Today my husband took off from work and we meandered over to the nearby town of Northfield for lunch, and a little browsing through antique stores and used-book shops.
I was delighted to come across a book called Stillmeadow Sampler, in good condition, but a little pricey at $20. When the book was published, in 1959, it sold for $4.50. The dust jacket, however, still did its job:
"This book," says Gladys Taber, "is really a letter to my friends, especially those I have never met. . .Every day of living on my forty acres in New England seems to bring forth something I wish to share, so I write it down."
Here she invites you into her beautiful seventeenth-century farmhouse to prepare simple dishes with a special dash of flavoring, to clean out the attic and reminisce about old times, to work in the garden. And she also shares the pleasure of reading by a roaring fire on a chilly night. . .
Hooked, hooked: Sold. It's going to be a chilly here in Minnesota after the sun goes down, only 45 degrees they say, so I am going to curl up with this forgotten book tonight.
Of course, when I got home, I immediately had to Google the author, Gladys Taber and find out a bit of background on her. She seems like a writer to get to know, if you're at all interested in the history of domesticity or the idea of taking care of your world a little better. I'll blog more, once I've read the book.
To think of a place named Stillmeadow being threatened by a development of McMansions!
8:34:49 PM 
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