....I pulled on my rainboots and my trusty yellow slicker and hauled my plants off the covered front porch and sat them out in the rain .... I thought I'd let Mother Nature take care of the watering today!
Anyway, you're probably wondering what the heck that has to do with the title of this post,"Radio Homemakers"(actually, nothing)..... AND you're probably wondering what the heck are "Radio Homemakers"? Well, unless you're from the Midwest and are at least in your mid 50's or older, you're probably not familiar with the "Radio Homemakers". I never heard of them until I read what is now one of my favorite books......
..."Standing in the Rainbow" by Fannie Flagg. One of the main characters in the book is Dorothy Smith, or as her radio audience knows her "Neighbor Dorothy". The book explains that in the late 1920's and early 1930's as electricity became more available to isolated farmhouses, women began broadcasting radio shows FROM THEIR HOMES! These ladies were known as the "Radio Homemakers" and they "shared recipes, tips for raising children, household hints, gardening advice, crafts, and their day to day lives and the lives of their families." They also would sometimes have some sort of music on their show. Now, I thought this was pretty interesting and sounding somewhat FAMILIAR (I'll give you a hint ... you're reading one right now) ..... anyhow, I like reading about women's history (you know, the everyday Jane's ... not that Betsy Ross and Clara Barton aren't interesting, but what about the day to day of Mrs. Normal back in 1776, or 1853, or 1925, etc?)....so, I went online and looked for more info on "Radio Homemakers" and I found .....
another book on the subject "Neighboring on the Air Cooking with the KMA Radio Homemakers" by Evelyn Birkby . This is a great book on the subject with lots of down home recipes and .....
...pictures of the "Radio Homemakers" broadcasting from their kitchen table, or dining room table, etc, while their family life and all the chaos that goes with it went on all around them. ( This is a picture from the book of a lady named Jessie Young.) So, the more I read, the more it dawned on me that these ladies are our BLOGGING FOREMOTHERS !!!! Right this minute I'm "broadcasting" to all of you from....
...the computer in my kitchen...
..in between trying to bake some banana bread from some way past their prime bananas.....
.....amongst the revving of dirtbike engines from the garage just steps away from where I sit .... (Martha Stewart eat your heart out !)Anyhow, so here I thought we blogging gals were doing something new and innovative .... NOPE! We may be using computers and have readers from all over the planet while the "Radio Homemakers" had a big ol' microphone and only reached a few neighboring counties, but they were the real innovators.....they were sharing recipes, crafts, tips, and their daily lives with their listening "neighbors" long before I set foot on this planet!
OH! ... the banana bread is done..... let me go get it out of the oven....
....mmmmmm smells good!
......here ya go, have a piece..... I tried to make it a little more heart healthy and substituted all natural applesauce for the oil in the recipe.... here, I'll write it out for you ...(actually, this may be a repeat recipe that I may have posted last fall, but I'm too lazy to check back and see .... so, here it is again)
Banana Quick Bread
Ingredients:
2 large bananas
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup 100% natural applesauce
2 eggs
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9 inch loaf pan with Pam. Mash bananas. Whisk in 1/2 cup water, then brown sugar, then applesauce, then eggs until smooth.
In a separate bowl, whisk together remaining dry ingredients, then fold into the banana mixture until just combined. Pour batter into loaf pan. Bake until firm and golden brown, about 70 minutes. Let bread stand for a few minutes. Turn onto a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Recipe doubles easily and freezes well.
Enjoy !! Be back soon!
Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)
10 comments:
Off to google Radio Homemakers, sounds great. We're getting Hannah here now, so thanks for sharing. : )
I am lovin those boots. You go girl!!!!
I adored this book and all her others, as well. Just sent one to a friend.
Love them boots!!!
yummy recipe!! i love the post!! aint it cool that ladies were way wise beyond their yeras,even back then. :)
I love this post, Mary Ann! I think women have always empowered other women in one way or another. It makes us feel good to share our thoughts and ideas with each other. I love the idea of the Radio Homemakers. I'll have to stop by Books a Million this week and see if I can find those books.
The banana bread sounds great. Thanks for the receipe!
Amanda
radio homemakes...i like that...now we have blogs. what goes around comes around as they say. the banana bread looks good, reminds me i have a zuccini calling to me to make it into bread.
I'm telling you everytime I come over here and see those boots.............LOLOL!!!! You crack me up!!!
I've never heard of radio homemakers... though I come from the land of WLW where Rosie Clooney and Doris Day got their starts singing on a radio band that reached halfway across the country. The radio studio was just a little tiny building on the edge of a corn field. I wonder if their were radio Homemakers here too. I'll go look for that book -- thanks.
Jenny
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