3/2/11

U is for USE....As In An Apron

I often tell Ya'll about my Grandma Minnie. 
 In fact, it was just a few posts ago in The New Joy of Baking...Bread and Bread Pudding
I mentioned how Baking Bread reminded me of her Home Sweet Home Kitchen
with the crockery bowl she USED for baking bread and the 
Flowerdy Floured Aprons she always wore.

Minnie made her Aprons.  They were made to USE.   

I USED these Aprons for many years.  Minnie Used them before me. 
Now they are Treasures in my Apron Collection along with the note and picture
 that was in the pocket from my Grandma. 


I don't think our kids know what an apron is.
The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath because she only had a few. It was also because it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and aprons used less material. But along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.
It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.
From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.
When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids..
And when the weather was cold Grandma wrapped it around her arms.
Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.
Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.
From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables.
After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.
In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.
When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.
When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men folk knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.
It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.
REMEMBER:
Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool. Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw.
They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron.
I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron - but LOVE.   (author unknown)

I make Aprons, too.  I make them to USE...just like my Grandma Minnie USE to.

I wear an Apron when I bake bread in my Home Sweet Home Kitchen....just like my Grandma Minnie USE to.

I USE an Apron to gather vegetables from the garden...just like my Grandma Minnie Use to.

I've wiped away tears and cleaned dirty ears with my Apron...just like my Grandma Minnie Use to.

I often USE my Apron  to cover my Tshirt and Jeans....something my Grandma Minnie never did...but if she'd of had Tshirt and Jeans....she would have USED her Apron for that, too!


Linking To Jenny's Alphabe-Thursday for The Letter U

24 comments:

  1. I love your U post. I love aprons too! I wish had some of the aprons my mom wore! But I have a nice little collection that I have started. I need to get back into Alphabe Thursday posts. It has been a weird couple of months around here. I am trying to get into the swing of things again!
    You always make me smile! I love the stories you tell! Hugs Anne

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  2. Don't you just love aprons. My grandma never went into the garden with out her apron. When she came into the house, it was always filled with the most wonderful things from her garden. I must find that picture of her in the garden with her apron on. My grandmother never wore jeans but she did finally wear pant suits near the end of her life. In college we were required to wear aprons in the food lab (home ec teachers in training). Aprons were much longer than our mini skirts!!!!!

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  3. oh my gosh!!! how lovely that you have some wonderful keepsakes ... i have my grandmothers "good" apron ... something pretty she sewed up and did a lot of needle work on ... wouldn't it be cool to see an art exhibit that showed aprons and then the photos and stories of the women who wore them ... that would be beautiful ... i think that needs to be done!!!

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  4. I love aprons too! I use them all the time. I have a few but my favorite one is my Paula Dean apron "I'm still a hot babe, it just comes in flashes". :) ~Ames

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  5. I always use and apron, but none of mine is as pretty as yours.

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  6. Nice of you to remember your Aunt Minnie in this post. I never wear an apron, but probably should. I have two His and Hers aprons given to me by a cousin when I was married. They have never been used and will always be treasured.

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  7. I love aprons Sue! It's the first thing I reach for before I start cooking or baking. I need the bib ones though, I'm a little "exuberant" in the kitchen, the flour flies:@)

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  8. I always feel like I am a real cook with an apron on.

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  9. I love aprons...great post....you really favor your grandmother

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  10. What a sweet post. I think I need to sew up a couple of aprons. You can never find any at the thrift shops I go to. I would love to find some with some history. My mom & grandma were career women by necessity so I don't recall any aprons there. Great post.

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  11. Isn't this ironic. Just yesterday, as I was cleaning out a hamper of mending that has shamefully accumulated over many years, what do I find in the very bottom, but Grandma's Apron. I swept that thing up so quick, just to hold it. I wondered where it disappeared to. You are so correct. U means Use and I will be using Grandma's Apron, from now on. Thanks for so many fond memories...as so many of mine match yours.
    BlessYourHeart

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  12. I love aprons and you have some really special ones! hugs, Linda

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  13. Anonymous3/03/2011

    my Gramm wore aprons...my mom didn't
    so i grew up apron-less
    a lovely lady named Jana was my valentine swap partner and she sent me an APRON...love it =)
    having one of your grandmother's is very special {{{envy}}}
    ~victoria~

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  14. I think you've converted me. I want some aprons, too!

    =)

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  15. I enjoyed this post! :))

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  16. I love aprons and have like a hundred of them. They are all in my pantry on hooks and when I get home from work, I never remember to put an apron on before I start to cook..

    So my clothes are usually a little spotted with grease and such...

    dumb, huh?

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  17. you beat me to the punch! I've been saving that poem for MY apron post! Oh well, thanks for sharing anyway, I love aprons too. Sandi

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  18. I've been meaning to make myself a "security apron" out of flannel, nice and baggy.

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  19. Hi Sue,
    I have tears in my eyes reading your post. Aprons bring back so many special memories for me too. My Mom wore one when she was young. I can still smell the fried bacon, bath powders and lemon smells that would linger on her aprons. She would hug me or hold me on her lap and I would play with the pockets on her aprons,
    oh what lovely memories.

    Thank you for such a sweet post.

    hugs
    Sissie

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  20. Hello Sue, your banner is awesome. I never change mine because my challenged computer knowledge is limited. HA! Besides I do love sharing our mountain view and my time on the computer is a challenge too.

    I know this is a shock but we have more company. My sister's are right. We are running a B&B with bed, breakfast and every other meal. HA! My cousin Marilyn and her hubs are here and staying in the cabin. I love them dearly but I have been so busy getting ready for them I have neglected my blogging friends.

    I too LOVE aprons and always wear one mainly because I am a messy cook. I have a habit of 'Using' my aprons for about everything in your cute history of aprons. Smile. I adore the note in your apron pocket. Especially the photo of your grandparents. Your posts always start my day with a smile. (when I have a chance to read your posts in the AM) LOL.
    Have a happy apron day.
    Love, Jeanne

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  21. My late grandma and mom never wore aprons, but I started to use one when I moved to my own home. After a while I went apronless too.

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  22. hi, I can't find your steer for the shoot out, thanks for stopping by my blog. My aunt had a drawer full of aprons, if she was home she had one on, also when she did yard work she wore one. mother had a few but only wore hers sometimes. i have never worn one.

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  23. I loved this post.

    And I love my aprons.

    I wear them often, and often forget I'm wearing them when I leave the house on an errand to my great dismay.

    I've worn an apron since I became a young wife about 100 years ago and will probably wear them until the day I can no longer stand in my kitchen.

    This post made my heart smile.

    I love to see others still doing this. And it makes me so happy that my Grands always reach for their aprons when they visit and my oldest daughter always wears hers!

    Thanks for a special link this week.

    I really enjoyed it here today.

    A+

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  24. These "old" aprons are so cool! I believe the apron is making a come back. I have recently received 2 handmade aprons as a gift from a friend. she makes the cleverest aprons!

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