My Grandma's Pantry

My grandmother had a beautiful pantry stocked with many of the basics we now take for granted. Vinegar, baking soda, cornstarch and flour are just a few of the ingredients that lined her shelves. As the daughter of midwest farmers, Grandma's heritage heralded back to a time when people prided themselves on self-reliance and valued the fruit of their labor. Waste was not an option and undisciplined spending was frowned upon. People did not have the convenience of supermarkets, and they certainly did not have the myriad of products we now mindlessly rely upon today. How surprised they would be to see the shelves of countless choices of detergent, competing for our shopping cart today. Needless to say, they only used what they had. Domestic traditions, knowledge and skills were passed down through the generations, enabling families to run their households frugally and effectively. In the age of mass marketing and brand overload, it is hard to imagine that one product could have 100 uses. Who would have thought that vinegar could be used for the bathroom?