My parents are 86. Both worked full time. Dad grew veg/fruit, caught fish, chopped wood. Mum cooked from scratch, in a rayburn, knitted and made clothes, did laundry in a twin tub, made jam, the decorated the house. For fun,we went crabbing, fishing, gathered shell fish, picked wild fruit and herbs. We fixed things like bikes from the tip. Sometimes we have to be resourceful with our time. I worked full time and still cooked from scratch at home.
We’ve been dumbed down to not think for ourselves. I do the opposite of what’s the norm . They taught us that more is better which has led to a greedy society where it’s dog eat dog. I finished work 3 yrs ago . I live a basic life with hardly anything and have never felt better in my life. Personally I think we are trained to live in constant fear of everything. Now I’ve past caring and just get on my life and don’t care about material wealth anymore. Things seem to just fit into place when you lose the fear of losing everything. It’s a hard thing to do as going back to basics is hard and most people couldn’t do it as they live in the material world. I’ve never felt so free .
Far too much is taken for granted and trying to keep up with friends. These days many under 40s couldn't survive alone and broke as they don't have the basic skills
Great video Karen. Everything you said is true. I was lucky enough to have my mum stay at home. My dad was very old school and believed it was only his duty to provide for his wife and family. Her role was to be housewife and mother. They eventually bought their council rented cottage and that was a huge talking matter amongst the neighbours! I learned everything from watching her, from making a meal from very little, to growing and preparing vegetables to keeping hens in the garden. The memories you raised talking about those frozen savoury pancakes 😂 One of your best Karen and thanks for that. Off topic but, your hair has grown so long! Lovely as it is, I thought it suited you better with the fringe and shorter length x
I can relate to this so much Karen. All 3 of my, around 30 year old daughters are working all the time. We had them home for Christmas dinner but they all had to rush off. But I had my little 9 year old niece come round to make and decorate gingerbread men and it was just lovely. Teaching her how to make them but also talking to her about her day xxx
One of my favourite memories is decorating a gingerbread house with my granddaughters, now aged 18 and 19. The end result wasn't perfect but what a lovely afternoon we had. :)
Very true. As a result many people don't know how to cook from scratch these days. Sad really. That said, I think the last few years have woken people up a bit.😊I used to work in the community with young vulnerable parents. I would take them food shopping. You'd be shocked at what they thought appropriate to feed a baby. No one had shown them.
There’s so many UA-cam videos on how to cook,people watch how to make a stew and I wonder how they never watched their mams in the kitchen like I did but it’s great that they can learn from videos 😊I wonder how many mams really want someone else watching their baby while at work ?great video Karen 👍🏻
It doesn't hurt to learn basic home-making skills, like cooking, cleaning, sewing, knitting or crocheting. I would add gardening to that. One never knows when a hobby could become a necessity. I realized many years ago that the monetary system of most countries, including my own, is just a house of cards, and I honestly don't trust the governments to keep our pensions above the cost of living. Now that I am retired, I have the time to make almost everything from scratch (mind you, I wish that someone would do the cleanup_.
Years ago Mum stayed at home and was the heart of the home. Though they never went abroad, had latest gadgets and needed to be frugal with only one wage coming in. Yes children had Mum at home and that's a very important part of the nuclear family. Society today wants all of what is available, car, holidays, gadgets and in order to forfill unfortunately most parents have to work. It's the never ending treadmill of capitalism and consumerism.
Your correct. The home was no longer the center. Sad. One of the things I do is batch cooking special things and freezing them I only have to get things out and clean up the mess one time. Ie when I make like turn overs cookies egg rolls I make enough so I don’t have to do it again for months
Home has become a place where you sleep and keep your stuff, even for children of working families because for five days a week, they're out to school or the childminder and home when the first parent to finish work gets back then dinner, bath and bed. You scrimp for a new kitchen that you don't have time to cook in, decorate rooms that you barely see and have children that see more of the childminder than they do of you. Something has got to change.
A slow cooker rids you of the need to continually buy processed food. Great for busy at home mums or working mums. No need for all the processed rubbish food. It’s very easy to make good meals.
Hit the nail on the head there. It's VERY controversial to say but I believe that the worst thing to happen to society was letting women out of the kitchen! What a lovely life we had, looking after our own babies, having neighbours as friends and helpers and confidants, shopping locally, knowing everyone, helping out the oldies, being there for the children, cooking real food but we gave it up so we could leave the house at 7 to drop the baby at childcare, work outside of the home, connect with people on a corporate level, jump to the rules of the company, look the same as everyone else as suffer huge amounts of stress for payment and all the things left undone like our children getting into trouble at school or being ill or our husband needing support, or our mother needing company or the house needing a good clean or the kitchen cupboards needing a sort out. We'll, anyway I wish I had been a woman of the former years. This new role we were encouraged to take doesn't suit my soul and my instincts. Our children are sicker, we are more stressed, crime is up, wages are down. I think we were duped.
