29

Angela Varesano
8/15/72
Mary Washko

Around 3:00 or so she started making supper. Her husband would be home at 3:00. She had to prepare heater water for him to wash; when he was washed, she had to scrub his back. He washed in the kitchen or the summer kitchen, wherever it was warmer. The kids came home at the same time, and they came in hungry. "Mom, I'm hungry!" they'd say.
Supper might be beef soup and noodles, hamburger, pork or beef, served with potatoes or chow-chow that she made herself, red beets, or pepper hash. Fridays she cooked holuskis and pirohis. They never ate meat on Friday. This was considered a big sin. She made meatballs and spaghetti and didn't serve anything with that. Cake and pie was made every week. Dessert was not eaten with each meal because they only had it when it was there.
She kept crackers or cookies for the children to snack on when they came home from school. Kids also had chores to do when they came home. She sent them to pick coal and to pick berries in the summer. Picking coal had to be done before the cold weather. They helped out in the garden, helped trim the grass and carry of weeds. They didn't do much because you had to know what you were doing. Mary and her husband had to cultivate the garden mostly themselves.
In the fall all she did was can. Mary liked to do this herself. She put up pickles, hot mix, mangoes, chilli sauce, catsup, pepper hash, jellies, red beets. Sometimes she'd fill four hundred jars. She started at the beginning of August and didn't stop till the end of August; tomatoes at the end of August; red beets when they matured; pickles early, usually the first of August; chow-chow and chilli late, when she had everything; hot mix anytime, made with hot peppers, green tomatoes, cauliflower, and mangoes. Some days she'd can when she had time during the day, beside, her regular chores, and continue after supper. Usually then, she'd wash a lot of jars for the next day.
Supper was between four and five o'clock. After supper, if it was rainy, she'd sew. If it was a nice day, she'd work outside in the garden. In summer she'd pick berries. After that it was time to wash up the kids and have them all in bed by 9:00. They were usually tired, she she had no problems getting them to bed. When they went to school, she'd spend two to three hours after supper helping the kids with homework.
After the kids went to bed, she wouldn't do too much, maybe fix (sew something. Maybe she'd take a half hour to relax. At that time there weren't even newspapers to look at. Her mother-in-law was so strick that she'd say, "Get your work done first." She thought that papers were for people who had nothing to do.