Neat and Dainty as a Flower

Cooling the Bread Loaves

2011-04-06T20:19:00.001-07:00

"The odor of the fresh bread was floating all about her. On the clean new shelf that ran across one side of the kitchen stood the other loaves across their pans to cool, beside the sponge cake and pies."

--Grace Livingston Hill, The Honor Girl

Learning to Knit

2008-11-20T19:23:00.000-08:00

"Valerie gave Coralie a lesson in knitting, with the idea of making a sweater she very much admired. After which they took a brisk walk downtown to purchase needles and wool.

Coralie had a feeling as she came back with her fat bundle under her arm, as if she were really beginning to amount to something at last. She was determined to knit a whole dress like Valerie's. It might take her years but she knew it was going to be fun."

--Grace Livingston Hill, The Seventh Hour

Lamps in the Living Room

2008-04-14T18:40:00.001-07:00

"Cornelia did wonderful things in the way of artistic shades for little electric lamps that Carey rigged up in odd, unexpected corners, made out of all sorts of queer things: an old pewter sugar-bowl, this with a shade of silver lace lined with yellow, a relic of some college costume; a tall gray jug with queer Chinese figures on it that had been among the kitchen junk for years, this with a dull blue shade; a bright yellow vase with a butterfly-yellow shade; and a fat green jar with willow basket-work around it on which Cornelia put a shade of soft green, with some old brown lace over it."

--Grace Livingston Hill, Re-Creations

A Christmas Reading List

2007-12-05T19:52:00.000-08:00

April Gold
Mrs. Reed does lots of baking for Christmas, while cooking soup and pie at the same time. Christmas tree decorating, singing, gifts, and dressing for Christmas.

Brentwood
Marjorie undertakes extended Christmas shopping; stockings and gifts, a turkey dinner, a Christmas sermon, flowers, and Christmas clothes.

The Prodigal Girl
Snowy weather, a cold farmhouse in New England, blizzards, warm clothing, plain cooking, skating.

Partners
A baby abandoned in the snow, a bright warm apartment, soft new baby clothes, decorating a tree, room service Christmas dinner.

The Christmas Bride
New overcoats for the elderly parents, a handmade nativity scene, a Christmas wedding, snow, and gifts. Oh, and a new house.

The Gold Shoe
Snowstorms, a flannel gown, warming suppers.

Astra
Astra babysits at Christmas, makes a homemade nativity scene, dresses for the holiday, buys roses for the neighbors.

and, lastly, The Substitute Guest (thanks PVS readers!)
Set right at Christmas time, with fruitcake, doughnuts, oyster stew, and lots and lots of bad weather.

The Kitchen Stove

2007-11-29T20:32:00.001-08:00

"The range got such a cleaning as it hadn't had in years. The ashes were cleaned out and the soot removed from all its little doors and traps and openings. Molly wasn't used to a city range with all its numerous appliances, but she had keen common sense and used it. She knew dirt and ashes couldn't help a fire burn, so she removed them. And she scrubbed it inside and out, for she found the oven encrusted with burned sugar and juice of some sort and the top covered with grease. Then she started a fire. Before long it was glowing, and the water in the old tank was steaming hot."

--Grace Livingston Hill, A Daily Rate

"A Cheery Supper"

2007-09-06T18:19:00.001-07:00

"They had a cheery supper that night in spite of simple fare. The mother was resurrecting all her old recipes, plain wholesome food, cheaply bought and deriving its savory taste and smell from the old deftness in seasoning, the trick of long cooking, and careful preparation . . . Bean soup made with tomatoes, potatoes, and celery tops. . . brown bread, baked apples and cream, even bread pudding with a dash of chocolate to make it tasty, hash . . . It all seemed so good and they were so hungry from their work."

--Grace Livingston Hill, The Patch of Blue

How to Take a Road Trip

2007-06-25T18:39:00.000-07:00

"They reached a lovely grove at sundown and stopped by the way to have supper. Graham got down and made George help him get out the big hamper.

