Toastmaster

It's Friday night and time to give my kitchen its weekly cleaning. You know, it's lovely when I have social plans that keep me from being able to do this chore at its appointed time, but it's also awfully nice to have it done and out of the way before the weekend really begins. There's nothing like waking up on Saturday morning with the kitchen already under my belt!

One of the various things that doesn't make The Manual's list of daily or weekly tasks in the kitchen is cleaning small appliances. Like the toaster. The icebox and range are covered, but the authors never hit on the toaster. Is it because they weren't yet common enough in American kitchens by 1945? Maybe the authors didn't want their non-toaster owning readers to feel slighted? Not to worry, care of toasters is covered in a chapter near the back of the book titled Small Electrical Equipment --- or "electrical servants" as the authors call them.

1. The metal shell in some toasters may be removed to brush out crumbs.

2. A collection of crumbs in the bottom of the toaster may cause a short circuit. Use a soft brush (a pastry brush does nicely) to brush out crumbs. If it is necessary to shake the toaster, be gentle about it. Violent thumping or shaking damages the fine wires.

3. "Warped" slices of bread are apt to stick to the wires; use even slices for best results.

4. Wipe the outside of the toaster with a soft cloth wrung out of warm soapsuds. Rinse with a cloth wrung out of clear water. Polish with a soft dry cloth.

5. Never immerse the toaster in water.

My own dear toaster is a vintage Toastmaster - an "Automatic Pop-up" model. It's a heavy little piece and awkward to move when I clean the counter underneath it, but it makes a lovely ticking sound as it toasts my whole grain bread in the morning. Sadly, I don't take very good care of it. There's a crumb tray on the bottom which can be unlatched and pulled forward to brush the crumbs away (though I rarely do it). I'll swipe the top or sides of it as I'm cleaning the kitchen --- but only once in a blue moon. Sounds like it's high time that my toaster made it onto my list of chores for the kitchen!

I don't own a pastry brush, but I'll add that to my shopping list so I can do a more thorough job cleaning that crumb tray. For now, I'll tip the toaster on its side, open the crumb tray, and try to clean it out that way. Before I clean the countertop. When the counter is clean and dry, I'll move the toaster back into place and clean off the outside before moving on to my next task.



How are your toast-making skills? Believe it or not, The American Woman's Cook Book (1945) actually includes a recipe for Buttered Toast, presumably for the most inexperienced, young housewives in the group. And Milk Toast, for the housewives who were nursing invalids. Ooh, yes, and a recipe for Cinnamon Toast. How decadent that sounds to this hungry little reducer!

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Cinnamon Toast

Spread hot toast with butter and sprinkle generously with a mixture of sugar and cinnamon. Place on the top shelf of the oven or under the broiler just long enough to melt the sugar.

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Too Tired for Titles

My, oh-me, oh-my... What a day! I spent in total about three hours working on my kitchen. Most of it this morning - then I cut out at noon as I had some place to be - then I was back to work this evening to finish the job. Thus far, cleaning the kitchen has easily been the most physically demanding chore. I took a couple breaks to drink some water and, once, to lay down on my bed and close my eyes for a few minutes.

The basic layout of the routine is organized around the three major appliances. First, the refrigerator. Second, the range. Third, the sink. Which makes sense - as you use the sink so much in cleaning things - from the crisper bins and racks in the refrigerator to the drip trays on the range. By the time you're finished cleaning everything else, the sink gets a final scrub and polish and you're finished. I'm actually not quite finished. My garbage can is airing dry outdoors on my landing. I'll bring it in in a few hours and throw a clean bag inside.

What was interesting was how few cleansers I needed in a room that gets as dirty as the kitchen. Per the manual, I used baking soda dissolved in cool water to clean out the inside of the refrigerator. Scouring powder to clean the drip trays. And lots of hot water, scalding water, and soapsuds. The only tools I needed: a sponge, a few clean dish towels (I put these in the wash as they got soiled), and a nylon scrubby thing. Some steel wool would have done a better job on the drip trays, though, so I picked up a box of those at the grocery store for next week. You really can do an amazing job with just a very few simple tools and cleansers. The disinfectant habit is so ingrained in me that it was tough not to use some of the stronger cleansers I had on hand. For a finishing touch, I guess. We've been so bombarded with ads promoting antibacterial cleansers and disinfectant wipes that it's tough to figure out whether these things are truly important in housekeeping or not. The only time the manual recommends using a disinfectant is occasionally in cleaning the garbage can.

Although I didn't even notice when I typed up the list of chores for the kitchen, there are several major items missing! The floor, for one. Which is strange, as the manual mentions floor care for every other room in the house. They do mention in a chapter on "Floors" that the "kitchen floors may need to be damp-mopped every day" and "may require washing once a week or oftener." They just leave this item out of the daily and weekly routine entirely. The authors of the manual never mention cleaning up smaller appliances. And they neglect entirely any care needed to a breakfast nook or dining alcove in the kitchen. These kinds of things are certainly covered in other chapters, it's just odd that they are aren't mentioned specifically in daily or weekly chores for the kitchen. The authors are usually so detailed!

I'm so tired I can't even think in a straight line, so I'll leave you with my 1945 dinner menu for tomorrow evening and call it a night:

Whipped Potatoes
Buttered Beets
Tossed Greens Salad
Chocolate Pudding