From time to time we hear of people longing for the good old days. This morning as I opened a jar of my canned peaches, I was grateful for the good new days!
My grandma had a wood-burning cook stove. To do canning meant keeping that stove burning all day, even though the outside weather might be a balmy 80 degrees. Water needed to be heated on the stove to wash and scald the jars, because there was no hot water heater or dishwasher. The stove continued to burn as vegetables were scalded or fruit simmered for jam. More wood to keep it hot for the processing of the jars. And of course the men in the fields needed to be fed full course meals at noon and in the evening, which included freshly cooked food, because refrigeration either didn’t exist or was a small ice box. No air conditioning or even a ceiling fan to cool ones’ self, because there was no electricity.
I am as happy to live in the good new days as a stray puppy is to have a boy to love him. I popped a bowl of water in the microwave for 1 minute. Then I turned the jar of fruit with the stuck lid, upside down in the hot water for a couple of minutes and, voilà, the lid came right off.