There was a most delectable lunch; sandwiches of delicate and unknown condiments, salad as bewildering, soup that had been kept hot in a thermos bottle, served in tiny white cups, iced tea and ice-cream meringues from another thermos compartment, and plenty of delicious little cakes, olives, nuts, bonbons, and fruit. It seemed a wonderful supper to them all, eaten out there under the trees, with the birds beginning their vesper songs and the stars peeping out slyly. Then they packed up their dishes and hurried on their beautiful way, a silver thread of a moon coming out to make the scene more lovely.

Doris was almost asleep when at last they began to hear the booming of the sea . . . ."

--Grace Livingston Hill, The Enchanted Barn

"A Head of Crisp Lettuce"

2007-05-02T20:02:00.001-07:00

"Quietly she went about planning some kind of lunch for whoever would eat lunch in that disorganized household. Investigation of the store closet showed several rows of cans, canned vegetables and soups. A large porous earthenware covered tureen wrapped in a wet cloth, standing on a shelf in the open window, revealed a head of crisp lettuce, a few stalks of celery, a couple of ripe tomatoes, three green peppers and a little nest of raspberries in a lettuce leaf. They were all fresh and crisp. . .

Mary Elizabeth went on with hunting her condiments for the salad, her thoughts deeply occupied.

When the salad was finished she put it in a covered dish from the closet, wet a napkin and tucked it about and set it in the window."

--Grace Livingston Hill, The Strange Proposal

What to Wear in the Morning

2007-05-01T20:24:00.000-07:00

"Mary had loved to pick out that little pink flowered morning dress, for instance, with its airy dainty ruffled collar and think that when she would wear it she would be 'Mrs. Judson,' and 'Mr. Judson' would be sitting opposite at their cosy breakfast table."

--Grace Livingston Hill, Mary Arden

In Praise of Milk

2007-04-24T18:45:00.000-07:00

"She drank a good deal of milk; that was cheap, and it gave a pretty roundness to her cheeks and a clearness to her complexion that made her all the more attractive. It had been scarce at home since her father died; there were so many babies to drink milk that there had been very little left for Marion . . . But now it was the cheapest thing on the menu. A little bottle of rich, creamy milk and a dainty bundle of shredded-wheat biscuit or crackers done up in waxed paper, made a cheap and attractive breakfast or supper."

--Grace Livingston Hill, Crimson Roses

Open Bedroom Windows

2007-03-03T15:55:00.000-08:00

"We always have our bedroom windows open at night. We think it is healthier to have fresh air while we are sleeping . . . Indeed I don't think any of us could get to sleep without fresh air coming in, it makes so much more restful sleep, you know. . . We have plenty of blankets, and an eider down quilt apiece . . . We hang our things out often and air them, and we keep them very clean always."

--Grace Livingston Hill, April Gold

Feminine Artistry

2007-02-22T19:48:00.000-08:00

" . . . writing notes or answering the telephone, painting dainty bits of dinner cards, or arranging flowers from the hothouses, or helping Marjorie to find out what was the matter with a dress . . . and suggesting how a touch of color, or a different arrangement of drapery would bring about the effect she desired . . . in all these things Patty had a knack, a talent. She was artistic in everything she did, and knew exactly how to arrange a room or put on a hat for the best effect that was in it."

--Grace Livingston Hill, The Tryst

When the College Boys Come By

2007-02-13T18:10:00.000-08:00

Boy, it sure is nice to have a cake on reserve!

"Mrs. Reed had baked a large dark chocolate with translucent layers of chocolate jelly between, with the secret intent of taking it to the Woman's Exchange and selling it as a start toward a regular business for herself, unbeknownst to her children. But she brought it forth now, thankful that she had it to give, and Rilla hurriedly rolled lemons and cracked ice and prepared a delightful fruit lemonade."

--Grace Livingston Hill, April Gold

Supper on the Side Porch

2007-02-05T18:08:00.000-08:00

"There was a big brown bean pot standing on a little side table. It was steaming and rich with molasses, and had been simmering in the oven all the afternoon and now was sending out most delicious fragrance. There were big thin pink slices of cold ham, delicious fried potatoes with a tang of onion in them, puffy hot raised biscuit, baked apples with the thickest richest cream imaginable and squares of golden sponge cake for dessert.

The side porch was wide and spacious and turned a corner of the house, so that the space allotted to the table was large enough for a room. The outlook was over meadows to the mountains . . ."

