A LITTLE HEARTSICK, WHEN I'D FIND MYSELF STANDING IN THE PATHETIC, LATE-LIFE REMAINS, OF THE FARMSTEAD KITCHEN; LOOKING SO EMPTY AND UNSTORIED, WHEN QUITE THE OPPOSITE HELD TRUE. I OFTEN GOT MY BEST FEATURE STORY IDEAS, HOVERING IN THE RUINS, EXAMINING THE REMAINS OF OLD CUPBOARDS, AND CABINETS, BROKEN DISHES AND THREE LEGGED HARVEST TABLES, THEN TOPPLED OVER; THE OLD NEWSPAPERS UNDER THE FLOOR SURFACING, DATING THE TIME PERIOD OF THAT PARTICULAR HOME IMPROVEMENT. THERE WOULD BE TYPICAL SIGNS OF WILDLIFE HABITATION, POSSIBLY A PORCUPINE THAT HAD BEEN GNAWING AT THE CHAIR LEGS, SQUIRRELS AND CHIPMUNKS NOW CALLING THE RUINS HOME. YET I COULD VISUALIZE THE HOMEMAKER WORKING AWAY IN THIS KITCHEN, WITH THE LARGE, NOW-GLASSLESS WINDOW, LOOKING OUT ONTO THE GROWN-OVER GARDEN AND PASTURE; WITH THE REMAINS OF FARM BUILDINGS NO LONGER UPRIGHT. DESPITE WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE, AND WHAT CARNAGE HAD OCCURRED, SINCE ITS ABANDONMENT, SO MANY OF THESE OLD RUINS HELD CLOSE TO THE REMAINING HEARTH, THAT STRANGELY FAMILIAR AURA, AND HOLLOW ECHO, OF FAMILY HISTORY, FROM ALL THOSE WHO ONCE DWELLED WITHIN;....THOSE WHO JOYFULLY, IN GOOD CHEER, CELEBRATED SPECIAL OCCASIONS AND HOLIDAYS TOGETHER; WHO HELD ONTO EACH OTHER DURING PERIODS OF ILLNESS AND SUDDEN DEATH; PEOPLE WHO LOVED AND
WERE LOVED, AMALGAMATED WITH SO MANY HOPES, ASPIRATIONS, AND SUCCESSES; THE SORROW OF FAILURE AND LOSS, MIXED WITH THE HAPPINESS AND CONTENTMENT, DURING A FINE MEAL WITH FAMILY AND NEIGHBORS, WHERE THIS OLD PINE TABLE WAS "GROANING" FROM THE WEIGHT OF EDIBLE BOUNTY. A GOOD HARVEST. OF ALL THE ROOMS IN THE OLD FARMSTEAD, IT IS THE KITCHEN THAT I AM COMPELLED TO DAWDLE. THE ROOM I FIND MOST HAUNTED; THE PART OF THE HOUSE THE RESIDENT SPIRITS WANT THIS INTRUDER TO KNOW MORE ABOUT, AS IF IT, OR THEY, KNOW MY INTENTION IS TO WRITE ABOUT IT.....GIVING IT, AT LONG LAST, AN HISTORICAL RELEVANCE; SO FAR DENIED, EXCEPT IN LIVES LIVED; THE CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN RAISED FROM THESE HUMBLE QUARTERS, HERE IN THE MUSKOKA HEARTLAND. IT IS THE ROOM I LOOK BACK INTO, ON THE WAY OUT, SWEARING SOMEONE WAS WATCHING ME FROM WITHIN....BUT NEVER CAUSING AN AIR OF ILL EASE FOR THE INTRUDER. I MIGHT STOP FOR A MOMENT, ONCE OUTSIDE, AND LOOK BACK, EXPECTING TO SEE A FACE IN THE WINDOW, WHERE THE KITCHEN WAS, BUT ALAS, THERE IS ONLY THE DARK VOID OF AN HISTORIAN'S WISHFUL THINKING.
     THANKS FOR VISITING THIS BLOG-SITE TODAY, AND I HOPE YOU WILL FIND THE TIME TO RETURN TO HEARTHSIDE, FOR SOME MORE MUSKOKA STORIES UPCOMING. FRED SCHULZ, ONE OF MUSKOKA'S BEST KNOWN PHOTOGRAPHERS, HAS SOME WONDERFUL IMAGES TO SHARE WITH READERS, TAKEN RECENTLY ON HIS CROSS-REGION TOUR, CHECKING OUT SOME OF OUR MOST INTERESTING HERITAGE SITES. WE WANT TO MAKE THIS A MEMORABLE AND HISTORIC THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY IN MUSKOKA.