As a feminist I agree. It's a skill running a household. I had an argument with an old man about it. He said women were useless for anything requiring strength. I countered with the statement that women have their own strengths and can do things where a man wouldn't have a clue where to begin. I know there are exceptions, but on the whole we both,male or female,have our own skillset. Now women are expected to dump their children on a virtual stranger, and keep house, and have (often multiple) jobs! It's no wonder everyone is stressed and living on pizza!
I'm blessed that all of my grandparents both my mom and dad were really great Cooks Bakers barbecuers. I am blessed that I work so freaking hard I can afford to eat out every meal every day of the week and not feel a pinch or I can save that money use my time go out and shop and make everything from scratch or do a combo. I do a combo. The reason I can do that now is that I want to head and never ate out for years on end had everything from scratch and never really thought about anything other than better education better wages savings accounts and not being very Earthly not being materialistic I have time to cook and I enjoy it. And I also remember what it was like to dump a can of mixed fruit off in the Shelf into a pre-bought pie filling and feel like yeah I accomplished that and got that done and it tasted good too. So let's all stand up and cheer everybody who will do it from scratch or partially from scratch and is trying to squeeze a dollar and turn it into something really yummy and or valuable :-):-):-):-) I scraped and scraped and scraped and worked and worked and worked and now in my old age I get to really enjoy whatever I want. Truthfully I prefer scratch more than anything else. And there's almost no restaurant that I could say I love their food so much it's better than eating at home and making things from scratch :-):-):-):-)
I love brussel sprouts! If I am in the mood and see some fresh ones I trim and cut them in half, steam, drain, add butter and a tablespoon or two of peanut butter. Delicious! I make a meal of them. 😋 Love your little pasties! I figured you would do something with the leftover dough! 👍
I mix mostly with comfortably off retirees nowadays - although my partner works full-time and I still work part-time. I'm always amazed how many of them (mostly from the US) pay people to clean, garden, decorate, deal wtih paperwork, etc for them. They eat out several times a week and many of the women just don't cook at all. Now, I'm older, I enjoy having more time to do things I always had to rush, particularly cooking from scratch. Homemade pasties are definitely worth the effort. 😁
I’m only 37 with 12 year old twins, a 43 year old husband and a golden retriever. With two adults working full time it often feels like there’s not enough hours to even do all the housework etc required and it can be exhausting. I compress my hours (I work predominantly from Home now anyway and am on low wages but I’d not be much better off on a higher paid job due to student loan repayments, commuting, dog walkers then being needed etc) so I do have Wednesdays and weekends off but it still feels like I’ve not got enough time most of the time! No time off over Christmas other than Boxing Day and my usual Wednesdays falling Christmas and New Year’s Day anyway. I do get top ups from disability allowance for both twins (but have to renew every other year for my boy) and his twin sister gets hers until she’s 16 because of her type one diabetes diagnosis. They’re first year at secondary school So this week’s been a costly year as uniforms in England are so expensive and school insists on logos being on trousers/skirts as well as blazers. It’s like things just aren’t going to get any easier for families at all! I know a few families where the mum doesn’t have to work and can stay home all the time but I know this is very rare and that the father must be earning a lot (I know this as these families get to travel abroad every year too sometimes more than once!)
For crumble, I definitely prefer custard but made with custard powder rather than the tinned stuff - The only time I made egg custard was at school lol
And, what effect does it have on the psychological make up of children who are bought up in crèches, after school clubs, evening activities ( i know of one child who has Brownies; violin; judo; swimming; piano in the evenings). Some children rarely see their parents. Are we breeding a nation of sociopaths, who will be unable to relate to people? It really worries me as I see the current generation of teenagers do less and less for their communities, or pop round to see elderly relatives etc ( although, their are probably exceptions to the rule)
Nowadays they expect you to parent your kids as if you didn’t work, and to work as if you didn’t have kids!
My parents are 86. Both worked full time. Dad grew veg/fruit, caught fish, chopped wood. Mum cooked from scratch, in a rayburn, knitted and made clothes, did laundry in a twin tub, made jam, the decorated the house. For fun,we went crabbing, fishing, gathered shell fish, picked wild fruit and herbs. We fixed things like bikes from the tip. Sometimes we have to be resourceful with our time. I worked full time and still cooked from scratch at home.