--Grace Livingston Hill, Beauty for Ashes

Baked Beans (America's Cook Book, 1940)

1 qt. navy beans
1/2 lb. fat salt pork
2 t. salt
1 T. brown sugar
1/4 c. dark molasses
1/2 t. dry mustard
1/2 t. Worcesersthire sauce
boiling water

Wash and soak beans in cold water overnight; drain, cover with fresh water and cook slowly until skins break. To test: take a few beans on tip of spoon and blow on them gently; if skins break and curl back, they are sufficiently cooked. Turn beans into bean pot. Pour boiling water over pork, scrape rind until white, score in 1/2-inch strips and press into top of beans, leaving only rind exposed. Mix salt, brown sugar, molasses, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce; add 1 cup boiling water and pour over beans. Add additional water to cover beans, if necessary. Cover and bake in slow oven for 6 to 8 hours, adding additional water to keep beans just covered; uncover last half hour to brown pork and beans. One small onion may be placed in bottom of bean pot.

Cooking for Sunday

2007-02-03T20:20:00.001-08:00

" . . . as for me, I like to do as mother always did. I always have the cake-box and bread-box full of nice fresh things, and make a pie, perhaps, and cook a piece of meat, or have some salad in the ice-box; and then it is the work of but a few minutes to get the nicest kind of meal on Sunday. It is easy to have a beefsteak to broil, or cold meat, or something to warm up in a minute if one cares enough to get it ready; and it really makes a lovely, restful time on Sunday to know all that work is done."

--Grace Livingston Hill, Cloudy Jewel

Preparing for Guests

2007-01-30T16:54:00.000-08:00

"There were the two front rooms upstairs to be prepared. She would open the windows at once, and let the air sweep through all night . . . She hurried upstairs, and lit the gas in the two rooms, throwing wide the windows, hunting out fresh sheets and counterpanes. She could dust and run the carpet-sweeper over the rooms right away, and have them in order; and that would save time for tomorrow . . .

Julia bustled around happily, putting the rooms into charming order, hunting up a little picture . . ."

--Cloudy Jewel, Grace Livingston Hill

Old Bindings

2007-01-30T16:50:00.000-08:00

More Discussion on The Honor Girl

2007-01-23T17:23:00.000-08:00

Emma said: "I really enjoyed my first venture into G.L.H. land! It really put me right in the mood to nest with all the talk of cleaning, decorating, cooking, and actually caring about the quality of home life! When I finished the book, I thought a lot about how wonderful if would be to have some of the recipes that were made... I've never made donughts from scratch, but I desperately wanted to try after reading this book!"

Tammy said: "The part I loved best about this book is that after she worked so very hard for her family, her brothers made her room beautiful for her."

glh said: "Whenever I want to read something really, really domestic from GLH, I choose either Honor Girl or Re-Creations. (I could never get done what they got done in just a day, however...)"

Great comments!

Emma, donuts are lots of fun to make. I make them frequently using this recipe. I often feel like a GLH character when I'm in flour up to my elbows!

glh, I think it's funny that you remark on what the characters can get done in just one day, since the foreword in my copy of the book, written by Grace's daughter Ruth Livingston Hill says,

"The prodigious amount of work that some of her book characters accomplish in an incredibly short time may represent what she would like to have been able to do herself. She had a tremendous store of energy, and she drew on it often, especially when the work involved helping the helpless."

Comment on The Honor Girl!

2007-01-13T18:50:00.000-08:00

Emma has suggested opening discussion on a GLH book--I'd like to start with The Honor Girl since it's so rich with typical GLH themes, and rife with cooking, cleaning, and shopping scenes. Leave your comments and I'll move them up into the main part of the post every so often . . .

A Primrose for the Table

2007-01-04T19:55:00.000-08:00

"The table did look pretty. It was set as a table should be set, with dishes and glasses and silver in the correct places, and napkins neatly folded; and in the centre was a small pot of pink primroses in full bloom. For it would not have been Cornelia if there had not been a bit of decoration about somewhere, and it was like Cornelia when she went out to market, and thought of meat and bread and milk and butter and all the other necessities, to think also of that bit of brightness and refinement, and go into a small flower-shop she was passing to get this pretty primrose."

