In the evenings lately, I have just been curling up by the fire with a book...
I found a like-new copy of "The Home Cook Book" on the library sale cart this week for $1.
It is a reprint of 'Canada's 19th century best-selling cookbook and first fund-raising cookbook'. Produced in 1877 to raise funds for Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, it is a very interesting read...such as this quote from Geo. Stewart, Jr ~ "A badly-cooked dinner, the records of crime will shew, has caused nearly half the suicides of the nation, and matrimonial infelicities may be traced to the same direct cause."
From the Housekeeping section: "Success in housekeeping adds credit to the woman of intellect, and lustre to a woman's accomplishments."
Besides housekeeping, there are sections for table talk, dinner etiquette, social observances, utensils, and little housekeepers. Housekeeping was serious, serious business...I'll try to share some more from this book in future.
[Picture from Country Living Shoestring Chic]