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Bake table had several purposes in Depression era kitchen Lifestyle - Even at a young age, I was aware of the sameness of all the farm kitchens in Northcote. There was always a creton couch, although the shapes varied. Some had one end curved upwards, so a pillow wasn’t needed to rest your head. Our couch lay flat and there wasn’t really a mattress on it.
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290 DANIEL ST. S, ARNPRIOR
Rather, several layers of quilts protected you from the coil springs, and this couch was where the farmer put his weary head after his noon dinner for a few minutes rest before he headed back out to the fields or the barns. And every kitchen, of course, had a cook stove. Some people just called it, simply, the range. But Mother called our big lumbering iron stove, The Oval. The other constant in a farm kitchen was the bake table. This differed greatly from the big pine table that stretched out to set at least 12 people when necessary. The bake table was much smaller. Longer than it was wide, it had a small drawer at one end. Ours had a white porcelain top and it stood several inches taller than the big table we ate our meals at every day. Why it was called the bake table, I have no idea. Because Mother never once baked on it. Perhaps it was because this is where pies were set to cool off, and freshly made loaves of bread waited to be wrapped in split-open brown paper bags saved from orders from Briscoe’s General Store. The little drawer, much longer than it was wide, held our
Mary Cook’s Memories MARY COOK
supply of flourbag tea towels, neatly folded, and ironed, of course. The bake table sat close to the back door, but unless there were pies and freshly baked bread spread out on it, Mother liked to keep it bare. And heaven forbid that you should put a wet mitt, a school bag, or anything else that would leave a spot on the shiny white porcelain. Mother kept the bake table spotlessly clean, and when company was expected, it was wiped with a wet dish cloth whether it needed it or not, and then a little white square table cloth was put on it, kitty-cornered, and if one had survived the season, a bright red geranium plunked down in the middle! The bake table had another use too. When company overflowed, and the old pine table couldn’t hold another soul, and extra seating was needed, the bake table was put to use.
It was moved out from the wall and this is where the youngest of us ate our meals, well away from the kitchen table and the company. The little table could only seat four people ... one at each end, and one on each side. I didn’t much care for eating at the bake table. It removed me from the joyous activity surrounding the big table, but as well, because the bake table was so much higher, we had to take pillows off the beds to sit on, or else our chins would be in our dinner plates! Being the youngest in our family, I was always doomed to eat at the bake table with other young cousins. My cousin Ronny loved to eat at the bake table. Then he didn’t have to watch his table manners, and it wasn’t unusual for him to take off his plate anything he didn’t like and put it in his pants’ pocket, and dispose of it after the meal. The kitchen was the big-
gest room in our old log house, and there were no built-in cupboards. Dishes were kept in the Backto-the-Wall cupboard, and pots and pans either sat on top of the warming closet of the Findlay Oval, or stored in it. The bake table was the perfect place, when we hosted the Saturday Night House party, for the 11 quart baskets of sandwiches, and the slab cakes brought in by the neighbours for the late-night lunch. When you walked by you could smell the egg salad sandwiches, and the maple icing on the slab cakes. Mother loved the bake table. I think now it was because it had a porcelain top and wasn’t made of pine like most of the furniture in that old log house. Mother liked any piece of furniture that wasn’t made of pine ... she once said pine rhymed with poverty. I was too young to know the meaning behind the comment. Sometimes Mother sat at the bake table. She would put her sewing basket on it, and do some mending. Or she would spread out the Philadelphia Enquirer. It was considered her table. And all of us, and that included Father, knew better than to put as much as a pencil on it.
Busy, busy time of year at the Arnprior Legion JANET TOBIO Arnprior Legion
1050 O’BRIEN RD RENFREW
Community – October is only half over and it’s been full tilt for the volunteers at the Arnprior Legion. Dinner, luncheons, hamburger Fridays, a euchre tournament, Saturday entertainment with dinner, full house jam sessions and the Golden Valley Seniors 30th anniversary celebration. Wow, it’s been busy. The Legion still has the monthly breakfast and, of course, the annual Halloween Dance, always a great success. Tickets
available in advance or at the door. November is knocking at the door, but we’re ready. We have a Reviewing Officer and a Silver Cross Mother Representative for the Remembrance Day Ceremony. Thanks to all who took the time to send or call with suggestions and nominations. We really appreciate the community input. The service, of course, will be Nov. 11 at the cenotaph at 1100 hours (11 a.m.). Although it is a Monday work and school day, we’re hoping many will take a few minutes out of their busy day to join us in paying tribute to those who paid the ultimate
sacrifice serving our country. The troops from Petawawa will be on parade as well as the pipe band, and a heritage plane will pay tribute with a fly-past. Lunch will be served at the Legion after the parade. November brings another parade, of course. Contact the Legion if you’d like to take part in the Santa Claus parade Saturday, Nov. 30. It’s always the last Saturday in November. I suggest you keep this article so you don’t forget the dates.
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60 STAYE COURT DR, ARNPRIOR 34 Arnprior Chronicle-Guide EMC - Thursday, October 24, 2013
FRIDAY, OCT.25 TO THURSDAY, OCT. 31, 2013
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39 WINNERS CIRCLE, ARNPRIOR
80 ELGIN ST. W, ARNPRIOR
Jam sessions Fridays at the Legion Community Every Friday of every month, the Arnprior Legion hosts a jam session in the lounge It’s free, it’s great. There are a number of ‘regulars’ who come most Fridays and always some guests that join in. It’s getting more and more popular with some really fantastic local talent. See for yourself. You’ll be impressed.