--Grace Livingston Hill, Re-Creations

Knitting Little Socks

2006-12-28T20:06:00.000-08:00

"The next morning Dale went down to the little shop on the first floor of the apartment house and purchased some blue and white yarn and some needles, and began to knit little socks and sweaters. It somehow eased the tension and kept her from thinking."

--Grace Livingston Hill, Partners

For a free pattern for knitting baby socks, click here.

Dressing for Christmas

2006-12-22T19:34:00.000-08:00

"Dinner is served!" said Betty, sudddenly appearing in the doorway looking very pretty indeed in Marjorie's green knit dress with a bit of red ribbon knotted in her hair and a scrap of holly on one shoulder.

--Grace Livingston Hill, Brentwood

Silver Christmas Tree

2006-12-19T19:51:00.000-08:00

Doesn't this sound just too Deco for words?

"Marjorie succeeded in getting to Betty to say that she liked a tree all in silver with just colored lights. She had always wanted such a tree."

--Grace Livingston Hill, Brentwood

The Invalid's Tray

2006-12-16T19:40:00.000-08:00

"Marjorie gave the children orange juice and fixed a tray for her mother. Betty came down when the cereal was ready and took it up.
'She'll know something's happened with a tray looking like that,' she said as she noticed the daintiness of everything. Even without an array of silver and linen Marjorie had managed to make everything look inviting."

--Grace Livingston Hill, Brentwood

For those of us who don't know how to set a dainty tray for an invalid, The Home and Its Management (1914), by Mabel Hyde Kittredge, offers these rules:

1. Make it look attractive.
2. Have everything taste just right; Hot things very hot, cold things very cold, and each kind of food seasoned exactly right. A good cook must taste the food before she serves it.
3. Be sure all of the food on the tray is easily digested.
4. Be sure it is the kind of food that will give the patient strength. She wants to get well and strong as soon as possible, and every mouthful of food must help her towards health.
5. Let no time elapse between the cooking and serving. Food that stands after cooking is not appetizing.
6. Never ask your patient what she wants to eat, never talk about the food where she can hear you. Surprise her if possible. This surprise helps the appetite and adds interest to the dullness of a long sick-day.

The tray on which you serve the meal must be large enough to hold all the dishes without any appearance of crowding . . . Cover the tray with a tray-cloth. This does not need to be expensive, but it must be spotlessly white. It you have not a tray-cloth use a perfectly clean napkin.

Choose the best china you have; the silver and glassware must be the best and polished. In setting the tray, follow the same rules as you did in setting the table . . .

Cotton House Gowns

2006-12-14T19:27:00.000-08:00

"Here, I've got a couple of little cotton house gowns, sort of aprons they are, to slip over another dress when you're actually working. You take the blue one, and I'll take the pink, and then we can tell each other apart. We'll put those on for kitchen work."

--Grace Livingston Hill, Brentwood

(Apron can be found at Sense and Sensibility Patterns)

Apple Brown Betty

2006-12-13T19:55:00.000-08:00

"Then she turned her thoughts to the dinner. She would have time if she started as soon as she got home to make a brown Betty for dessert. Her father had said he would like one, and she knew how to make delicious ones with hard sauce."

--Grace Livingston Hill, The Honor Girl

Apple Brown Betty (America's Cook Book, 1940)

6 medium-sized cooking apples
1 1/2 c. moist bread crumbs
3/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 t. cinnamon
1 1/2 T. butter
2 T. grated orange rind
1/3 c. water

Pare, core, and slice apples; place half in casserole. Combine bread crumbs, sugar, and cinnamon; sprinkle one half over apples and dot with half the butter. Repeat with remaining apples, crumbs, and butter. Sprinkle with orange rind; add water and cover. Bake in moderate oven (375) for 45 minutes. Serve with Hard Sauce.

Church Potluck

2006-12-12T17:35:00.000-08:00

"We've got to hurry a little because it's getting late. And I'll tell you a secret. I've got three big pans of scalloped oysters down stairs piping hot and just ready to be eaten, and I want you to help me carry them over to the church. They're a surprise. They don't know that they're going to have scalloped oysters. They think they're only having roast lamb and mashed potatoes, but I just thought I'd have a little celebration on my own hook, so I made these without telling."