We’ve been dumbed down to not think for ourselves. I do the opposite of what’s the norm . They taught us that more is better which has led to a greedy society where it’s dog eat dog. I finished work 3 yrs ago . I live a basic life with hardly anything and have never felt better in my life. Personally I think we are trained to live in constant fear of everything. Now I’ve past caring and just get on my life and don’t care about material wealth anymore. Things seem to just fit into place when you lose the fear of losing everything. It’s a hard thing to do as going back to basics is hard and most people couldn’t do it as they live in the material world. I’ve never felt so free .
Ditto never been happier:-):-):-):-)
Far too much is taken for granted and trying to keep up with friends. These days many under 40s couldn't survive alone and broke as they don't have the basic skills
Still the same struggle for women to cope with both work and housework, and you still have to both look good and keep the house clean and tidy.
Great video Karen. Everything you said is true. I was lucky enough to have my mum stay at home. My dad was very old school and believed it was only his duty to provide for his wife and family. Her role was to be housewife and mother. They eventually bought their council rented cottage and that was a huge talking matter amongst the neighbours! I learned everything from watching her, from making a meal from very little, to growing and preparing vegetables to keeping hens in the garden. The memories you raised talking about those frozen savoury pancakes 😂 One of your best Karen and thanks for that.
Off topic but, your hair has grown so long! Lovely as it is, I thought it suited you better with the fringe and shorter length x
I can relate to this so much Karen. All 3 of my, around 30 year old daughters are working all the time. We had them home for Christmas dinner but they all had to rush off. But I had my little 9 year old niece come round to make and decorate gingerbread men and it was just lovely. Teaching her how to make them but also talking to her about her day xxx
One of my favourite memories is decorating a gingerbread house with my granddaughters, now aged 18 and 19. The end result wasn't perfect but what a lovely afternoon we had. :)
Very true. As a result many people don't know how to cook from scratch these days. Sad really. That said, I think the last few years have woken people up a bit.😊I used to work in the community with young vulnerable parents. I would take them food shopping. You'd be shocked at what they thought appropriate to feed a baby. No one had shown them.
There’s so many UA-cam videos on how to cook,people watch how to make a stew and I wonder how they never watched their mams in the kitchen like I did but it’s great that they can learn from videos 😊I wonder how many mams really want someone else watching their baby while at work ?great video Karen 👍🏻
It doesn't hurt to learn basic home-making skills, like cooking, cleaning, sewing, knitting or crocheting. I would add gardening to that. One never knows when a hobby could become a necessity. I realized many years ago that the monetary system of most countries, including my own, is just a house of cards, and I honestly don't trust the governments to keep our pensions above the cost of living. Now that I am retired, I have the time to make almost everything from scratch (mind you, I wish that someone would do the cleanup_.
Years ago Mum stayed at home and was the heart of the home. Though they never went abroad, had latest gadgets and needed to be frugal with only one wage coming in. Yes children had Mum at home and that's a very important part of the nuclear family. Society today wants all of what is available, car, holidays, gadgets and in order to forfill unfortunately most parents have to work. It's the never ending treadmill of capitalism and consumerism.
in other words they want everything yesterday when l got married we did a room at a time no debt,
@@janicehickman5532 exactly. I'm not sure for the better of it either!
Your correct. The home was no longer the center. Sad. One of the things I do is batch cooking special things and freezing them I only have to get things out and clean up the mess one time. Ie when I make like turn overs cookies egg rolls I make enough so I don’t have to do it again for months
Home has become a place where you sleep and keep your stuff, even for children of working families because for five days a week, they're out to school or the childminder and home when the first parent to finish work gets back then dinner, bath and bed. You scrimp for a new kitchen that you don't have time to cook in, decorate rooms that you barely see and have children that see more of the childminder than they do of you. Something has got to change.
A slow cooker rids you of the need to continually buy processed food. Great for busy at home mums or working mums. No need for all the processed rubbish food. It’s very easy to make good meals.
Hit the nail on the head there. It's VERY controversial to say but I believe that the worst thing to happen to society was letting women out of the kitchen! What a lovely life we had, looking after our own babies, having neighbours as friends and helpers and confidants, shopping locally, knowing everyone, helping out the oldies, being there for the children, cooking real food but we gave it up so we could leave the house at 7 to drop the baby at childcare, work outside of the home, connect with people on a corporate level, jump to the rules of the company, look the same as everyone else as suffer huge amounts of stress for payment and all the things left undone like our children getting into trouble at school or being ill or our husband needing support, or our mother needing company or the house needing a good clean or the kitchen cupboards needing a sort out. We'll, anyway I wish I had been a woman of the former years. This new role we were encouraged to take doesn't suit my soul and my instincts. Our children are sicker, we are more stressed, crime is up, wages are down. I think we were duped.
