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Slice of Life March Challenge. No. 15.

I was e-thumbing through an e-copy of

It was published in 1913.

And in that book, I read the following . . .

And as I read, I wondered and asked questions.

1. How many eggs would I need to buy in the summer to last through the winter?

2. How much cheaper were the eggs in the summer than in the winter? Would I save enough to warrant all the work of storing them for six months.

3. Liquid glass? This sounds modern, not like something they would have had prior to 1900. I need to read more about it. Glad we have internet and can google stuff.

4. How big would the stone crock need to be? I remember some big ones my mother had that she made dill pickles in. I remember the old dinner plate that had a rock on it that was on top of the cucumbers so they would stay submerged in the brine and be completely pickled. Every few days it was one of my chores to skim the scum off that brine. I always like the smell of pickles in the making in our cellar.

5. I guess if you are storing lots of eggs for the winter, you could use more than one stone crock.

6. And if so, where would you keep these stone crocks? In the fruit cellar? The fruit cellars I’ve had experiences with always had lots of spiders. Well, except when they used hedge apples. The old timers said hedge apples repel spiders. I’ve read that science does not support this. But I still vote for hedge apples in my cellar.

hedge apple

7. Six months?ย  I remember my husband telling me about the eggs they’d have during their three-month patrols (he was assigned to submarine duty during his military service). The first weeks the eggs were real good. But into the second and third month, they’d turn green when they hit the griddle.
Perhaps, Dr. Seuss had experiences with green eggs.

9. Are perfectly fresh eggs different than fresh eggs? I looked it up, and perfectly is a synonym for very.

10. Hmm! Immersing in lime water was an alternative storage method.

Now we are not talking lime as in the green rounded citrus fruit. But rather, the white caustic alkaline substance consisting of calcium oxide, obtained by heating limestone

11. So what were the mixtures for glass water and lime water?ย  Here’s some information I found.

12. In the USA, we refrigerate our eggs; in most other countries, they don’t. The past week, it seemed very odd in the warm weather to see a flat of eggs stored on the kitchen counter at my son’s house (Ecuador). Do you know why we do and they don’t? It has to do with how the eggs are handled and cleaned. Read more…

Eating anย  egg salad sandwich from Elephants Delicatessen
for breakfast at PDX Airport (YUM!)

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Here are two other posts inspired by this book–
1. The proper way to sweep a room
2. Dishwashing Made Easy



Thank you, Two Writing Teachers, for hosting
2017 Slice of Life Story Challenge