--Grace Livingston Hill, A New Name

White Paint in the Kitchen

2006-12-11T17:35:00.000-08:00

"Even the old kitchen chairs had been painted white and enamelled, and Cornelia discovered by chance one day that a wet sponge was a wonderful thing to keep the white paint clean; so thereafter Louise spent five minutes after dinner every evening going about with her wet sponge, rubbing off any chance fingermarks of the day before and putting the gleaming kitchen in battle-array for the next day."

--Grace Livingston Hill, Re-Creations

Waffles

2006-12-10T16:57:00.000-08:00

In many GLH books, when the heroine steps into a dysfunctional home, the first order of the day is to stir up something tasty. And that something is usually waffles. With that in mind, I present a 1940 recipe for waffles from America's Cook Book:

Mix and sift:
2 c. sifted flour
3 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt

Blend:
3 egg yolks
1 1/4 c. milk

Add to flour mixture, and beat til smooth.

Add:
1/4 c. melted shortening
3 stiffly beaten egg whites

Bake in hot waffle iron.

Wrapping Christmas Presents

2006-12-10T16:53:00.000-08:00

"She bought a lot of red and green tissue paper, and red and silver ribbon. Also some blue paper with silver stars. Because if there were to be gifts they would have to be wrapped . . ."

Grace Livingston Hill, Astra

Thoughts on The Honor Girl

2006-12-08T18:44:00.000-08:00

I'll let Christina introduce this book (boy, hope she doesn't mind me lifting her comment!):

The story is of a young girl, who has everything provided for her by her wealthy aunt and uncle after the death of her mother. She goes to retrieve a book from her father and brothers house, and finds it in total disrepair. There is a lingering spirit of depression in the house. She feels persuaded to do something about it,and sets about to cleaning it up, and making a wonderful meal, and then manages to escape before the boys discover who has worked this enchantment. It makes me think about our homes being a haven away from the world. Do we make an effort to make our homes beautiful for our family, and our friends? A home speaks volumes about the spirit of the people inside of it. The ways that this girl in the book made the home more beautiful were both easy, and simple, yet she put great effort, and time, and unselfish love into it. A clean home, a wonderfully cooked meal to delight the senses, and a vase of yellow roses from the yard. It all produced a wonderful effect on the home, as well as everyone else. "The general sense of comfort and cleanliness that pervaded the place had its very visible effect on father and brothers. It seemed to stimulate them to be more careful about themselves. Not only did it put something of beauty back into the house from the effort, but it made the father and boys WANT to be better, and created a more pleasant spirit about the house. I was also reminded, that since it is a Christian book, it reminded me of the verse in Phillipians 4:8 about thinking about that which is lovely, of good report, of what is right, pure, lovely, and admirable. Do we look for that in our homes? In our families? Do we try to create that in our homes? It really gets involved, but it is really worth thinking about.

The Honor Girl partakes of my favorite GLH theme: complete domestic overhaul. Who can resist the story of taking a house from wretchedly gross to pleasant and cared-for?

One thing I love about this book is that it addresses the value of simply having someone in the home who cares about it. When Elsie moves home to be with her father and two brothers, it is not so that she personally can do all the cooking and cleaning, but rather so that she can be the presiding genius who cares for the family, plans for it, and gives it the benefit of her taste and imagination. And she does all this while attending high school full time!

"The Primary Duty"

2006-12-07T16:43:00.000-08:00

". . . the primary duty of a woman in a home is to see that her family is well-fed. . ."

-- Grace Livingston Hill, The Honor Girl

Welcome to Neat and Dainty as a Flower!

2006-12-07T16:37:00.000-08:00

"[Her] house was just as neat and dainty as a flower, and that without half the effort [that her aunt made], and no servant at all at present."

--Grave Livingston Hill in Where Two Ways Meet

I've ben enjoying Grace Livingston Hill's books for the last ten years or so, particularly because of their devoted attention to the details of domestic life. Here is an author who takes the pursuit of happiness in the home very seriously--a woman after my own heart!

I can't read GLH without being inspired to take on her excellently high domestic standards for myself, and I intend to use this blog as scrapbook for my favorite GLH quotes and pointers.

If you enjoy Grace Livingston Hill as well, join me!