As a feminist I agree. It's a skill running a household. I had an argument with an old man about it. He said women were useless for anything requiring strength. I countered with the statement that women have their own strengths and can do things where a man wouldn't have a clue where to begin. I know there are exceptions, but on the whole we both,male or female,have our own skillset. Now women are expected to dump their children on a virtual stranger, and keep house, and have (often multiple) jobs! It's no wonder everyone is stressed and living on pizza!
I'm blessed that all of my grandparents both my mom and dad were really great Cooks Bakers barbecuers. I am blessed that I work so freaking hard I can afford to eat out every meal every day of the week and not feel a pinch or I can save that money use my time go out and shop and make everything from scratch or do a combo. I do a combo. The reason I can do that now is that I want to head and never ate out for years on end had everything from scratch and never really thought about anything other than better education better wages savings accounts and not being very Earthly not being materialistic I have time to cook and I enjoy it. And I also remember what it was like to dump a can of mixed fruit off in the Shelf into a pre-bought pie filling and feel like yeah I accomplished that and got that done and it tasted good too. So let's all stand up and cheer everybody who will do it from scratch or partially from scratch and is trying to squeeze a dollar and turn it into something really yummy and or valuable :-):-):-):-) I scraped and scraped and scraped and worked and worked and worked and now in my old age I get to really enjoy whatever I want. Truthfully I prefer scratch more than anything else. And there's almost no restaurant that I could say I love their food so much it's better than eating at home and making things from scratch :-):-):-):-)
You made me eat breakfast,those pasties look delicious ❤❤❤
Families are in a real pickle now. The kids are really being cheated with the parents working so hard.
I love brussel sprouts! If I am in the mood and see some fresh ones I trim and cut them in half, steam, drain, add butter and a tablespoon or two of peanut butter. Delicious! I make a meal of them. 😋
Love your little pasties! I figured you would do something with the leftover dough! 👍
Good video thanks :)
Brussel sprouts... yuck. I did find them in Tesco, frozen, but pre peeled and sliced in the autumn, so if you like them, maybe go for that in future.
I mix mostly with comfortably off retirees nowadays - although my partner works full-time and I still work part-time. I'm always amazed how many of them (mostly from the US) pay people to clean, garden, decorate, deal wtih paperwork, etc for them. They eat out several times a week and many of the women just don't cook at all. Now, I'm older, I enjoy having more time to do things I always had to rush, particularly cooking from scratch. Homemade pasties are definitely worth the effort. 😁
I’m only 37 with 12 year old twins, a 43 year old husband and a golden retriever. With two adults working full time it often feels like there’s not enough hours to even do all the housework etc required and it can be exhausting. I compress my hours (I work predominantly from
Home now anyway and am on low wages but I’d not be much better off on a higher paid job due to student loan repayments, commuting, dog walkers then being needed etc) so I do have Wednesdays and weekends off but it still feels like I’ve not got enough time most of the time! No time off over Christmas other than Boxing Day and my usual Wednesdays falling Christmas and New Year’s Day anyway. I do get top ups from disability allowance for both twins (but have to renew every other year for my boy) and his twin sister gets hers until she’s 16 because of her type one diabetes diagnosis. They’re first year at secondary school
So this week’s been a costly year as uniforms in England are so expensive and school insists on logos being on trousers/skirts as well as blazers. It’s like things just aren’t going to get any easier for families at all! I know a few families where the mum doesn’t have to work and can stay home all the time but I know this is very rare and that the father must be earning a lot (I know this as these families get to travel abroad every year too sometimes more than once!)
Yes being a housewife was lovely, but I think we've lost something. I do cook from scratch but I only work part time.
amen!
Get ready for significant snow and cold weather starting Jan 1st 2025 x
I might make apple crumble tomorrow. Where do you stand on custard?
For crumble, I definitely prefer custard but made with custard powder rather than the tinned stuff - The only time I made egg custard was at school lol
Custard powder all the way here. I made custard from scratch once, during lockdown.
And, what effect does it have on the psychological make up of children who are bought up in crèches, after school clubs, evening activities ( i know of one child who has Brownies; violin; judo; swimming; piano in the evenings). Some children rarely see their parents. Are we breeding a nation of sociopaths, who will be unable to relate to people? It really worries me as I see the current generation of teenagers do less and less for their communities, or pop round to see elderly relatives etc ( although, their are probably exceptions to the rule)